四

四 U+56DB, 四 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-56DB ← 囚 [U+56DA] CJK Unified Ideographs 囜 → [U+56DC]

㈣ U+3223, ㈣ PARENTHESIZED IDEOGRAPH FOUR ← ㈢ [U+3222] Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㈤ → [U+3224]

㊃ U+3283, ㊃ CIRCLED IDEOGRAPH FOUR ← ㊂ [U+3282] Enclosed CJK Letters and Months ㊄ → [U+3284]

Stroke order (Sans-serif)

Stroke order

四 (Kangxi radical 31, 囗+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 田金 (WC), four-corner 6021₀, composition ⿴囗⿰丿㇄(GHTV) or ⿴囗儿(JK))

1. Shuowen Jiezi radical №503

• 伵 呬 怬 柶 泗 牭 訵 䦉 駟(驷) 囧 圀 𢏎 𥹊 𥿖 𮕳 𧣛 𫪸 𪯣 𣳉 𧶠 𰉐

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 216, character 22
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 4682
• Dae Jaweon: page 439, character 21
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 710, character 16
• Unihan data for U+56DB

The word "four" was written as 亖 (sì) before Western Zhou and 四 (sì) appeared in late Spring and Autumn period. This alternative form was used to prevent confusion of 亖 (sì) and 二 (“two”) or 三 (“three”) in vertical writing. It was standardized in Qin dynasty.

The bronzeware style of the character featured a repositioning of those four lines inside 口 (kǒu); this later evolved into the combination used today of 口 (kǒu, “mouth”) and 八 (bā, “divide”) which meant a dispersal of breath. It could thus be said that four is a borrowed meaning for this character. The original sense is preserved in 呬 (OC *hrids), by adding an extra 口. Compare this character with 只 and 曰.

simp. and trad.		四
alternative forms		肆 financial 亖 ancient 皿 龱 𠁤 肆 financial 亖 ancient 皿 龱 𠁤 𠃢 ancient 𦉭

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *pV-lij.

四

1. four
2. (literary) in or from the four directions

   • 及仇讎已滅，天下已定，一夫夜呼，亂者四應，倉皇東出，未及見賊而士卒離散，君臣相顧，不知所歸。至於誓天斷髮，泣下沾襟，何其衰也！ [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     及仇雠已灭，天下已定，一夫夜呼，乱者四应，仓皇东出，未及见贼而士卒离散，君臣相顾，不知所归。至于誓天断发，泣下沾襟，何其衰也！ [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     From: 1053, Ouyang Xiu,《伶官傳序》

     Jí chóuchóu yǐ miè, tiānxià yǐ dìng, yī fū yè hū, luàn zhě sì yìng, cānghuáng dōng chū, wèijí jiàn zéi ér shìzú lísàn, jūnchén xiāng gù, bùzhī suǒ guī. Zhìyú shì tiān duàn fà, qì xià zhān jīn, héqí shuāi yě! [Pinyin]

     Vengeance had been achieved, and the empire was in his hands. But then, suddenly, there came a cry in the night, responding from all sides. In a panicked rush, he fled eastward, yet before he could even face the enemy, his troops scattered and deserted. The ruler and his ministers could only stare at each other at a loss. Soon after came the shaving of heads and swearing oaths of loyalty, their robes soaked in tears. What a tragic downfall it was!

   • 1853, 陳逢衡 [Chen Fengheng; Chin Hōkō], edited by 荒木謇, 𠸄咭唎紀略 [Yīngjílì jìlǜe; Egeresu kiryaku]‎^[1]:

     三個月水路、四無所見、唯天與水耳 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     三个月水路、四无所见、唯天与水耳 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     sān ge yuè shuǐlù, sì wú suǒjiàn, wéi tiān yǔ shuǐ ěr [Pinyin]

     3 months at sea, naught in the four directions, but sky and water

3. (music) la (musical note)
4. (printing) English; The size of type between 小四 (little 4) and 小三 (little 3), standardized as 14 point.

As superstition, 四 (MC siɪ^H) is avoided because it is similar to 死 (MC sˠiɪ^X, “death”) in sound.

Chinese numbers
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	102	103	104	106	108	1012
Normal (小寫 / 小写)	〇, 零, 空	一, 蜀	二, 兩 / 两	三	四	五	六	七	八	九	十	百	千	萬 / 万, 十千 (Malaysia, Singapore)	百萬 / 百万, 桶(Philippines), 面桶 (Philippines)	億 / 亿	兆 (Taiwan) 萬億 / 万亿 (Mainland China)
Financial (大寫 / 大写)	零	壹	貳 / 贰	參 / 叁	肆	伍	陸 / 陆	柒	捌	玖	拾	佰	仟

In Min Nan numbers, the vernacular (白) pronunciation is the more common pronunciation, while the literary (文) reading is used for reading numbers out loud, such as in phone numbers. Please note that this usage is similar to the usage of the variant 幺 for the numeral 一 in Mandarin.

Playing cards in Mandarin · 撲克牌／扑克牌 (pūkèpái) (layout · text)
尖兒 / 尖儿 (jiānr)	二 (èr)	三 (sān)	四 (sì)	五 (wǔ)	六 (liù)	七 (qī)
八 (bā)	九 (jiǔ)	十 (shí)	鉤兒 / 钩儿 (gōur)	圈兒 / 圈儿 (quānr), 皮蛋 (pídàn, regional)	K	小王 (xiǎowáng, black), 大王 (red), 小鬼 (xiǎoguǐ, black), 大鬼 (dàguǐ, red)

Others:

• Wutunhua: se
• → Proto-Tai: *siːᴮ (“four”)
  • Northern Tai
    • Bouyei: sis
    • Tai Do: xì
    • Zhuang: seiq
  • Central Tai
    • Nong Zhuang: siq
    • Nùng: slỉ
    • Tày: slí
  • Proto-Southwestern Tai: *siːᴮ
    • Thai: สี่ (sìi)
    • Northern Thai: ᩈᩦ᩵
    • Lao: ສີ່ (sī)
    • Phake: ꩬီ (sī)
    • Lü: ᦉᦲᧈ (ṡii¹)
    • Tai Dam: ꪎꪲ꪿
    • Shan: သီႇ (sìi)
    • Tai Laing: ꩬီ
    • Tai Nüa: ᥔᥤᥱ (sǐ)
    • Khamti: ꩬီ
    • Ahom: 𑜏𑜣 (sī)
    • Aiton: ꩬီ (sī)
• → Vietnamese: tư (“four”)

simp. and trad.		四

四

1. (music) Kunqu gongche notation for the note low la (6̣).

   Synonym: 士 (shì) (Cantonese opera)

• “四”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.

Japanese cardinal numbers

<  3	4	5  >
Cardinal : 四

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

• Go-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• Tō-on: すう (sū)
• Kun: よ (yo, 四, Jōyō)、よつ (yotsu, 四つ, Jōyō)、よっつ (yottsu, 四つ, Jōyō)、よん (yon, 四, Jōyō)
• Nanori: あ (a)、つ (tsu)、ひろ (hiro)、もち (mochi)、よつ (yotsu)

• 四股(しこ) (shiko)
• 四阿(あずまや) (azumaya)

Kanji in this term
四
よ Grade: 1
kun'yomi

⟨yo₂⟩ → */jə/ → /jo/

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *yə.

In modern Japanese, Japonic よ (yo) is more common than Sinitic し (shi, see Etymology 3) outside fixed compounds, which is similar to 七(なな) (nana) but different from other numerals. The reason may be a superstitious connection to 死(し) (shi, “death”), or simply avoiding confusion with similar sounding 一(いち) (ichi, “one”) and 七(しち) (shichi, “seven”).

• (Tokyo) よ [yóꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [jo̞]

四(よ) • (yo) 

1. four, 4

Kanji in this term
四
よん Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Shift from yo above,^[1][2] influenced by analogy by the final sound of preceding number 三 (san, “three”). The most common form as a stand-alone number.

• (Tokyo) よん [yóꜜǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [jõ̞ɴ]

• Audio:

  (file)

四(よん) • (yon) 

1. four, 4

• 四(よん)十(じゅう) (yonjū)
• 四(よん)輪(りん) (yonrin)

Kanji in this term
四
し Grade: 1
on'yomi

/si/ → /ɕi/

From Middle Chinese 四 (MC siɪ^H).

Compare modern Hakka 四 (si).

• (financial form) 肆

• (Tokyo) し [shíꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɕi]

• Audio:

  (file)

四(し) • (shi) 

1. four, 4

Due to Chinese influence, 四 (shi) is sometimes avoided as it is homonymous to 死 (shi, “death”).

四(し) • (shi) 

1. the fourth

四(し) • (shi) 

1. four
2. fourth
3. quadruple
4. here and there

Kanji in this term
四
すう Grade: 1
irregular

From Mandarin 四 (sì).^[1][2][3]

• (Tokyo) スー [súꜜù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [sɨː]

四(スー) • (sū) 

1. (mahjong) four, 4

• 一(イー) (ī)
• 二(アル) (aru)
• 三(サン) (san)

• The Japan Times (March 17, 2010). You can count on the tales behind number-kanji. Accessed March 23, 2010.

Korean numbers ^(edit)

	40
←  3	4	5  →
Native isol.: 넷 (net)     Native attr.: 네 (ne), (dated) 넉 (neok), (archaic) 너 (neo)     Sino-Korean: 사 (sa)     Hanja: 四     Ordinal: 넷째 (netjjae)

From Middle Chinese 四 (MC siɪ^H).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [sʰa̠(ː)]
• Phonetic hangul: [사(ː)]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Wikisource

四 (eumhun 넉 사 (neok sa))

1. hanja form^? of 사 (“four”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

From Proto-Japonic *yə.

Also used as 借訓 (shakkun) kana for ⟨yo₂⟩.

四 (yo₂) (kana よ)

1. four, 4

• 四人 (yo₂tari)

• Japanese: 四 (yo, yon)

四: Hán Việt readings: tứ^[1][2][3]
四: Nôm readings: tớ^[1][2][4], tứ^[2][3], tư^[4]

1. chữ Hán form of tứ (“four”)
2. chữ Nôm form of tư (“four; fourth”)