象

• In traditional Chinese, Japanese kanji Korean hanja, and Vietnamese Nôm, the middle component of 象 is written 𫩏 followed by 𧰨.
• In simplified Chinese, the middle component of 象 is written 口 overlapped by a downward ㇓ slash and is one stroke less compared to the traditional form.

象 (Kangxi radical 152, 豕+5 in traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean, 豕+4 in simplified Chinese, 12 strokes in traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean, 11 strokes in simplified Chinese, cangjie input 弓日心人 (NAPO), four-corner 2723₂, composition ⿱⺈⿻口𧰨(G) or ⿳⺈𫩏𧰨(HT) or ⿸⿳⺈𫩏⿹⿱丿㇁⿱丿丿⿺乀丿(JKV))

• 像, 嶑, 潒, 橡, 豫, 䂊, 襐, 蟓, 鐌, 鱌(𬶲), 勨, 䴂

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1195, character 21
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 36372
• Dae Jaweon: page 1658, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 3611, character 9
• Unihan data for U+8C61

Pictogram (象形) - pictographic representation of an elephant. ⺈ represents the trunk, 𫩏 represents the head, and 𧰨 represents the body.

This character is used to represent two semantic fields ‘elephant; tusk’ and ‘to outline; to depict; to delineate; to represent; to resemble; to map’. Both fields are found from the earliest layers of the edited literature onwards, whereas only the first meaning is amply attested in oracle bone inscriptions.

Traditionally, the two senses are treated as related, with the sense of ‘to depict; to resemble’ considered a derivative of the sense of ‘elephant’. The derivation from the ‘elephant’ meaning to the ‘likeness’ meaning is explained in Han Feizi, first attested in c. 221 BCE: “Men rarely see living elephants. As they come by the skeleton of a dead elephant, they imagine its living form according to its features. Therefore it comes to pass that whatever people use for imagining the real is called 象.”

Modern etymology studies on Old Chinese have challenged this opinion.

As for the ‘elephant; tusk’ sense, this is a widely used area word in East and Southeast Asia. Literature opinions differ on the origin and immediate relationship of this Chinese word; some (e.g. Schuessler, 2007) believe the Chinese form is a loanword from a Southern language, since it is unlikely that peoples all over Southeast Asia and the Himalayan foothills would borrow a word from Northern China to denote an indigenous animal. Others believe the direction of borrowing is reversed (i.e. Tai-Kadai borrowing from Chinese), and that Chinese 象 should be compared with Tibetan གླང (glang), གླང་ཆེན (glang chen, “elephant”) arising from a common Proto-Sino-Tibetan *glaŋ (“ox, bull; elephant”), which may ultimately have an Austroasiatic origin (Schuessler, 1994 (unpublished) apud Behr, 2004a; cf. Old Mon draṅ (draŋ), [script needed] (graŋ, “animal horn, elephant tusk”), Mon ဂြၚ် (krɛ̀aŋ, “horn, tusk”) and Kharia ɖeɽeŋ from Proto-Austroasiatic *krɨŋ (“horn”)). The second viewpoint is supported by the early attestation of this character and the archaeological findings of the historical ranges of elephants. However, Schuessler disputes that second viewpoint and links ST *glaŋ to 犅 (OC *klaːŋ, “ox, bull”).

See below for a tentative borrowing history of the various forms of this general area word.

象

1. elephant (Classifier: 頭／头 m; 隻／只 m c mn)

   幼象  ―  yòu xiàng  ―  young elephant

   • 來獻其琛：元龜象齒、大賂南金。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     来献其琛：元龟象齿、大赂南金。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Lái xiàn qí chēn: yuánguī xiàngchǐ, dàlù nánjīn. [Pinyin]

     They will come presenting their precious things: the large tortoises and their elephants’ teeth, and great contributions of the southern metals.

2. ivory; tusk

   Synonym: 象牙 (xiàngyá)

   象床  ―  xiàngchuáng  ―  ivory-decorated bed

   • 玉之瑱也、象之揥也。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Yù zhī tiàn yě, xiàng zhī tì yě. [Pinyin]

     There are her ear-ornaments of jade, her comb-pin of ivory.

3. (xiangqi) elephant: 🩩 (on the black side) (Classifier: 隻／只 c)

   Synonym: 相

4. (chess) bishop
5. symbol; emblem

   象徵／象征  ―  xiàngzhēng  ―  symbol

6. appearance; shape; phenomenon

   天象  ―  tiānxiàng  ―  celestial phenomenon

   現象／现象  ―  xiànxiàng  ―  phenomenon

   景象  ―  jǐngxiàng  ―  scene

7. (traditional Chinese medicine) complexion

   病象  ―  bìngxiàng  ―  disease signs and symptoms

8. image; picture; portrait

   See also: 像

9. sign; indication
10. (obsolete) law; legislation
11. (obsolete) principle
12. (obsolete) calendar
13. (literary) to imitate; to follow the example of

    象形  ―  xiàngxíng  ―  pictogram

    象聲詞／象声词  ―  xiàngshēngcí  ―  onomatopoeia

14. (literary) to trace; to outline; to depict
15. to resemble

    See also: 像

16. (historical) government official that translates southern languages
17. (～郡) (historical) Xiang, a commandery of Han China
18. a surname

• (elephant):

• (like):

• (Chinese chess pieces) 帥 / 帅 (shuài) / 將 / 将 (jiàng), 仕 (shì) / 士 (shì), 相 / 象 (xiàng), 俥 / 伡 / 車 / 车 (jū), 傌 / 㐷 / 馬 / 马 (mǎ), 炮 / 砲 / 炮, 兵 (bīng) / 卒 (zú)

Others:

• →? Bulgar: (from 象 (OC *s-[d]aŋʔ)^[1][2])
  • Chuvash: сӑлан (sălan)
  • >? Proto-Slavic: *slonъ
• → Proto-Common Turkic: *yaŋan (from *žaŋga(n) < 象 (MC zjangX)^[2])
  • Old Uyghur: 𐽶𐽰𐽺𐽷𐽰 (yaŋa)
    • Western Yugur: yaŋan
• → Kalmyk: зан (zan)
• → Mongolian: заан (zaan)
• → Proto-Tai: *ɟaːŋꟲ (“elephant”)
  • Lao: ຊ້າງ (sāng)
  • Lü: ᦋᦱᧂᧉ (tsaang²)
  • Northern Thai: ᨩ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨦ (cang)
  • Saek: ซาง
  • Shan: ၸၢင်ႉ (tsâ̰ang)
  • Tai Dam: ꪋ꫁ꪱꪉ
  • Tai Nüa: ᥓᥣᥒᥳ (tsȧang)
  • Thai: ช้าง (cháang)
  • → Proto-Lolo-Burmese: *tsaŋ (“elephant”)
    • Burmese: ဆင် (hcang)
    • → Proto-Monic: *ciiŋ ("elephant")
      • Mon: စိၚ် (coiŋ)
  • → Proto-Vietic: *ʔa-ɟaːŋ (“elephant”)^[3]

• 象 was the official simplified form of 像 (xiàng) only until 1986.

• “象”, 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.

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 𧰼)

• Go-on: ぞう (zō, Jōyō)^{←ざう (zau, historical)}
• Kan-on: しょう (shō, Jōyō)^{←しやう (syau, historical)}
• Kun: かたち (katachi, 象)、かたどる (katadoru, 象る)、のり (nori, 象)、きさ (kisa, 象)
• Nanori: かた (kata)、たか (taka)

/zau/ → /zɔː/ → /zoː/

From Middle Chinese 象 (zjang^X, “elephant; image, resemblance”). Compare modern Cantonese reading zoeng⁶.

The goon reading, so likely the initial borrowing.

• (Tokyo) ぞー [zóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [d͡zo̞ː]

象(ぞう) or 象(ゾウ) • (zō) ^{←ざう (zau)?} (counter 頭)

1. elephant

/sjau/ → /sjɔː/ → /ɕɔː/ → /ɕoː/

From Middle Chinese 象 (zjang^X, “elephant; image, resemblance”). Compare modern Min Nan reading siōng or Mandarin xiàng.

The kan'on reading, so likely a later borrowing.

• (Tokyo) しょー [shóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ː]

象(しょう) • (shō) ^{←しやう (syau)?}

1. likeness, appearance

From Old Japanese.

Kokugo Dai Jiten proposes cognacy with 橒 (kisa, “wood grain”), from the way that ivory also has a grain.^[3] Vovin (2021) instead derived 象 (kisa) from Austroasiatic by adducing attested and reconstructed Austroasiatic comparanda meaning "elephant" like Proto-Palaungic *(k)caaŋ (whence Tai Loi [script needed] (k’sang), Kem Degne Blang [script needed] (kesaŋ), Samtao [script needed] (kǝsáŋ), Danau [script needed] (kǝtsaŋ⁴)), Proto-Katuic *Ɂaciaŋ, Proto-Vietic *ʔa-ɟaːŋ, and Cuang Khmu sca:ŋ.^[4]

• IPA^(key): [kʲisa̠]

象(きさ) • (kisa) 

1. (obsolete) elephant
   • 938, Minamoto no Shitagō, Wamyō Ruijushō, volume 7, page 52:

     象 [...] 岐佐 [...] 獣名、似水牛、大耳、長鼻、眼細、牙長者也

     Elephant, [...] kisa a kind of beast, looks like water buffalo, having big ears, long nose, slender eyes and long teeth

   • 970–999, Utsubo Monogatari, page Toshikage:

     それより西を行ケば、虎狼ひと山さワぐ所有り。キサ出デてその山をこしつ。

     When he went west from there, there was a place where tigers and monkeys clamoured on a mountain. Elephants had set out and crossed that mountain

• Kōno, Tama (c. 970–999) Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 10: Utsubo Monogatari 1 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 1959, →ISBN.
• Minamoto, Shitagō with Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu (931–938) Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Honbunhen (in Japanese), Kyōto: Rinsen, published 1968, →ISBN.

From Middle Chinese 象 (MC zjangX). Recorded as Middle Korean 샤ᇰ〮 (syáng) (Yale: syang) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Wikisource

象 (eumhun 코끼리 상 (kokkiri sang))

1. hanja form^? of 상 (“elephant”)
2. hanja form^? of 상 (“shape; figure; appearance”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [3]

象: Hán Nôm readings: tượng

1. (in compounds) elephant
2. a xiangqi piece which represents an elephant
3. shape; scene