或

或 (Kangxi radical 62, 戈+4, 8 strokes, cangjie input 戈口一 (IRM), four-corner 5310₀, composition ⿹戈⿱口㇀)

• 㖪, 域, 惐, 掝, 淢, 䧕, 棫, 𤊨, 琙, 㽣, 䂸, 稢, 緎, 聝, 𠒬, 戫, 蜮, 䬎(𬱿), 馘, 䤋, 䮙, 魊, 䱛(𮬟), 𠜻, 㰲, 㚜, 罭, 窢, 䈅, 䍞, 閾(阈), 惑, 㳼, 𤦂, 𢨋, 䰥, 彧, 𤷇, 國(国)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 412, character 18
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 11563
• Dae Jaweon: page 754, character 17
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1402, character 8
• Unihan data for U+6216

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 戈 (“dagger-axe (used to defend the territory)”) + 囗 (“city wall”) + 一, “territory”. The most ancient version is 戓, then modified into 或; the stroke was added perhaps when the pronounciation of the character evolved.

Borrowed for abstract meanings. The derivative 國 (OC *kʷɯːɡ), 域 (OC *ɢʷrɯɡ), and perhaps 淢 refer to the original word. The last character can be seen in the ancient name of the Han river, 㵄.

或 (OC *ɡʷɯːɡ, “someone; some”) is the result of the distributive suffix *-k being added to 有 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, “there is”).

Cognate with 又 (OC *ɢʷɯs, “again”) (Schuessler, 2007).

或

1. or; either ... or ... (used to list alternatives)

   中國或日本／中国或日本  ―  Zhōngguó huò Rìběn  ―  China or Japan

   或多或少  ―  huòduōhuòshǎo  ―  more or less, some amount

   可以說兩種或兩種以上的語言 [MSC, trad.]
   可以说两种或两种以上的语言 [MSC, simp.]

   kěyǐ shuō liǎng zhǒng huò liǎng zhǒng yǐshàng de yǔyán [Pinyin]

   able to speak two or more languages

2. (literary, including in news headlines) perhaps; maybe
   • 1046 October 17, 范仲淹 [Fan Zhongyan], 岳陽樓記 [Memorial to Yueyang Tower]:

     嗟夫！予嘗求古仁人之心，或異二者之為。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     嗟夫！予尝求古仁人之心，或异二者之为。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     Jiēfū! Yǔ cháng qiú gǔ rénrén zhī xīn, huò yì èr zhě zhī wèi. [Pinyin]

     Alas! I once investigated the thoughts of the ancient sages, they were perhaps different from the behaviour of the two.

   代表團已出發，明天上午或可到達。 [MSC, trad.]
   代表团已出发，明天上午或可到达。 [MSC, simp.]

   Dàibiǎotuán yǐ chūfā, míngtiān shàngwǔ huò kě dàodá. [Pinyin]

   The delegation has set out, and will probably arrive tomorrow morning.

3. occasionally; sometimes
4. if; assuming; should ...
5. (logic, computing) OR; inclusive or
6. particle used in negative sentences to reinforce the negative tone
7. (literary) some; someone; something

   • 齊人伐燕，勝之。宣王問曰：「或謂寡人勿取，或謂寡人取之。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     齐人伐燕，胜之。宣王问曰：「或谓寡人勿取，或谓寡人取之。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Qí rén fá yàn, shèng zhī. Xuān wáng wèn yuē: “Huò wèi guǎrén wù qǔ, huò wèi guǎrén qǔ zhī.” [Pinyin]

     Qi attacked Yan, conquering it. King Xuan said: "Some people tell me not to take it [Yan] for myself; some tell me to take it".

8. Ancient form of 惑 (huò, “doubt”).

或

1. Original form of 域 (yù, “range; territory”).
2. Original form of 國／国 (guó, “country”).

• Jing-Schmidt, Zhuo, Peng, Xinjia (2016 February 1) “The emergence of disjunction: A history of constructionalization in Chinese”, in Cognitive Linguistics‎^[1], volume 27, number 1, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 101–136.

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

1. a certain ...; some ...​

• Go-on: わく (waku)
• Kan-on: こく (koku)
• Kun: ある (aru, 或る)、あるいは (arui wa, 或るいは)

或 • (hok) (hangeul 혹, revised hok, McCune–Reischauer hok, Yale hok)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

或: Hán Nôm readings: hoặc, hoắc

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.