幾許

Chinese
 
how much; how many; several
how much; how many; several; a few; almost
 
to allow; to permit; to praise
to allow; to permit; to praise; surname
trad. (幾許) 幾 許
simp. (几许) 几 许

Pronunciation

Adverb

幾許

  1. (literary) how much; how many

Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 多少 (“how many; how much”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese 幾, 幾何, 幾多, 幾許, 多少
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 多少
Mandarin Beijing 多少
Taiwan 多少
Jinan 多少
Xi'an 多少
Wuhan 幾多, 好多
Chengdu 好多
Guilin 好多
Xiangtan (Jiangnan Industries Group koine) 幾, 幾多
Yangzhou 多少
Hefei 好些, 好多
Singapore 多少
Cantonese Guangzhou 幾多, 幾
Hong Kong 幾多, 幾
Taishan 幾多
Yangjiang 幾多, 幾
Singapore (Guangfu) 幾多, 幾
Gan Nanchang 幾多
Hakka Meixian 幾多
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 幾多
Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 幾多
Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) 幾多
Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) 幾多
Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) 幾多
Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) 幾多
Jin Taiyuan 多少
Northern Min Jian'ou 幾多
Eastern Min Fuzhou 若夥
Singapore (Fuqing) 若夥
Southern Min Xiamen 偌濟
Quanzhou 偌濟
Shishi 偌濟
Zhangzhou 偌濟
Zhao'an 偌濟
Tainan 偌濟, 幾
Penang (Hokkien) 幾
Singapore (Hokkien) 偌濟, 幾
Manila (Hokkien) 偌濟, 幾
Chaozhou 若濟
Shantou 若濟
Jieyang 若濟
Pontianak (Teochew) 若濟
Haikou 偌濟
Wu Shanghai 多少, 幾化, 幾多化 dated
Suzhou 幾化
Wuxi 幾化
Ningbo 多少
Wenzhou 幾倈兒, 幾倈
Lishui 幾粒
Qingyuan 多
Xiang Changsha 好多
Xiangtan 幾, 幾多
Shuangfeng 好多, 幾多

Descendants
Sino-Xenic (幾許):
  • → Japanese: 幾許(いくばく) (ikubaku)

Japanese
Kanji in this term
幾 許
いく
Grade: S		 ばく
Grade: 5
kun’yomi irregular
Alternative spellings
幾何
幾ばく

Etymology 1

Compound of 幾 (iku, “how”) +‎ ば (ba, “much, amount”, ancient element, also appears in obsolete そこば (sokoba, “that much”)) +‎ く (ku, ancient suffix used to form adverbs; compare か (ka) used to form adjectives).[1]

First cited to the Man'yōshū, completed in roughly 759.[1]

The kanji spelling is an orthographic borrowing from Chinese 幾許／几许 (jǐxǔ).

Pronunciation
  • (Tokyo) いくばく [ìkúbákú] (Heiban – [0])[2]
  • IPA(key): [ikɯ̟ᵝba̠kɯ̟ᵝ]

Adverb

幾(いく)許(ばく) • (ikubaku) 

  1. how much, how many
    Synonyms: どのぐらい, どれほど, いくら
  2. (usually followed by か (ka)), few, a little bit
    Synonyms: 僅か (wazuka), 少し (sukoshi)
    いくばくかの金(かね)を渡(わた)す
    ikubaku ka no kane o watasu
    to hand over a little bit of money
  3. (chiefly in the negative) a little bit, not much
    余命(よめい)幾許(いくばく)もない
    yomei ikubaku mo nai
    having a short time to live
Usage notes

This term is often spelled in hiragana.

Etymology 2

Various uncommon readings.

Adverb

幾許(こきし) or 幾許(こきだ) or 幾許(ここだ) or 幾許(ここば) or 幾許(ここら) • (kokishi or kokida or kokoda or kokoba or kokora) 

  1. many, a lot

Adverb

幾許(いくだ) • (ikuda) 

  1. (chiefly in the negative) a little bit, not much

Etymology 4
For pronunciation and definitions of 幾許 – see the following entry.
【若干そこばく】
[adverb] a little, any
【若干そくばく】
[adverb] a little, any
【若干そこばこ】
[adverb] a little, any
【若干そこば】
[adverb] a little, any
(This term, 幾許, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

References
  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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