河

河 (Kangxi radical 85, 水+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 水一弓口 (EMNR), four-corner 3112₀, composition ⿰氵可)

• 𪷹, 菏

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 613, character 9
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 17245
• Dae Jaweon: page 1006, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 1582, character 3
• Unihan data for U+6CB3

Historical forms of the character 河
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ɡaːl) : semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 可 (OC *kʰaːlʔ).

Originally particularly used for the Yellow River, with other rivers known as 水 (OC *qʰʷljilʔ). Later extended generally as a word for rivers in northern China but the influence of 江 (OC *kroːŋ, “Yangtze River; river in southern China”) has meant that modern usage tends to favor it for shorter rivers and creeks except in historical cases.

External etymology uncertain. Various hypotheses have been proposed:

• Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with Tibetan རྒལ (rgal, “to cross, to traverse”) (Coblin, 1986).
• A Mongolic loan. Compare Proto-Mongolic *gowl (“river”) > Mongolian ᠭᠣᠣᠯ (ɣool, “river”) (Norman and Mei, 1976). This was argued against in Zhang (1998).
• Derived from 湖 (OC *ɡaː, “lake”) (Matisoff, 1995).
• Takashima (2012), citing palaeographical and archaeological evidence, posits that the Yellow River's name stemmed from the shape, which resembles an adze handle 柯 (OC *kaːl), of a stretch spanning 500 to 600 kilometers "from Héjīn, Tóngguān to east of Zhèngzhōu".

河

1. Yellow River, Huang He

   Synonym: 黃河／黄河 (Huáng Hé)

   河南  ―  Hénán  ―  Henan (literally, “south of the Yellow River”)

   • 偃鼠飲河，不過滿腹。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     偃鼠饮河，不过满腹。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE

     Yǎnshǔ yǐn Hé, bùguò mǎn fù. [Pinyin]

     Moles drink from the He [river]; yet cannot overfill their bellies

   • 何謂六水？曰河水、赤水、遼水、黑水、江水、淮水。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     何谓六水？曰河水、赤水、辽水、黑水、江水、淮水。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Huainanzi, 2^nd century BCE

     Hé wèi liùshuǐ? Yuē héshuǐ, chìshuǐ, liáoshuǐ, hēishuǐ, jiāngshuǐ, huáishuǐ. [Pinyin]

     What are the six rivers called? They are named He River, Red River, Liao River, Black River, Jiang River, and Huai River.

   1. (obsolete, Chinese mythology) Hebo; the god of the Yellow River
   2. (obsolete, Chinese mythology) Yellow River's Map; the plan of the Yellow River (mystic diagram said to have been supernaturally revealed)
2. (by extension) river, especially a smaller river, creek, or stream, as distinguished from 江 and 川 (Classifier: 條／条 m c; 道 m)

   河流  ―  héliú  ―  river

   小河  ―  xiǎo hé  ―  small river, stream

3. (obsolete) streamside; riverside
4. (literary, figurative) Milky Way
5. (chiefly Cantonese) Short for 河粉 (héfěn).

   乾炒牛河／干炒牛河 [Cantonese]  ―  gon¹ caau² ngau⁴ ho^4-2 [Jyutping]  ―  beef chow fun

6. a surname: He; Ho

• (river): (Wu) 河浜

• Wutunhua: xhe

• “河”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

(grade 5 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. river

• Go-on: が (ga)
• Kan-on: か (ka, Jōyō)
• Kun: かわ (kawa, 河, Jōyō)
• Nanori: こ (ko); こう (kō)

From Middle Chinese 河 (MC ha).

河(か) • (ka) 

1. river

From Chinese 河 (hé). The pronunciation is most similar to Cantonese /hɔː²¹/, although most Japanese mahjong terminology is taken from early 20th Century Mandarin.

河(ホー) or 河(ホウ) • (hō) 

1. (mahjong) river: a player's discard pile

From Middle Chinese 河 (MC ha).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ha̠]
• Phonetic hangul: [하]

Wikisource 河 (eumhun 물 하 (mul ha))

1. Hanja form^? of 하 (“river”).

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

河: Hán Việt readings: hà (寒(hàn)歌(ca)切(thiết))[1][2][3][4][5]
河: Nôm readings: hà[1][2][4][6]

1. chữ Hán form of hà (“river”).