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坎坷. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
坎坷, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
坎坷 in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
坎坷 you have here. The definition of the word
坎坷 will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
坎坷, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Chinese
Etymology
Coined by Han dynasty's scholar Yang Xiong in his 《河東賦》 "Hedong Rhapsody", included in Book of Han:
Pronunciation
Note: khám-khia̍t/kham-khia̍t/khám-khiat - 坎碣 is used in the Mainland.
| Rime
|
| Character
|
坎
|
坷
|
坷
|
| Reading #
|
1/1
|
1/2
|
2/2
|
| Initial (聲)
|
溪 (29)
|
溪 (29)
|
溪 (29)
|
| Final (韻)
|
覃 (159)
|
歌 (94)
|
歌 (94)
|
| Tone (調)
|
Rising (X)
|
Rising (X)
|
Departing (H)
|
| Openness (開合)
|
Open
|
Open
|
Open
|
| Division (等)
|
I
|
I
|
I
|
| Fanqie
|
苦感切
|
枯我切
|
口箇切
|
| Baxter
|
khomX
|
khaX
|
khaH
|
| Reconstructions
|
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
|
/kʰʌmX/
|
/kʰɑX/
|
/kʰɑH/
|
Pan
Wuyun
|
/kʰəmX/
|
/kʰɑX/
|
/kʰɑH/
|
Shao
Rongfen
|
/kʰɒmX/
|
/kʰɑX/
|
/kʰɑH/
|
Edwin
Pulleyblank
|
/kʰəmX/
|
/kʰaX/
|
/kʰaH/
|
Li
Rong
|
/kʰᴀmX/
|
/kʰɑX/
|
/kʰɑH/
|
Wang
Li
|
/kʰɒmX/
|
/kʰɑX/
|
/kʰɑH/
|
Bernard
Karlgren
|
/kʰămX/
|
/kʰɑX/
|
/kʰɑH/
|
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
|
kǎn
|
kě
|
kè
|
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
|
ham2
|
ho2
|
ho3
|
| Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
|
| Character
|
坎
|
| Reading #
|
1/1
|
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
|
kǎn
|
Middle
Chinese
|
‹ khomX ›
|
Old
Chinese
|
/*ʰˁomʔ/
|
| English
|
pit (n.)
|
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:
* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;
* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
|
| Zhengzhang system (2003)
|
| Character
|
坎
|
坷
|
坷
|
| Reading #
|
1/2
|
1/2
|
2/2
|
| No.
|
10269
|
7449
|
7450
|
Phonetic
component
|
欠
|
可
|
可
|
Rime
group
|
談
|
歌
|
歌
|
Rime
subdivision
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
Corresponding
MC rime
|
坎
|
可
|
坷
|
Old
Chinese
|
/*kʰoːmʔ/
|
/*kʰaːlʔ/
|
/*kʰaːls/
|
Adjective
坎坷
- (of a road) bumpy
踏平坎坷，成大道；鬥罷艱險，又出發，又出發。 [MSC, trad.]
踏平坎坷，成大道；斗罢艰险，又出发，又出发。 [MSC, simp.]- From: 1986, 閻肅 Yan Su (lyricist) & 許鏡清 Xu Jingqing (composer),《敢問路在何方》 "Dare I ask where the road is?"
- Tà píng kǎnkě, chéng dàdào; dòubà jiānxiǎn, yòu chūfā, yòu chūfā.
- Trampling the roughs flat, into the great road; fighting and overcoming hardships and dangers, then starting again. Starting again.
- (figurative, of life) hard; rough; ill-fated; unfortunate; unfavoured
Synonyms
- (bumpy): 不平 (bùpíng)
- (hard): (literary) 乖舛 (guāichuǎn)
Derived terms