明白

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Chinese

clear; bright; to understand
clear; bright; to understand; next; the Ming dynasty
 
white; empty; blank
white; empty; blank; bright; clear; plain; pure; gratuitous
 
simp. and trad.
(明白) 		明 白
Literally: “clear and clean”.

Etymology

Attested in Zhuangzi ("clear and clean"), Chu Ci ("bright and clean"), Mozi ("to be evident, clear"), Tao Te Ching ("to know, to understand").

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 明 白
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Initial (聲) 明 (4) 並 (3)
Final (韻) 庚 (111) 陌 (113)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division (等) III II
Fanqie 武兵切 傍陌切
Baxter mjaeng baek
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/mˠiæŋ/ /bˠæk̚/
Pan
Wuyun 		/mᵚiaŋ/ /bᵚak̚/
Shao
Rongfen 		/miaŋ/ /bak̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/miajŋ/ /baɨjk̚/
Li
Rong 		/miɐŋ/ /bɐk̚/
Wang
Li 		/mĭɐŋ/ /bɐk̚/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/mi̯ɐŋ/ /bʱɐk̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		míng bó
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		ming4 bak6
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 明 白
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		míng bái
Middle
Chinese 		‹ mjæng › ‹ bæk ›
Old
Chinese 		/*mraŋ/ /*bˁrak/
English bright white

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 明 白
Reading # 1/1 1/1
No. 9188 207
Phonetic
component 		明 白
Rime
group 		陽 鐸
Rime
subdivision 		0 0
Corresponding
MC rime 		明 白
Old
Chinese 		/*mraŋ/ /*braːɡ/

Verb

明白

  1. to understand; to know
    等你長大就明白了。 [MSC, trad.]
    等你长大就明白了。 [MSC, simp.]
    Děng nǐ zhǎngdà jiù míngbai le.
    You'll understand when you grow up.
    我講的話你明白了嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
    我讲的话你明白了吗？ [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ jiǎng de huà nǐ míngbai le ma?
    Do you understand what I said?
    你在想什麼，我心裡全明白。 [MSC, trad.]
    你在想什么，我心里全明白。 [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ zài xiǎng shénme, wǒ xīnli quán míngbai.
    I know for sure what you are thinking.

Usage notes

When used as a verb, 明白 (míngbai) conveys an understanding of a meaning or a situation. To express an ability to understand a language, see 會說／会说 (huìshuō, “to be able to speak”), 聽懂／听懂 (tīngdǒng, “to understand by listening”) or 看懂 (kàndǒng, “to understand when reading”).

Synonyms

Adjective

明白

  1. clear; obvious; evident
  2. open; explicit; frank
  3. sensible; reasonable

Synonyms

  • (clear):
  • (explicit):

See also

  • (not to be confused with) 明日 (míngrì)

Derived terms

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (明白):
  • → White Hmong: meejpem

    • Japanese

    Etymology 1

    Kanji in this term
    明 白
    めい
    Grade: 2     		はく
    Grade: 1
    on'yomi

    Pronunciation

    Adjective

    明(めい)白(はく) • (meihaku) -na (adnominal 明(めい)白(はく)な (meihaku na), adverbial 明(めい)白(はく)に (meihaku ni))

    1. clear, obvious, plain, undeniable
      明白(めいはく)な安(あん)保(ぽ)理(り)決(けつ)議(ぎ)違(い)反(はん)だ。
      Meihaku na anporiketsugīhan da.
      It is a clear violation of Security Council resolutions.
    Inflection
    Inflection of 明白
    Stem forms
    Imperfective (未然形) 明白だろ めいはくだろ meihaku daro
    Continuative (連用形) 明白で めいはくで meihaku de
    Terminal (終止形) 明白だ めいはくだ meihaku da
    Attributive (連体形) 明白な めいはくな meihaku na
    Hypothetical (仮定形) 明白なら めいはくなら meihaku nara
    Imperative (命令形) 明白であれ めいはくであれ meihaku de are
    Key constructions
    Informal negative 明白ではない
    明白じゃない         		めいはくではない
    めいはくじゃない         		meihaku de wa nai
    meihaku ja nai
    Informal past 明白だった めいはくだった meihaku datta
    Informal negative past 明白ではなかった
    明白じゃなかった         		めいはくではなかった
    めいはくじゃなかった         		meihaku de wa nakatta
    meihaku ja nakatta
    Formal 明白です めいはくです meihaku desu
    Formal negative 明白ではありません
    明白じゃありません         		めいはくではありません
    めいはくじゃありません         		meihaku de wa arimasen
    meihaku ja arimasen
    Formal past 明白でした めいはくでした meihaku deshita
    Formal negative past 明白ではありませんでした
    明白じゃありませんでした         		めいはくではありませんでした
    めいはくじゃありませんでした         		meihaku de wa arimasen deshita
    meihaku ja arimasen deshita
    Conjunctive 明白で めいはくで meihaku de
    Conditional 明白なら（ば） めいはくなら（ば） meihaku nara (ba)
    Provisional 明白だったら めいはくだったら meihaku dattara
    Volitional 明白だろう めいはくだろう meihaku darō
    Adverbial 明白に めいはくに meihaku ni
    Degree 明白さ めいはくさ meihakusa

    Noun

    明(めい)白(はく) • (meihaku) 

    1. obviousness, undeniability

    Etymology 2

    Kanji in this term
    明 白
    あからさま
    Grade: 2 Grade: 1
    jukujikun
    For pronunciation and definitions of 明白 – see the following entry.
    【あからさま】
    open; candid
    Alternative spelling
    明白地
    (This term, 明白, is an alternative spelling (literary) of the above term.)

    References

    1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
    2. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
    3. ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

    Korean

    Hanja in this term
    明白

    Root

    明白 • (myeongbaek) (hangeul 명백)

    1. hanja form? of 명백 (“explicit”)

    Vietnamese

    chữ Hán Nôm in this term
    明白

    Adjective

    明白

    1. chữ Hán form of minh bạch.
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