先輩

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See also: 先辈

Chinese

early; prior; former
early; prior; former; in advance; first
 
 contemporaries; generation; lifetime
trad. (先輩) 先 輩
simp. (先辈) 先 辈
alternative forms 賢拜／贤拜 Taiwanese Hokkien with Mandarin based spelling

Pronunciation

Note: sên-pái - from Japanese pronunciation.
Note: siăn-pái - from Japanese pronunciation.
Rime
Character 先 輩
Reading # 1/2 1/1
Initial (聲) 心 (16) 幫 (1)
Final (韻) 先 (85) 灰 (42)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open Closed
Division (等) IV I
Fanqie 蘇前切 補妹切
Baxter sen pwojH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/sen/ /puʌiH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/sen/ /puoiH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/sɛn/ /puɒiH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/sɛn/ /pwəjH/
Li
Rong 		/sen/ /puᴀiH/
Wang
Li 		/sien/ /puɒiH/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/sien/ /puɑ̆iH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		xiān bèi
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		sin1 bui3

Noun

先輩

  1. older generation; senior; elder
  2. ancestor; predecessor

Synonyms

  • (older generation):
  • (ancestor):

Antonyms

  • (antonym(s) of “older generation”):

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (先輩):
  • → Japanese: 先輩(せんぱい) (senpai)
  • → Korean: 선배(先輩) (seonbae)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
先 輩
せん
Grade: 1 		はい > ぱい
Grade: S
on'yomi
Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ja
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 先輩 (MC sen pwojH). Doublet of ソンベ (sonbe).

Pronunciation

Noun

先(せん)輩(ぱい) • (senpai) 

  1. a person who entered one’s school earlier
    1. an upperclassman
    2. an older alumnus (graduate) of one’s school
  2. a person who entered one’s workplace earlier; a senior; one who has seniority
  3. an elder (one who is older)
  4. a person who is higher in social standing or level of education, skill, or experience; a superior

Usage notes

Can be used after a person’s name as an honorific.

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Descendants

References

  1. ^ 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

Korean

Hanja in this term
先輩

Noun

先輩 • (seonbae) (hangeul 선배)

  1. hanja form? of 선배 (“a senior or elder in an organization; an upperclassman”)
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