東西
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See also: 东西
Chinese
| east | west | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (東西) | 東 | 西 | |
| simp. (东西) | 东 | 西 | |
Etymology
- "thing; stuff"
- Unknown. Many theories exist.
- The mainstream theory states that people in ancient times (Some theories might claim that the vocab origins from the Han or Tang Dynasty) would go to East and West markets to buy goods respectively, and over time this vocab became a pronoun for "things" in vernacular language.
Pronunciation 1
- Mandarin
- (Standard)
- (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): dong1 si1
- (Nanjing, Nanjing Pinyin): dònsì
- Cantonese (Jyutping): dung1 sai1
- Hakka (Sixian, PFS): tûng-sî
- Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): tang-sai
- Wu (Wugniu)
- Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): dong1 si
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: dōngxī
- Zhuyin: ㄉㄨㄥ ㄒㄧ
- Tongyong Pinyin: dongsi
- Wade–Giles: tung1-hsi1
- Yale: dūng-syī
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dongshi
- Palladius: дунси (dunsi)
- Sinological IPA (key): /tʊŋ⁵⁵ ɕi⁵⁵/
- (Chengdu)
- Sichuanese Pinyin: dong1 si1
- Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: dung s
- Sinological IPA (key): /toŋ⁵⁵ sz̩⁵⁵/
- (Nanjing)
- Nanjing Pinyin: dònsì
- Nanjing Pinyin (numbered): don1 si1
- Sinological IPA (key): /toŋ³¹⁻³³ si³¹/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: dung1 sai1
- Yale: dūng sāi
- Cantonese Pinyin: dung1 sai1
- Guangdong Romanization: dung1 sei1
- Sinological IPA (key): /tʊŋ⁵⁵ sɐi̯⁵⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
- Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: tûng-sî
- Hakka Romanization System: dungˊ xiˊ
- Hagfa Pinyim: dung1 xi1
- Sinological IPA: /tuŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ si²⁴/
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
- Southern Min
- Wu
- Xiang
- Middle Chinese: tuwng sej
- Old Chinese
- (Baxter–Sagart): /*tˤoŋ s-nˤər/
- (Zhengzhang): /*toːŋ sɯːl/
Noun
東西
Adverb
東西
- from east to west
- 阿富汗，即愛烏罕。其國北界布哈爾，南界俾路支，東界印度，西界波斯，東西二千餘里。
- From: 1929, Zhao Erxun (lead editor), Draft History of Qing
- Āfùhàn, jí Àiwūhǎn. Qí guó běi jiè Bùhā'ěr, nán jiè Bǐlùzhī, dōng jiè Yìndù, xī jiè Bōsī, dōngxī èrqiān yú lǐ.
- Afghanistan (Afuhan), is Aiwuhan. This country borders Bukhara to its north, Balochistan to its south, India to its east, and Persia to its west. It spans more than two thousand li from east to west.
阿富汗，即爱乌罕。其国北界布哈尔，南界俾路支，东界印度，西界波斯，东西二千余里。
Derived terms
See also
- 南北 (nánběi)
Pronunciation 2
- Mandarin
- (Standard)
- (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): dong1 xi1
- (Xi'an, Guanzhong Pinyin): dǒngxi
- (Nanjing, Nanjing Pinyin): dònsi
- (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): дунщи (dunxi, I-I)
- Cantonese (Jyutping): dung1 sai1
- Gan (Wiktionary): dung1 xi
- Hakka
- Jin (Wiktionary): dung1 xi1-3
- Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): tong-si
- Wu (Wugniu)
- Xiang
- (Changsha, Wiktionary): dong1 si
- (Loudi, Wiktionary): dong1 si
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: dōngxi
- Zhuyin: ㄉㄨㄥ ˙ㄒㄧ
- Tongyong Pinyin: dongsi̊
- Wade–Giles: tung1-hsi5
- Yale: dūng-syi
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dong.shi
- Palladius: дунси (dunsi)
- Sinological IPA (key): /tʊŋ⁵⁵ ɕi²/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: dōngxī
- Zhuyin: ㄉㄨㄥ ㄒㄧ
- Tongyong Pinyin: dongsi
- Wade–Giles: tung1-hsi1
- Yale: dūng-syī
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dongshi
- Palladius: дунси (dunsi)
- Sinological IPA (key): /tʊŋ⁵⁵ ɕi⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
Note:
- dōngxi - standard in China;
- dōngxī - common in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and South China.
- (Chengdu)
- Sichuanese Pinyin: dong1 xi1
- Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: dung xi
- Sinological IPA (key): /toŋ⁵⁵ ɕi⁵⁵/
- (Xi'an)
- Guanzhong Pinyin: dǒngxi
- Sinological IPA (key): /tuəŋ²¹ ɕi/
- (Nanjing)
- Nanjing Pinyin: dònsi
- Nanjing Pinyin (numbered): don1 si0
- Sinological IPA (key): /toŋ³¹ si/
- (Dungan)
- Cyrillic and Wiktionary: дунщи (dunxi, I-I)
- Sinological IPA (key): /tuŋ²⁴ ɕi²⁴/
- (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: dung1 sai1
- Yale: dūng sāi
- Cantonese Pinyin: dung1 sai1
- Guangdong Romanization: dung1 sei1
- Sinological IPA (key): /tʊŋ⁵⁵ sɐi̯⁵⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Gan
- (Nanchang)
- Wiktionary: dung1 xi
- Sinological IPA (key): /tuŋ⁴² ɕi²/
- (Nanchang)
- Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
- Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: tûng-sî
- Hakka Romanization System: dungˊ xiˊ
- Hagfa Pinyim: dung1 xi1
- Sinological IPA: /tuŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ si²⁴/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
- Hakka Romanization System: dungˋ siˋ
- Sinological IPA: /tuŋ⁵³ si⁵³/
- (Meixian)
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
- Jin
- (Taiyuan)+
- Wiktionary: dung1 xi1-3
- Sinological IPA (old-style): /tuŋ¹¹ ɕi¹¹⁻⁴⁵/
- (Taiyuan)+
- Southern Min
- Wu
- Xiang
- (Changsha)
- Wiktionary: dong1 si
- Sinological IPA (key) (old-style): /tʊŋ³³ si³/
- Sinological IPA (key) (new-style): /tən³³ ɕi³/
- (Loudi)
- Wiktionary: dong1 si
- Sinological IPA (key): /tɔŋ⁴⁴ si³/
- (Changsha)
Noun
東西
- (chiefly Mandarin, Gan, Hakka, Jin, Xiang) thing; stuff; something (Classifier: 個／个; 件; 樣／样)
- Referring to a person or animal with emotion.
Usage notes
- In Mandarin, whilst 東西／东西 can mean a thing in either a physical or abstract sense, 事情 (shìqing) only means a thing in an abstract sense.
Synonyms
- 物品 (wùpǐn)
Derived terms
Descendants
- → White Hmong: toobxib
References
- ^ Mair, Victor (10 May 2025) “The origin of "thing" in Chinese”, in Language Log, retrieved 10 May 2025
Japanese
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 東 | 西 |
| とう Grade: 2 |
さい > ざい Grade: 2 |
| on'yomi | |
Etymology
From Middle Chinese 東西 (MC tuwng sej). (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?) The sai of 西 changes to zai due to rendaku (連濁).
Pronunciation
Noun
- east and west
- (by extension) all over, here and there
- Orient and Occident
- (slang) a name of a good or money, originally a Chinese slang term
Derived terms
- 古今東西 (kokon tōzai, “all times and places”)
- 東西南北 (tōzai nanboku, “east, west, south and north”)
- 東西冷戦 (Tōzai Reisen, “Cold War”)
Related terms
Interjection
References
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN