乒乒乓乓

Chinese

FWOTD – 6 December 2014

		bing (onomat.)	bing (onomat.)	bang (onomat.)	bang (onomat.)
simp. and trad. (乒乒乓乓)		乒	乒	乓	乓

Etymology

AABB-type reduplication of 乒乓 (pīngpāng). First attested in the Ming Dynasty.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): pīngpīngpāngpāng

  (Zhuyin): ㄆㄧㄥ ㄆㄧㄥ ㄆㄤ ㄆㄤ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bing¹ bing¹ bam¹ bam¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): phin-phin-phong-phong

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: pīngpīngpāngpāng
    • Zhuyin: ㄆㄧㄥ ㄆㄧㄥ ㄆㄤ ㄆㄤ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: pingpingpangpang
    • Wade–Giles: pʻing¹-pʻing¹-pʻang¹-pʻang¹
    • Yale: pīng-pīng-pāng-pāng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: pingpingpangpang
    • Palladius: пинпинпанпан (pinpinpanpan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰiŋ⁵⁵ pʰiŋ⁵⁵ pʰɑŋ⁵⁵ pʰɑŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bing¹ bing¹ bam¹ bam¹
    • Yale: bīng bīng bām bām
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bing¹ bing¹ bam¹ bam¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: bing¹ bing¹ bem¹ bem¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɪŋ⁵⁵ pɪŋ⁵⁵ pɐm⁵⁵ pɐm⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: phin-phin-phong-phong
    • Tâi-lô: phin-phin-phong-phong
    • Phofsit Daibuun: phinphinphongphofng
    • IPA (Singapore): /pʰin⁴⁴⁻²² pʰin⁴⁴⁻²² pʰɔŋ⁴⁴⁻²² pʰɔŋ⁴⁴/

Noun

乒乒乓乓

1. (onomatopoeia) sound of sudden consecutive collisions, e.g. gun shots, door pounding, child running around, ping pong ball match.

   • 值此天寒地凍之時，戰爭依然沒有消停，雙方依舊乒乒乓乓，爆炸聲此起彼伏，不絕於耳！ [MSC, trad.]
     值此天寒地冻之时，战争依然没有消停，双方依旧乒乒乓乓，爆炸声此起彼伏，不绝于耳！ [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2014, 进一退二俄罗斯摆脱乌克兰危机的绝佳招法

     Zhí cǐ tiānhándìdòng zhī shí, zhànzhēng yīrán méiyǒu xiāotíng, shuāngfāng yījiù pīngpīngpāngpāng, bàozhà shēng cǐqǐbǐfú, bùjuéyú'ěr! [Pinyin]

     At this time, when the weather is cold and ground is frozen, the war still has not ceased. The two sides are still banging away at each other; sounds of explosion are heard one after another, never stopping in the ears.