南海

Chinese

		south	ocean; sea
simp. and trad. (南海)		南	海
anagram		海南

Etymology

"Nanhai, Guangdong, China; Nanhai Commandery"

Officially, with the creation of the Nanhai Commandery in southern China in 214 BCE as attested in the Records of the Grand Historian.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Nánhǎi

  (Zhuyin): ㄋㄢˊ ㄏㄞˇ

• Cantonese

  (Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): naam⁴ hoi²

  (Taishan, Wiktionary): nam³ hoi²

• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): Lâm-hái

  (Teochew, Peng'im): nam⁵ hai²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Nánhǎi
    • Zhuyin: ㄋㄢˊ ㄏㄞˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Nánhǎi
    • Wade–Giles: Nan²-hai³
    • Yale: Nán-hǎi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Nanhae
    • Palladius: Наньхай (Nanʹxaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /nän³⁵ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: naam⁴ hoi²
    • Yale: nàahm hói
    • Cantonese Pinyin: naam⁴ hoi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: nam⁴ hoi²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /naːm²¹ hɔːi̯³⁵/
  • (Taishanese, Taicheng)
    • Wiktionary: nam³ hoi²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ⁿdam²² hᵘɔi⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lâm-hái
    • Tâi-lô: Lâm-hái
    • Phofsit Daibuun: lamhae
    • IPA (Xiamen): /lam²⁴⁻²² hai⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /lam²⁴⁻²² hai⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /lam¹³⁻²² hai⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /lam²⁴⁻¹¹ hai⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /lam²³⁻³³ hai⁴¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: nam⁵ hai²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: nâm hái
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /nam⁵⁵⁻¹¹ hai⁵²/

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• Middle Chinese: nom xojX

Rime
Character	南	海
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	泥 (8)	曉 (32)
Final (韻)	覃 (159)	咍 (41)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	那含切	呼改切
Baxter	nom	xojX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/nʌm/	/hʌiX/
Pan Wuyun	/nəm/	/həiX/
Shao Rongfen	/nɒm/	/xɒiX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/nəm/	/həjX/
Li Rong	/nᴀm/	/xᴀiX/
Wang Li	/nɒm/	/xɒiX/
Bernard Karlgren	/năm/	/xɑ̆iX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	nán	hǎi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	naam4	hoi2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*nˤ[ə]m  m̥ˤəʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*nuːm  hmlɯːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	南	海
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	nán	hǎi
Middle Chinese	‹ nom ›	‹ xojX ›
Old Chinese	/*nˁ[ə]m/	/*m̥ˁəʔ/ (dialect *m̥ˁ- > x-)
English	south	sea
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] 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	南	海
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	9355	9283
Phonetic component	南	母
Rime group	侵	之
Rime subdivision	2	0
Corresponding MC rime	南	海
Old Chinese	/*nuːm/	/*hmlɯːʔ/

Proper noun

南海

1. South China Sea
2. Nanhai (a lake in Zhongnanhai, Xicheng district, Beijing, China)
3. (～區, formerly ～縣) Nanhai (a district of Foshan, Guangdong, China; former county of Guangdong, China)
4. (～鎮) Nanhai (a town in Songzi, Jingzhou, Hubei, China)
5. (～鄉) Nanhai (a township in Pingtan, Fuzhou, Fujian, China)
6. (historical) (～郡) Nanhai, a commandery of imperial China
7. (literary, figurative) the extreme south

   • 君處北海，寡人處南海，唯是風馬牛不相及也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     君处北海，寡人处南海，唯是风马牛不相及也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE, translation from Zuozhuan: Commentary on the "Spring and Autumn Annals" (2017), by Stephen Durrant, Wai-yee Li and David Schaberg

     Jūn chù běihǎi, guǎrén chù nánhǎi, wéi shì fēng mǎ niú bù xiàngjí yě. [Pinyin]

     "Your ruler dwells near the northern sea, while I, the unworthy one, dwell near the southern sea. Even when our horses and cattle are in heat, they cannot come close to one another.

8. (historical) Mount Putuo (an island and mountain in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China)

   • 蜀之鄙有二僧：其一貧，其一富。貧者語於富者曰：「吾欲之南海，何如？」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     蜀之鄙有二僧：其一贫，其一富。贫者语于富者曰：「吾欲之南海，何如？」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 18th century, 彭端淑, 為學一首示子姪

     Shǔ zhī bǐ yǒu èr sēng: qí yī pín, qí yī fù. Pín zhě yǔ yú fù zhě yuē: “Wú yù zhī Nánhǎi, hérú?” [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

• (South China Sea): 南中國海／南中国海 (Nán Zhōngguó Hǎi)
• (Mount Putuo): 普陀山 (Pǔtuó Shān)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
南	海
なん Grade: 2	かい Grade: 2
on’yomi

Alternative spelling
南海 (kyūjitai)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) なんかい [nàńkáí] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [nã̠ŋka̠i]

Noun

南(なん)海(かい) • (nankai) 

1. a southern sea
2. (specifically) South China Sea

   Synonym: 南シナ海

3. Short for 南海道(なんかいどう) (nankaidō)