喪家之狗
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See also: 丧家之狗
Chinese
[edit]lose (by death); mourning; funeral | home; family; ‑ist home; family; ‑ist; ‑er; ‑ian; measure word for stores and schools |
's; him/her/it; this | dog | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
trad. (喪家之狗) | 喪 | 家 | 之 | 狗 | |
simp. (丧家之狗) | 丧 | 家 | 之 | 狗 |
Etymology
[edit]From the Records of the Grand Historian:
- 東門有人,其顙似堯,其項類皋陶,其肩類子產,然自要以下不及禹三寸,纍纍若喪家之狗。 [MSC, trad.]
- Dōngmén yǒu rén, qí sǎng sì Yáo, qí xiàng lèi Gāoyáo, qí jiān lèi Zǐchǎn, rán zì yāo yǐxià bùjí Yǔ sān cùn, léiléi ruò sāngjiā zhī gǒu. [Pinyin]
- There is a man at the eastern gate with Yao's forehead, Gaoyao's neck and Zichan's shoulders, but below his waist he is shorter than Yu by three inches. He was dejected as the dog of a family in mourning.
东门有人,其颡似尧,其项类皋陶,其肩类子产,然自要以下不及禹三寸,累累若丧家之狗。 [MSC, simp.]
喪家之狗 was later reanalysed as "a dog that has lost its home", which would often go hungry and wander the streets in search for food, due to neglect by its master. Later, this became a metaphor for a desperate person who has nobody to turn to.
Pronunciation
[edit]- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄙㄤˋ ㄐㄧㄚ ㄓ ㄍㄡˇ
- Tongyong Pinyin: sàngjiajhihgǒu
- Wade–Giles: sang4-chia1-chih1-kou3
- Yale: sàng-jyā-jr̄-gǒu
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sanqjiajygoou
- Palladius: санцзячжигоу (sanczjačžigou)
- Sinological IPA (key): /sɑŋ⁵¹ t͡ɕi̯ä⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ koʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: song3 gaa1 zi1 gau2
- Yale: song gā jī gáu
- Cantonese Pinyin: song3 gaa1 dzi1 gau2
- Guangdong Romanization: song3 ga1 ji1 geo2
- Sinological IPA (key): /sɔːŋ³³ kaː⁵⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵ kɐu̯³⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Idiom
[edit]喪家之狗
Synonyms
[edit]Categories:
- Mandarin terms with usage examples
- Chinese lemmas
- Mandarin lemmas
- Cantonese lemmas
- Chinese idioms
- Mandarin idioms
- Cantonese idioms
- Chinese chengyu
- Mandarin chengyu
- Cantonese chengyu
- Chinese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Chinese terms spelled with 喪
- Chinese terms spelled with 家
- Chinese terms spelled with 之
- Chinese terms spelled with 狗