夷狄

Chinese

		safe; to raze; to exterminate safe; to raze; to exterminate; barbarian	barbarians; name of a tribe
trad. (夷狄)		夷	狄
simp. #(夷狄)		夷	狄

Etymology

From archaic exonymic references to tribes that were not considered 諸夏, but were physically located close to the 中國; from 夷 (OC *lil, “eastern tribes”) + 狄 (OC *deːɡ, “northern tribes”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yídí

  (Zhuyin): ㄧˊ ㄉㄧˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ji⁴ dik⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yídí
    • Zhuyin: ㄧˊ ㄉㄧˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yídí
    • Wade–Giles: i²-ti²
    • Yale: yí-dí
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yidyi
    • Palladius: иди (idi)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i³⁵ ti³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ji⁴ dik⁶
    • Yale: yìh dihk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ji⁴ dik⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yi⁴ dig⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiː²¹ tɪk̚²/

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• Middle Chinese: yij dek

Rime
Character	夷	狄
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	以 (36)	定 (7)
Final (韻)	脂 (15)	青 (127)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	IV
Fanqie	以脂切	徒歷切
Baxter	yij	dek
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/jiɪ/	/dek̚/
Pan Wuyun	/ji/	/dek̚/
Shao Rongfen	/jɪ/	/dɛk̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ji/	/dɛjk̚/
Li Rong	/i/	/dek̚/
Wang Li	/ji/	/diek̚/
Bernard Karlgren	/i/	/dʱiek̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yí	dí
Expected Cantonese Reflex	ji4	dik6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*ləj  lˤek/

  (Zhengzhang): /*lil  deːɡ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	夷	狄
Reading #	2/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yí	dí
Middle Chinese	‹ yij ›	‹ dek ›
Old Chinese	/*ləj/	/*lˁek/
English	foreigner (especially to the east)	(name of a northern tribe)
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	夷	狄
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	14862	2206
Phonetic component	夷	狄
Rime group	脂	錫
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	姨	荻
Old Chinese	/*lil/	/*deːɡ/

Noun

夷狄

1. (historical, archaic) the barbarians (peoples inhabiting regions peripheral to the historical Chinese heartland)

   Antonym: 諸夏／诸夏 (Zhūxià)

   • 子曰：「夷狄之有君，不如諸夏之亡也。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     子曰：「夷狄之有君，不如诸夏之亡也。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE

     Zǐyuē: “Yídí zhī yǒu jūn, bùrú zhūxià zhī wáng yě.” [Pinyin]

     The Master said, "The barbarians have their princes, and are not like the States of our great land which are without them."

2. (literary, derogatory) barbarian (any ethnic group considered uncivilized)

Usage notes

Typically applied by those who consider themselves 諸夏, with the connotation of otherhood or distance.