蕭蕭

See also: 萧萧

Chinese

		mournful	mournful
trad. (蕭蕭)		蕭	蕭
simp. (萧萧)		萧	萧

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiāoxiāo

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄠ ㄒㄧㄠ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): siu¹ siu¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiāoxiāo
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠ ㄒㄧㄠ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siaosiao
    • Wade–Giles: hsiao¹-hsiao¹
    • Yale: syāu-syāu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shiaushiau
    • Palladius: сяосяо (sjaosjao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: siu¹ siu¹
    • Yale: sīu sīu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: siu¹ siu¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: xiu¹ xiu¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːu̯⁵⁵ siːu̯⁵⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: sew sew

Rime
Character	蕭
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	蕭 (93)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	IV
Fanqie	蘇彫切
Baxter	sew
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/seu/
Pan Wuyun	/seu/
Shao Rongfen	/seu/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/sɛw/
Li Rong	/seu/
Wang Li	/sieu/
Bernard Karlgren	/sieu/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xiāo
Expected Cantonese Reflex	siu1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*sˤiw  sˤiw/

  (Zhengzhang): /*sɯːw  sɯːw/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	蕭	蕭
Reading #	1/2	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xiāo	xiāo
Middle Chinese	‹ sew ›	‹ sew ›
Old Chinese	/*sˁiw/	/*sˁiw/
English	Artemisia	蕭蕭 neighing of horses
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	蕭
Reading #	1/1
No.	12114
Phonetic component	肅
Rime group	幽
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	蕭
Old Chinese	/*sɯːw/

Verb

蕭蕭

1. (literary, onomatopoeia) to neigh

   • 車轔轔，馬蕭蕭，行人弓箭各在腰。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     车辚辚，马萧萧，行人弓箭各在腰。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 杜甫 (Du Fu) (712-770), 《兵車行》 (The Army Wagons: A Ballad); translated by Stephen Owen

     Chē línlín, mǎ xiāoxiāo, xíngrén gōngjiàn gè zài yāo. [Pinyin]

     Wagons rattling,
     horses neighing,
     men walking, each with bow and arrows at the waist.

2. (literary, onomatopoeia, of winds blowing in a desolate place, or of such a place itself) to make bleak sounds; to be bleak with wind

   • 風蕭蕭兮易水寒，壯士一去兮不復還！ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     风萧萧兮易水寒，壮士一去兮不复还！ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5^th – 3^rd centuries BCE

     Fēng xiāoxiāo xī Yìshuǐ hán, zhuàngshì yī qù xī bù fù huán! [Pinyin]

     The winds are bleak and the waters of the Yi are cold; once a brave man leaves, he never comes back!

3. (literary, onomatopoeia) the sound of falling leaves

   • 無邊落木蕭蕭下，不盡長江滾滾來。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     无边落木萧萧下，不尽长江滚滚来。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: c. 767, Du Fu (杜甫), 《登高》.

     Wúbiān luòmù xiāoxiāo xià, bùjìn Chángjiāng gǔngǔn lái. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Adjective

蕭蕭

1. (literary) sparse; thinly spread; few and scattered; few and far between