先行

Chinese

		early; prior; former early; prior; former; in advance; first	to go; to do; capable to go; to do; capable; all right; competent; OK; to travel; temporary; to walk; will do; behaviour; conduct; a row; profession; professional
simp. and trad. (先行)		先	行

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiānxíng

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄢ ㄒㄧㄥˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sin¹ haang⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): siên-hàng
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sian-hêng / suiⁿ-kiâⁿ / seng-kiâⁿ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiānxíng
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄢ ㄒㄧㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siansíng
    • Wade–Giles: hsien¹-hsing²
    • Yale: syān-syíng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shianshyng
    • Palladius: сяньсин (sjanʹsin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵ ɕiŋ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sin¹ haang⁴
    • Yale: sīn hàahng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sin¹ haang⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: xin¹ hang⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːn⁵⁵ haːŋ²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: siên-hàng
    • Hakka Romanization System: xien^ˊ hang^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: xian¹ hang²
    • Sinological IPA: /si̯en²⁴ haŋ¹¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sian-hêng
    • Tâi-lô: sian-hîng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sienheeng
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /siɛn³³ hiɪŋ²⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ hiɪŋ²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻²² hiɪŋ¹³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ hiɪŋ²³/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻²² hiɪŋ²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: suiⁿ-kiâⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: suinn-kiânn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: svui'kviaa
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /suĩ³³ kiã²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: seng-kiâⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: sing-kiânn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sengkviaa
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ kiã²³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻²² kiã¹³/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻²² kiã²⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ kiã²⁴/

Note:

• sian-hêng - literary;
• suiⁿ-kiâⁿ/seng-kiâⁿ - vernacular (to go ahead).

Verb

先行

1. to advance; to move forward
2. to go ahead of the rest; to start off before the others

Adjective

先行

1. advance; ahead of the rest

Adverb

先行

1. (literary) before; previously
2. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) in advance; beforehand

Synonyms

• (before):

edit

• 上早 (Hakka)
• 以前 (yǐqián)
• 先前 (xiānqián)
• 其先 (qíxiān) (literary)
• 前往 (qiánwǎng) (literary)
• 原在 (Hakka)
• 古者 (gǔzhě) (archaic)
• 向來／向来 (xiànglái) (archaic)
• 嘗／尝 (cháng) (literary, or used in compounds)
• 在前 (zàiqián)
• 家先 (Hakka)
• 往擺／往摆 (Hakka, Hokkien)
• 往擺仔／往摆仔 (Hokkien)
• 往者 (wǎngzhě) (literary)
• 往過／往过 (Hokkien)
• 往過仔／往过仔 (Hokkien)
• 從前／从前 (cóngqián)
• 早先 (zǎoxiān)
• 早年所 (Hokkien)
• 早時／早时 (Hokkien)
• 昔日 (xīrì) (literary)
• 昔時／昔时 (xīshí) (literary)
• 曾
• 曾經／曾经 (céngjīng)
• 當初／当初 (dāngchū)
• 舊擺／旧摆 (Singapore Hokkien)
• 舊早／旧早 (Singapore Hokkien)
• 過前／过前 (Hainanese)

 

Noun

先行

1. Short for 先行官 (xiānxíngguān, “commander of an advance unit”).

Derived terms

• 先行官 (xiānxíngguān)
• 先行者 (xiānxíngzhě)

 

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
先	行
さき Grade: 1	ゆ(き) Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
先行き

Kanji in this term
先	行
さき Grade: 1	い(き) Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
先行き

Compound of 先 (saki, “point, tip; the front, the forward direction; the future”) +‎ 行き (yuki, “going”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 行く (yuku, “to go”), alternative reading for iku).

The sakiyuki reading is first cited to a text from 1678.

Less commonly encountered with the reading sakiiki, using the standard iki reading for the second half. This variant is first cited to a text from 1686.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) さきゆき [sàkíyúkí] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [sa̠kʲijɯ̟kʲi]

• (Tokyo) さきいき [sàkííkí] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [sa̠kʲiːkʲi]

Noun

先(さき)行(ゆき) or 先(さき)行(いき) • (sakiyuki or sakiiki) 

1. [???] the first, the vanguard, the state of going out in front
2. [from 1678] the future, prospects
3. [from 1881] (finance) anticipated future movement in market prices

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
先	行
せん Grade: 1	こう Grade: 2
on'yomi	kan'on

Ultimately from Middle Chinese 先行 (MC sen haeng, literally “preceding + to go”).

First cited to a text from 833.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) せんこー [sèńkóó] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [sẽ̞ŋko̞ː]

Noun

先(せん)行(こう) • (senkō) ^{←せんかう (senkau)?}

1. preceding thing

   先(せん)行(こう)予(よ)約(やく)受(うけ)付(つけ)中(ちゅう)

   senkō yoyaku uketsukechū

   Pre-orders are being accepted.

   (literally, “Currently receiving preceding reservations.”)

2. a lead, a pioneer
3. something done prior to something else

Derived terms

• 先行権 (senkōken, “right of way”, in traffic)
• 先行詞 (senkōshi, “antecedent”, in grammar)

Verb

先(せん)行(こう)する • (senkō suru) ^{←せんかう (senkau)?}suru (stem 先(せん)行(こう)し (senkō shi), past 先(せん)行(こう)した (senkō shita))

1. [from 833] to go ahead of, to go in front of, to go first

   Synonym: 前行 (zenkō)

2. [from 1887] to lead, to show the way

   Synonym: 導く (michibiku)

3. [from 1928] to do something ahead of something else

   Synonym: 前行 (zenkō)

Conjugation

Conjugation of "先行する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	先行し	せんこうし	senkō shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	先行し	せんこうし	senkō shi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	先行する	せんこうする	senkō suru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	先行する	せんこうする	senkō suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	先行すれ	せんこうすれ	senkō sure
Meireikei ("imperative")	先行せよ¹ 先行しろ²	せんこうせよ¹ せんこうしろ²	senkō seyo¹ senkō shiro²
Key constructions
Passive	先行される	せんこうされる	senkō sareru
Causative	先行させる 先行さす	せんこうさせる せんこうさす	senkō saseru senkō sasu
Potential	先行できる	せんこうできる	senkō dekiru
Volitional	先行しよう	せんこうしよう	senkō shiyō
Negative	先行しない	せんこうしない	senkō shinai
Negative continuative	先行せず	せんこうせず	senkō sezu
Formal	先行します	せんこうします	senkō shimasu
Perfective	先行した	せんこうした	senkō shita
Conjunctive	先行して	せんこうして	senkō shite
Hypothetical conditional	先行すれば	せんこうすれば	senkō sureba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative

References

• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.