太古

Chinese

		too (much); very; extremely too (much); very; extremely; highest; greatest	ancient; old
simp. and trad. (太古)		太	古

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tàigǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄞˋ ㄍㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): taai³ gu²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): thài-kó͘
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁵tha-ku

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tàigǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄞˋ ㄍㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tàigǔ
    • Wade–Giles: tʻai⁴-ku³
    • Yale: tài-gǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tayguu
    • Palladius: тайгу (tajgu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰaɪ̯⁵¹ ku²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 太古 太鼓

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: taai³ gu²
    • Yale: taai gú
    • Cantonese Pinyin: taai³ gu²
    • Guangdong Romanization: tai³ gu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰaːi̯³³ kuː³⁵/
    • Homophones:

      edit edit 太古 太鼓

• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thài-kó͘
    • Tâi-lô: thài-kóo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: tae'kor
    • IPA (Xiamen): /tʰai²¹⁻⁵³ kɔ⁵³/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁵tha-ku
    • MiniDict: tha^去 ku
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²tha-ku
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /tʰa³³ ku⁴⁴/

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• Middle Chinese: thajH kuX

Rime
Character	太	古
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	透 (6)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	泰 (25)	模 (23)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	他蓋切	公戸切
Baxter	thajH	kuX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/tʰɑiH/	/kuoX/
Pan Wuyun	/tʰɑiH/	/kuoX/
Shao Rongfen	/tʰɑiH/	/koX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/tʰajH/	/kɔX/
Li Rong	/tʰɑiH/	/koX/
Wang Li	/tʰɑiH/	/kuX/
Bernard Karlgren	/tʰɑiH/	/kuoX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	tài	gǔ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	taai3	gu2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*l̥ˤa[t]-s  kˤaʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*tʰaːds  kaːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	太	古
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	tài	gǔ
Middle Chinese	‹ thajH ›	‹ kuX ›
Old Chinese	/*l̥ˁa[t]-s/	/*kˁaʔ/
English	great	ancient
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	太	古
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	1937	4219
Phonetic component	大	古
Rime group	祭	魚
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	泰	古
Old Chinese	/*tʰaːds/	/*kaːʔ/

Noun

太古

1. (often attributive) remote antiquity; immemorial

   • 太古薄葬，故不抇也；亂今厚葬，故抇也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     太古薄葬，故不抇也；乱今厚葬，故抇也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Xunzi, c. 3^rd century BCE

     Tàigǔ bózàng, gù bù 抇 yě; luàn jīn hòuzàng, gù 抇 yě. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

edit

• 上古 (shànggǔ)
• 元古 (yuángǔ)
• 先代 (xiāndài) (literary)
• 先古 (xiāngǔ) (literary)
• 古代 (gǔdài)
• 古早 (gǔzǎo) (chiefly Min)
• 古時／古时 (gǔshí)
• 曠古／旷古 (kuànggǔ)
• 絕代／绝代 (juédài) (literary)
• 遠古／远古 (yuǎngǔ)
• 邃古 (suìgǔ)

 

Derived terms

• 太古代 (Tàigǔdài)
• 太古傳宗／太古传宗
• 太古界

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (太古):

• → Japanese: 太(たい)古(こ) (taiko)
• → Korean: 태고(太古) (taego)
• → Vietnamese: thái cổ (太古)

Proper noun

太古

1. Tai Koo (an area in Eastern district, Hong Kong)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
太	古
たい Grade: 2	こ Grade: 2
on'yomi

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) たいこ [táꜜìkò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ta̠iko̞]

Noun

太(たい)古(こ) • (taiko) 

1. ancient times

   太(たい)古(こ)の昔(むかし)

   taiko no mukashi

   ancient times

   (literally, “ancient times of ancient times”)