孤燕不成夏

Chinese

		lone; lonely	swallow (bird); surname; place name	to not form; to not constitute; unsuccessful	summer; Xia (proper name)
trad. (孤燕不成夏)		孤	燕	不成	夏
simp. #(孤燕不成夏)		孤	燕	不成	夏

Etymology

Calque of English one swallow does not a summer make.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): gūyànbùchéngxià

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨ ㄧㄢˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄚˋ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: gūyànbùchéngxià
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄨ ㄧㄢˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄚˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: guyànbùchéngsià
    • Wade–Giles: ku¹-yen⁴-pu⁴-chʻêng²-hsia⁴
    • Yale: gū-yàn-bù-chéng-syà
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guyannbucherngshiah
    • Palladius: гуяньбучэнся (gujanʹbučɛnsja)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku⁵⁵ jɛn⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵ ɕi̯ä⁵¹/

Idiom

孤燕不成夏

1. one swallow does not a summer make

Synonyms

• 一燕不成夏 (yīyànbùchéngxià)
• 獨燕不成夏／独燕不成夏 (dúyānbùchéngxià)