使者

Chinese

		to make; to cause; to enable to make; to cause; to enable; to use; to employ; messenger	‑ist, ‑er (person); person (who does something)
simp. and trad. (使者)		使	者

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shǐzhě

  (Zhuyin): ㄕˇ ㄓㄜˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): si³ ze² / si⁵ ze²
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sṳ́-chá
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): so⁴ zia³
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sù-chiá

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shǐzhě [Phonetic: shízhě]
    • Zhuyin: ㄕˇ ㄓㄜˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shǐhjhě
    • Wade–Giles: shih³-chê³
    • Yale: shř-jě
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyyjee
    • Palladius: шичжэ (šičžɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: si³ ze² / si⁵ ze²
    • Yale: si jé / síh jé
    • Cantonese Pinyin: si³ dze² / si⁵ dze²
    • Guangdong Romanization: xi³ zé² / xi⁵ zé²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siː³³ t͡sɛː³⁵/, /siː¹³ t͡sɛː³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sṳ́-chá
    • Hakka Romanization System: sii^ˋ za^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: si³ za³
    • Sinological IPA: /sɨ³¹ t͡sa³¹/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: so⁴ zia³ [Phonetic: so¹ lia³]
    • Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: seo̍-ciâ
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬo⁴²⁻⁵⁵ ^(t͡s-)lia⁴⁵³/
  • (Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: so⁴ zia³ [Phonetic: so¹ lia³]
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬo⁴²⁻⁵⁵ ^(t͡s-)lia³³²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sù-chiá
    • Tâi-lô: sù-tsiá
    • Phofsit Daibuun: suociar
    • Sinological IPA (Taipei): /su¹¹⁻⁵³ t͡sia⁵³/
    • Sinological IPA (Xiamen): /su²¹⁻⁵³ t͡sia⁵³/
    • Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /su²¹⁻⁴¹ t͡sia⁴¹/

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• Middle Chinese: sriH tsyaeX

Rime
Character	使	者
Reading #	2/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	生 (21)	章 (23)
Final (韻)	之 (19)	麻 (100)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	踈吏切	章也切
Baxter	sriH	tsyaeX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʃɨH/	/t͡ɕiaX/
Pan Wuyun	/ʃɨH/	/t͡ɕiaX/
Shao Rongfen	/ʃieH/	/t͡ɕiaX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʂɨH/	/ciaX/
Li Rong	/ʃiəH/	/t͡ɕiaX/
Wang Li	/ʃĭəH/	/t͡ɕĭaX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʂiH/	/t͡ɕi̯aX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shì	zhě
Expected Cantonese Reflex	si3	ze2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*s-rəʔ-s  tAʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*srɯs  tjaːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	使	者
Reading #	2/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	shǐ	zhě
Middle Chinese	‹ sriH ›	‹ tsyæX ›
Old Chinese	/*s-rəʔ-s/	/*tAʔ/
English	envoy	(nominalizing particle)
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	使	者
Reading #	2/2	1/1
No.	11491	16960
Phonetic component	史	者
Rime group	之	魚
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	𩢲	者
Old Chinese	/*srɯs/	/*tjaːʔ/
Notes		說文古旅聲。甲金文象足印小坎積水， 爲瀦初文，用詹鄞鑫說

Noun

使者

1. herald; messenger; emissary; envoy (Classifier: 位)

   派使者  ―  pài shǐzhě  ―  to dispatch an envoy

Derived terms

• 和平使者 (hépíng shǐzhě)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (使者):

• → Japanese: 使(し)者(しゃ) (shisha)
• → Korean: 사자(使者) (saja)
• → Vietnamese: sứ giả (使者)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
使	者
し Grade: 3	しゃ Grade: 3
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
使者 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 使者 (MC sriH tsyaeX).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ししゃ [shíꜜshà] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɕiɕa̠]

Noun

使(し)者(しゃ) • (shisha) 

1. herald, messenger
2. emissary, envoy

Synonyms

• 布告者(ふこくしゃ) (fukokusha): herald (a person)
• 前触(まえぶ)れ (maebure): herald (figurative)
• 伝令官(でんれいかん) (denreikan)

References

• “使者”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

Korean

Hanja in this term
使	者

Noun

使者 • (saja) (hangeul 사자)

1. hanja form^? of 사자 (“envoy; emissary; messenger”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
使	者

Noun

使者

1. chữ Hán form of sứ giả (“envoy; emissary”)