元年

Chinese

		primary; first; fundamental primary; first; fundamental; dollar; (dynasty)	year
simp. and trad. (元年)		元	年

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yuánnián

  (Zhuyin): ㄩㄢˊ ㄋㄧㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyun⁴ nin⁴
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): goân-nî

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yuánnián
    • Zhuyin: ㄩㄢˊ ㄋㄧㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yuánnián
    • Wade–Giles: yüan²-nien²
    • Yale: ywán-nyán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yuannian
    • Palladius: юаньнянь (juanʹnjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɥɛn³⁵ ni̯ɛn³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jyun⁴ nin⁴
    • Yale: yùhn nìhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jyn⁴ nin⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: yun⁴ nin⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyːn²¹ niːn²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: goân-nî
    • Tâi-lô: guân-nî
    • Phofsit Daibuun: goannii
    • IPA (Xiamen): /ɡuan²⁴⁻²² nĩ²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ɡuan²⁴⁻²² nĩ²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /ɡuan¹³⁻²² nĩ¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /ɡuan²⁴⁻¹¹ nĩ²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɡuan²³⁻³³ nĩ²³/

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• Middle Chinese: ngjwon nen

Rime
Character	元	年
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	疑 (31)	泥 (8)
Final (韻)	元 (66)	先 (85)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open
Division (等)	III	IV
Fanqie	愚袁切	奴顚切
Baxter	ngjwon	nen
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ŋʉɐn/	/nen/
Pan Wuyun	/ŋʷiɐn/	/nen/
Shao Rongfen	/ŋiuɐn/	/nɛn/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ŋuan/	/nɛn/
Li Rong	/ŋiuɐn/	/nen/
Wang Li	/ŋĭwɐn/	/nien/
Bernard Karlgren	/ŋi̯wɐn/	/nien/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yuán	nián
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jyun4	nin4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[ŋ]o[r]  C.nˤi[ŋ]/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ŋon  niːŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	元	年
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yuán	nián
Middle Chinese	‹ ngjwon ›	‹ nen ›
Old Chinese	/*[ŋ]o[r]/ (< nasal + uvular)	/*C.nˁi[ŋ]/
English	head; first	harvest; year
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	元	年
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	16145	9482
Phonetic component	元	秊
Rime group	元	眞
Rime subdivision	3	2
Corresponding MC rime	元
Old Chinese	/*ŋon/	/*niːŋ/
Notes		同秊

Noun

元年

1. (historical) first year of an imperial reign
2. (calendar) first year (of any period)

Synonyms

• (first year of an imperial reign): (literary) 始年 (shǐnián)
• (first year of any period): (literary) 始年 (shǐnián)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
元	年
がん Grade: 2	ねん Grade: 1
kan'yōon	goon

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) がんねん [gáꜜǹnèǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɡã̠nːẽ̞ɴ]

Noun

元(がん)年(ねん) • (gannen) 

1. (monarchy) the first year of a calendar era, especially an East Asian imperial reign

   紀(き)元(げん)元(がん)年(ねん)

   Kigen gannen

   1 CE

   洪(こう)武(ぶ)元(がん)年(ねん)

   Kōbu gannen

   Hongwu 1 (1368)

   平(へい)成(せい)元(がん)年(ねん)

   Heisei gannen

   Heisei 1 (1989)

   令(れい)和(わ)元(がん)年(ねん)

   Reiwa gannen

   Reiwa 1 (2019)

   光(こう)武(ぶ)元(がん)年(ねん)

   Kōbu gannen

   Gwangmu 1 (1897)

   嘉(か)隆(りゅう)元(がん)年(ねん)

   Karyū gannen

   Gia Long 1 (1802)

Usage notes

The first year of an imperial era is strictly 元年, not *一年. Later years are simply 二年 (“2”), 三年 (“3”), etc.

References

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