匪夷所思

Chinese

		bandit; not	safe; to raze; to exterminate safe; to raze; to exterminate; barbarian	actually; place; (nominalization prefix)	to think; to consider
trad. (匪夷所思)		匪	夷	所	思
simp. #(匪夷所思)		匪	夷	所	思

Etymology

From I Ching, Hexagram 59 (《易经·渙卦》):

六四：渙其群，元吉。渙有丘，匪夷所思。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]

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六四：涣其群，元吉。涣有丘，匪夷所思。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: I Ching, 11^th – 8^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Liù sì: huàn qí qún, yuán jí. Huàn yǒu qiū, fěi yí suǒ sī. [Pinyin]

The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject scattering the (different) parties (in the state); which leads to great good fortune. From the dispersion (he collects again good men standing out, a crowd) like a mound, which is what ordinary men would not have thought of.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): fěiyísuǒsī

  (Zhuyin): ㄈㄟˇ ㄧˊ ㄙㄨㄛˇ ㄙ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): fei² ji⁴ so² si¹
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): huin² i⁵ so² se¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: fěiyísuǒsī
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄟˇ ㄧˊ ㄙㄨㄛˇ ㄙ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: fěiyísuǒsih
    • Wade–Giles: fei³-i²-so³-ssŭ¹
    • Yale: fěi-yí-swǒ-sz̄
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: feeiyisuoosy
    • Palladius: фэйисосы (fɛjisosy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /feɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ i³⁵ su̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹ sz̩⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: fei² ji⁴ so² si¹
    • Yale: féi yìh só sī
    • Cantonese Pinyin: fei² ji⁴ so² si¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: féi² yi⁴ so² xi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fei̯³⁵ jiː²¹ sɔː³⁵ siː⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: huin² i⁵ so² se¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: húiⁿ î só sṳ
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hũĩ⁵²⁻³⁵ i⁵⁵⁻¹¹ so⁵²⁻³⁵ sɯ³³/

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• Middle Chinese: pj+jX yij srjoX si

Rime
Character	匪	夷	所	思
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/2
Initial (聲)	幫 (1)	以 (36)	生 (21)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	微 (21)	脂 (15)	魚 (22)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III	III	III
Fanqie	府尾切	以脂切	踈舉切	息兹切
Baxter	pj+jX	yij	srjoX	si
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/pʉiX/	/jiɪ/	/ʃɨʌX/	/sɨ/
Pan Wuyun	/pʷɨiX/	/ji/	/ʃiɔX/	/sɨ/
Shao Rongfen	/piuəiX/	/jɪ/	/ʃiɔX/	/sie/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/pujX/	/ji/	/ʂɨə̆X/	/sɨ/
Li Rong	/piuəiX/	/i/	/ʃiɔX/	/siə/
Wang Li	/pĭwəiX/	/ji/	/ʃĭoX/	/sĭə/
Bernard Karlgren	/pwe̯iX/	/i/	/ʂi̯woX/	/si/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	fěi	yí	shǔ	sī
Expected Cantonese Reflex	fei2	ji4	so2	si1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*pəjʔ  ləj  s-qʰ<r>aʔ  [s]ə/

  (Zhengzhang): /*pɯlʔ  lil  sqʰraʔ  snɯ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	匪	匪	夷	夷	所	思
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/2	2/2	1/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	fěi	fěi	yí	yí	suǒ	sī
Middle Chinese	‹ pjɨjX ›	‹ pjɨjX ›	‹ yij ›	‹ yij ›	‹ srjoX ›	‹ si ›
Old Chinese	/*pəjʔ/	/*pəjʔ/	/*ləj/	/*ləj/	/*s-qʰ<r>aʔ/	/*[s]ə/
English	bamboo basket	bandit	level, peaceful	foreigner (especially to the east)	place (n.); that which	think
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	匪	夷	所	思
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/2
No.	3085	14862	5306	13835
Phonetic component	非	夷	戸	囟
Rime group	微	脂	魚	之
Rime subdivision	1	1	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	匪	姨	所	思
Old Chinese	/*pɯlʔ/	/*lil/	/*sqʰraʔ/	/*snɯ/

Idiom

匪夷所思

1. not what an ordinary person can imagine; unimaginable; unusual; fantastic