向使

Chinese

		direction; part; side direction; part; side; towards; to; guide; opposite to	to make; to cause; to enable to make; to cause; to enable; to use; to employ; messenger
simp. and trad. (向使)		向	使
alternative forms		鄉使／乡使 嚮使／向使

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiàngshǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄤˋ ㄕˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hoeng³ si²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiàngshǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄤˋ ㄕˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siàngshǐh
    • Wade–Giles: hsiang⁴-shih³
    • Yale: syàng-shř
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shianqshyy
    • Palladius: сянши (sjanši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵¹ ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hoeng³ si²
    • Yale: heung sí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hoeng³ si²
    • Guangdong Romanization: hêng³ xi²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hœːŋ³³ siː³⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: xjangH sriX

Rime
Character	向	使
Reading #	2/2	1/2
Initial (聲)	曉 (32)	生 (21)
Final (韻)	陽 (105)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	許亮切	踈士切
Baxter	xjangH	sriX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/hɨɐŋH/	/ʃɨX/
Pan Wuyun	/hiɐŋH/	/ʃɨX/
Shao Rongfen	/xiɑŋH/	/ʃieX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/hɨaŋH/	/ʂɨX/
Li Rong	/xiaŋH/	/ʃiəX/
Wang Li	/xĭaŋH/	/ʃĭəX/
Bernard Karlgren	/xi̯aŋH/	/ʂiX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xiàng	shǐ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	hoeng3	si2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*n̥aŋ-s  s-rəʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*hlaŋs  srɯʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	向	使
Reading #	1/1	1/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xiàng	shǐ
Middle Chinese	‹ xjangH ›	‹ sriX ›
Old Chinese	/*n̥aŋ-s/	/*s-rəʔ/
English	window facing North; turn towards	send; cause
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	向	使
Reading #	2/2	1/2
No.	13660	11488
Phonetic component	向	史
Rime group	陽	之
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	向	史
Old Chinese	/*hlaŋs/	/*srɯʔ/

Conjunction

向使

1. (Classical) if

   • 向使四君卻客而不內，疏士而不用，是使國無富利之實而秦無彊大之名也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     向使四君却客而不内，疏士而不用，是使国无富利之实而秦无强大之名也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

     Xiàngshǐ sì jūn què kè ér bù nà, shū shì ér bú yòng, shì shǐ guó wú fùlì zhī shí ér qín wú qiáng dà zhī míng yě. [Pinyin]

     If the four monarchs had rejected the guests and did not accept them, and alienated and did not appoint the virtuous and able men, this would have resulted in a lack of wealth in Qin, and Qin would have lacked the reputation of being powerful.

   • 鄉使聽客之言，不費牛酒，終亡火患。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     乡使听客之言，不费牛酒，终亡火患。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Han, circa 1^st century CE

     Xiàngshǐ tīng kè zhī yán, bù fèi niú jiǔ, zhōng wú huǒhuàn. [Pinyin]

     If you had listened to him, you would not be spending money setting up a feast with beef and wine, and there would not have been a fire.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 如果 (“if”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		若, 假, 如, 使, 令, 苟, 向, 向使, 向令, 假令, 假使, 誠, 誠使, 倘, 儻, 當使
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		若, 如, 如果, 若果, 果若, 假如, 假若, 假使, 假設, 倘若, 倘或, 倘然, 倘使, 若是, 若然, 設若, 設使, 設令, 設或, 設
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	要是, 要
	Taiwan	要是, 要, 如果
	Malaysia	如果
	Singapore	如果
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	要是
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	要是
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	要是, 假比
	Wuhan	要是
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	要是, 要, 假使
	Hefei	要是, 倘此, 倘倘
Cantonese	Guangzhou	如果, 若果, 若然, 假使間
	Hong Kong	如果, 若果, 若然, 若然之, 假使, 假使間, 假如
	Macau	假如
	Taishan	如果, 假使
	Yangjiang	設若
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	如果
	Singapore (Guangfu)	如果
Gan	Nanchang	要是, 若是
	Lichuan	假使
Hakka	Meixian	係話, 若係, 如果
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	若果, 係講, 係話
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	係講, 若係, 假使
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	係講, 係準, 係準講, 準講, 準假, 係若, 若係, 假使, 假詐
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	係講, 若係, 假使
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	準講, 可比, 假使, 係講, 若係, 若係講, 準若講
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	係講, 若係, 假使
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	若係講, 假使, 若講, 係講, 若係
	Kuching (Hepo)	假使
Jin	Taiyuan	要是
Northern Min	Jian'ou	來是, 如果
	Pucheng (Shibei)	來是, 如果
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	儷是, 若還
Southern Min	Xiamen	設使, 若是, 若, 若欲是, 假若, 假若是, 欲, 欲是, 甲若, 甲若是
	Quanzhou	設使, 若是, 若, 若欲是, 假若, 假若是, 欲, 欲是
	Zhangzhou	設使, 若是, 若, 假若, 假若是, 欲, 欲是, 甲若, 甲若是
	Tainan	若是, 若準, 若, 假使, 設使
	Penang (Hokkien)	若是, 若準
	Singapore (Hokkien)	若是
	Manila (Hokkien)	若是, 若, 假使
	Chaozhou	若是
	Shantou	如果
	Jieyang	若, 若是
	Singapore (Teochew)	若是
	Wenchang	但見, 欲
	Haikou	麼是, 設如, 設使
Wu	Shanghai	要是, 如果, 假使, 倘然, 倘使, 是得
	Suzhou	要, 如果
	Wenzhou	若是, 若
Xiang	Changsha	要是
	Shuangfeng	要是, 要此