性命

Chinese

		sex; nature; suffix corresponding to ‑ness or ‑ity	life; fate
simp. and trad. (性命)		性	命

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xìngmìng

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄇㄧㄥˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sing³ ming⁶

• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sin-miang
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sìⁿ-miā / sèⁿ-miā / sì-miā / sèng-bēng
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹shin-min₆; ⁵shin-min₆

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xìngmìng → xìngming (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄇㄧㄥˋ → ㄒㄧㄥˋ ˙ㄇㄧㄥ (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sìngmi̊ng
    • Wade–Giles: hsing⁴-ming⁵
    • Yale: syìng-ming
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shinq.minq
    • Palladius: синмин (sinmin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕiŋ⁵¹⁻⁵³ miŋ⁵¹/ → /ɕiŋ⁵¹ miŋ¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sing³ ming⁶
    • Yale: sing mihng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sing³ ming⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: xing³ ming⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɪŋ³³ mɪŋ²²/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sin-miang
    • Hakka Romanization System: xin miang
    • Hagfa Pinyim: xin⁴ miang⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /sin⁵⁵ mi̯aŋ⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taipei, Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sìⁿ-miā
    • Tâi-lô: sìnn-miā
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sviemia
    • IPA (Xiamen): /sĩ²¹⁻⁵³ miã²²/
    • IPA (Singapore): /sĩ²¹⁻⁴² mia²²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /sĩ¹¹⁻⁵³ miã³³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /sĩ⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ miã⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sèⁿ-miā
    • Tâi-lô: sènn-miā
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sveamia
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /sɛ̃²¹⁻⁵³ miã²²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /sẽ²¹⁻⁴¹ miã³³/
  • (Hokkien: Philippines)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sì-miā
    • Tâi-lô: sì-miā
    • Phofsit Daibuun: siemia
    • IPA (Philippines): /si⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ mia⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sèng-bēng
    • Tâi-lô: sìng-bīng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: seangbeng
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /siɪŋ²¹⁻⁴¹ biɪŋ³³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /siɪŋ¹¹⁻⁵³ biɪŋ³³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /siɪŋ⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ biɪŋ⁴¹/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /siɪŋ²¹⁻⁵³ biɪŋ²²/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ¹shin-min₆; ⁵shin-min₆
    • MiniDict: shin^平 min^去; shin^去 min^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹xin-min₃; ²xin-min₃
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ɕin⁵⁵ min²¹/, /ɕin³³ min⁴⁴/

---

• Middle Chinese: sjengH mjaengH

Rime
Character	性	命
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	清 (121)	庚 (111)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	息正切	眉病切
Baxter	sjengH	mjaengH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/siᴇŋH/	/mˠiæŋH/
Pan Wuyun	/siɛŋH/	/mᵚiaŋH/
Shao Rongfen	/siæŋH/	/miaŋH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/siajŋH/	/miajŋH/
Li Rong	/siɛŋH/	/miɐŋH/
Wang Li	/sĭɛŋH/	/mĭɐŋH/
Bernard Karlgren	/si̯ɛŋH/	/mi̯ɐŋH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xìng	mìng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sing3	ming6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*seŋ-s  m-riŋ-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*sleŋs  mreŋs/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	性	命
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xìng	mìng
Middle Chinese	‹ sjengH ›	‹ mjængH ›
Old Chinese	/*seŋ-s/	/*m-riŋ-s/ (dialect: *m-r- > *mr-, *-iŋ> *-eŋ)
English	nature	command (n.)
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	性	命
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	11358	8275
Phonetic component	生	令
Rime group	耕	耕
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	性	命
Old Chinese	/*sleŋs/	/*mreŋs/
Notes		令轉註字

Noun

性命

1. life; survival

   性命交關／性命交关  ―  xìngmìng jiāoguān  ―  vitally important (lit. related to life)

   性命圭旨  ―  xìngmìng guīzhǐ  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

edit

• 一口氣／一口气 (yīkǒuqì) (figurative)
• 命仔 (meng⁶ zai²) (Cantonese)
• 活命 (huómìng)
• 生命 (shēngmìng)

 

Derived terms

• 丕性命
• 壞了性命／坏了性命
• 性命之交
• 性命之憂／性命之忧
• 性命交關／性命交关 (xìngmìngjiāoguān)
• 性命攸關／性命攸关 (xìngmìngyōuguān)
• 潑性命／泼性命
• 身家性命 (shēnjiā xìngmìng)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (性命):

• → Japanese: 性命(せいめい) (seimei)
• → Korean: 성명(性命) (seongmyeong)
• → Vietnamese: tính mạng (性命)

References

• “Entry #3919”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2024.