於戲

Chinese

		phonetic
trad. (於戲)		於	戲
simp. (於戏)		於	戏
alternative forms		於乎 烏呼／乌呼 烏乎／乌乎 嗚虖／呜呼 烏虖／乌呼 於乎 烏呼／乌呼 烏乎／乌乎 嗚虖／呜呼 烏虖／乌呼 烏嘑／乌呼 烏戲／乌戏 於虖 於呼

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wūhū

  (Zhuyin): ㄨ ㄏㄨ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wūhū
    • Zhuyin: ㄨ ㄏㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wuhu
    • Wade–Giles: wu¹-hu¹
    • Yale: wū-hū
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: uhu
    • Palladius: уху (uxu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /u⁵⁵ xu⁵⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: 'u xje|xu

Rime
Character	於	戲	戲
Reading #	2/2	1/3	2/3
Initial (聲)	影 (34)	曉 (32)	曉 (32)
Final (韻)	模 (23)	支 (13)	模 (23)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	III	I
Fanqie	哀都切	許羈切	荒烏切
Baxter	'u	xje	xu
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʔuo/	/hˠiᴇ/	/huo/
Pan Wuyun	/ʔuo/	/hᵚiɛ/	/huo/
Shao Rongfen	/ʔo/	/xiɛ/	/xo/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʔɔ/	/hjiə̆/	/hɔ/
Li Rong	/ʔo/	/xje/	/xo/
Wang Li	/u/	/xǐe/	/xu/
Bernard Karlgren	/ʔuo/	/xie̯/	/xuo/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	wū	xī	hū
Expected Cantonese Reflex	wu1	hei1	fu1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[ʔ]ˤa

  (Zhengzhang): /*qaː  qʰral|qʰaː/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	於
Reading #	1/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	wū
Middle Chinese	‹ ʔu ›
Old Chinese	/*[ʔ]ˁa/
English	oh!
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	於	戲	戲
Reading #	1/2	1/3	3/3
No.	15810	5194	5227
Phonetic component	於	虍	虍
Rime group	魚	歌	魚
Rime subdivision	0	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	烏	犧	呼
Old Chinese	/*qaː/	/*qʰral/	/*qʰaː/
Notes			古文呼字

Interjection

於戲

1. (archaic and obsolete) ah; o; la; lo; alas; alack; well (onomatopoeic of sighing and signifying relief, closure, emphasis, admiration, calling to attention, or sadness, etc.)

   • 於乎前王不忘。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Wūhū qiánwáng bùwàng. [Pinyin]

     Ah! the former kings are not forgotten!

   • 於戲！余維先人嘗掌斯事，顯於唐虞；至于周，復典之；故司馬氏世主天官。至於余乎，欽念哉！欽念哉！ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     於戏！余维先人尝掌斯事，显于唐虞；至于周，复典之；故司马氏世主天官。至于余乎，钦念哉！钦念哉！ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Wūhū! Yú wéi xiānrén cháng zhǎng sīshì, xiǎn yú Táng Yú; zhìyú Zhōu, fù diǎn zhī; gù Sīmǎshì shìzhǔ tiānguān. Zhìyú yú hū, qīn niàn zāi! Qīn niàn zāi! [Pinyin]

     Alas! I keep in mind how the predecessors of our lineage used to take charge of this duty (keeping astronomical and historical records), how they were once prominent during the times of Yao and Shun, and how they reclaimed the office during Zhou. We the Simas have always been a lineage versed in the heavenly matters indeed. Now it is I that have received this duty. Be reverent and remember this!

Usage notes

Chiefly used at sentence-initial. Although 於戲 (wūhū) is considered equivalent to 嗚呼 as an onomatopoeic interjection, it cannot be substituted where the latter is used as a verb that means "to die" (euphemistically or jocularly). For example, 一命嗚呼 (“to drop dead”) is considered idiomatic, but 一命於戲 is awkward or incorrect.

Synonyms

(interjection):

• 嗚呼／呜呼 (wūhū)