牛頭馬面

See also: 牛头马面

Chinese

		oxhead; Daoist priest	Horse-Face, one of the two guardians of hell
trad. (牛頭馬面)		牛頭	馬面
simp. (牛头马面)		牛头	马面

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): niútóumǎmiàn

  (Zhuyin): ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄇㄧㄢˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ngau⁴ tau⁴ maa⁵ min⁶
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): ngiù-thèu-mâ-mien

  (Hailu, HRS): ngiu teu ma^ˋ mien^ˇ

• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): gu² tao² bor³ ming⁴
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): gû-thâu-bé-bīn
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶gnieu-deu-mo-mi

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: niútóumǎmiàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄇㄧㄢˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: nióutóumǎmiàn
    • Wade–Giles: niu²-tʻou²-ma³-mien⁴
    • Yale: nyóu-tóu-mǎ-myàn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: nioutourmaamiann
    • Palladius: нютоумамянь (njutoumamjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ni̯oʊ̯³⁵ tʰoʊ̯³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ mi̯ɛn⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ngau⁴ tau⁴ maa⁵ min⁶
    • Yale: ngàuh tàuh máh mihn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ngau⁴ tau⁴ maa⁵ min⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: ngeo⁴ teo⁴ ma⁵ min⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋɐu̯²¹ tʰɐu̯²¹ maː¹³ miːn²²/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ngiù-thèu-mâ-mien
    • Hakka Romanization System: ngiu^ˇ teu^ˇ ma^ˊ mien
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ngiu² teu² ma¹ mian⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /ŋi̯u¹¹ tʰeu̯¹¹ ma²⁴⁻¹¹ mi̯en⁵⁵/
  • (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
    • Hakka Romanization System: ngiu teu ma^ˋ mien^ˇ
    • Sinological IPA: /ŋiu⁵⁵ tʰeu⁵⁵ ma⁵³ mien¹¹/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: gu² tao² bor³ ming⁴ [Phonetic: gu⁵ lao⁵ bor⁵ ming⁴]
    • Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: gú-táu-bô̤-mi̍ng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku¹³⁻¹¹ ^(tʰ-)lau¹³⁻¹¹ pɒ⁴⁵³⁻¹¹ miŋ⁴²/
  • (Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: gu² tao² bor³ ming⁴ [Phonetic: gu⁵ lao⁵ bor⁵ ming⁴]
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku²⁴⁻²¹ ^(tʰ-)lau²⁴⁻²¹ pɒ³³²⁻²¹ miŋ⁴²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese, Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gû-thâu-bé-bīn
    • Tâi-lô: gû-thâu-bé-bīn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: gu'tau'befbin
    • Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɡu²³⁻³³ tʰau²³ be⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ bin³³/
    • Sinological IPA (Xiamen): /ɡu²⁴⁻²² tʰau²⁴ be⁵³⁻⁴⁴ bin²²/
    • Sinological IPA (Singapore): /ɡu²⁴⁻²¹ tʰau²⁴ be⁴²⁻²⁴ bin²²/
    • Sinological IPA (Taipei): /ɡu²⁴⁻¹¹ tʰau²⁴ be⁵³⁻⁴⁴ bin³³/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁶gnieu-deu-mo-mi
    • MiniDict: nyeu^去 deu mo mi
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³nyieu-deu-mo-mi
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /n̠ʲiɤ²² dɤ⁵⁵ mo³³ mi²¹/

Proper noun

牛頭馬面

1. (religion) Ox-Head and Horse-Face; guardians of the underworld in Chinese mythology

Idiom

牛頭馬面

1. ugly and wicked person
2. (Hakka) unacceptable; scandalous; outrageous

Descendants

• → Vietnamese: đầu trâu mặt ngựa (calque)

References

• 莆田市政协文化文史和学习委员会 [Culture, History and Learning Committee of Putian CPPCC], editor (2021), “牛头马面”, in 莆仙方言大词典 [Comprehensive Dictionary of Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 240.