知己

Chinese

		to know; to be aware	6th heavenly stem; self
simp. and trad. (知己)		知	己

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zhījǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄓ ㄐㄧˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zi¹ gei²
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): tî-kí
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): ti-kí

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhījǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄓ ㄐㄧˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhihjǐ
    • Wade–Giles: chih¹-chi³
    • Yale: jr̄-jǐ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyjii
    • Palladius: чжицзи (čžiczi)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ t͡ɕi²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zi¹ gei²
    • Yale: jī géi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzi¹ gei²
    • Guangdong Romanization: ji¹ géi²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː⁵⁵ kei̯³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: tî-kí
    • Hakka Romanization System: di´ gi`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: di¹ gi³
    • Sinological IPA: /ti²⁴ ki³¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ti-kí
    • Tâi-lô: ti-kí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: di'kie
    • IPA (Xiamen): /ti⁴⁴⁻²² ki⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ti³³ ki⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /ti⁴⁴⁻²² ki⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /ti⁴⁴⁻³³ ki⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ti⁴⁴⁻³³ ki⁴¹/

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• Middle Chinese: trje kiX

Rime
Character	知	己
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	知 (9)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	支 (11)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	陟移切	居里切
Baxter	trje	kiX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʈiᴇ/	/kɨX/
Pan Wuyun	/ʈiɛ/	/kɨX/
Shao Rongfen	/ȶjɛ/	/kieX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʈiə̆/	/kɨX/
Li Rong	/ȶie/	/kiəX/
Wang Li	/ȶǐe/	/kĭəX/
Bernard Karlgren	/ȶie̯/	/kiX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	zhī	jǐ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	zi1	gei2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*tre  k(r)əʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ʔl'e  kɯʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	知	己
Reading #	1/1	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	zhī	jǐ
Middle Chinese	‹ trje ›	‹ kiX ›
Old Chinese	/*tre/	/*k(r)əʔ/
English	know	self
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	知	己
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	11495	5765
Phonetic component	矢	己
Rime group	支	之
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime
Old Chinese	/*ʔl'e/	/*kɯʔ/
Notes	沈兼士依韻會所引說文從口矢聲

Noun

知己

1. intimate friend; close friend

   • 莫愁前路無知己，天下誰人不識君。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     莫愁前路无知己，天下谁人不识君。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 8th century, Gao Shi (高適), 別董大‧其一 "Farewell to Dong the Elder - I"

     Mò chóu qiánlù wú zhījǐ, tiānxià shéirén bù shí jūn. [Pinyin]

     Worry not that on the road ahead there'd be no close friend too! Under Heaven, who does not comprehend you?

Synonyms

• 友好 (yǒuhǎo)
• 同袍 (tóngpáo) (literary)
• 執友／执友 (zhíyǒu) (literary)
• 好友 (hǎoyǒu)
• 相知 (xiāngzhī)
• 知交 (zhījiāo)
• 知友 (zhīyǒu)
• 知心 (zhīxīn)
• 知心朋友 (zhīxīn péngyou)
• 知言 (zhīyán) (literary)
• 知遇 (zhīyù) (literary)
• 知音 (zhīyīn)
• 良朋 (liángpéng) (literary)
• 良知 (liángzhī)
• 高朋 (gāopéng) (literary)
• 齒輪／齿轮 (ci³ nen²) (Sichuanese)

 

Derived terms

• 叨在知己
• 天涯知己
• 紅粉知己／红粉知己
• 酒逢知己千杯少，話不投機半句多／酒逢知己千杯少，话不投机半句多 (jiǔ féng zhījǐ qiān bēi shào, huà bù tóujī bàn jù duō)
• 風塵知己／风尘知己

 

Verb

知己

1. (literary) to know oneself; to be intimate with oneself

Derived terms

• 士為知己者死／士为知己者死 (shì wèi zhījǐ zhě sǐ)
• 知己知彼 (zhījǐzhībǐ)
• 知己話／知己话
• 知彼知己 (zhībǐzhījǐ)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (知己):

• → Japanese: 知己(ちき) (chiki)
• → Korean: 지기(知己) (jigi)
• → Vietnamese: tri kỉ (知己)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
知	己
ち Grade: 2	き Grade: 6
on’yomi

Noun

知(ち)己(き) • (chiki) 

1. close friend