素人

Chinese

		plain; element	man; person; people
simp. and trad. (素人)		素	人

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sùrén

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄨˋ ㄖㄣˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sou³ jan⁴

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sùrén
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄨˋ ㄖㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sùrén
    • Wade–Giles: su⁴-jên²
    • Yale: sù-rén
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: suhren
    • Palladius: сужэнь (sužɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /su⁵¹ ʐən³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sou³ jan⁴
    • Yale: sou yàhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sou³ jan⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: sou³ yen⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sou̯³³ jɐn²¹/

Noun

素人

1. commoner; layman; amateur

Derived terms

• 素人畫家／素人画家

 

Japanese

Kanji in this term
素	人
しろ Grade: 5	うと Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Kanji in this term
素	人
しろ Grade: 5	と Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Kanji in this term
素	人
しろ > しら Grade: 5	ひと > びと Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Etymology

Compound of 素(しろ) (shiro, “plain, undecorated”) + 人(うと) (uto, “person”).

The term 人 (hito, “person”) appears in various older compounds with a root form of 人 (*puto → *buto → *udo, *puto → *futo → *uto). This form is never seen in isolation, and it often undergoes further phonetic changes to combine with preceding vowels. Compare the formation of 仲人 (nakōdo), from naka + udo; 旅人 (tabiudo), from tabi + udo.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) しろーと [shíꜜròòtò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• (Tokyo) しろーと [shìróꜜòtò] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [ɕiɾo̞ːto̞]

• (Tokyo) しろと [shíꜜròtò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɕiɾo̞to̞]

• IPA^(key): [ɕiɾa̠bʲito̞]

Noun

素(しろ)人(うと) or 素(しろ)人(と) or 素(しら)人(びと) • (shirōto or shiroto or shirabito) 

1. amateur, novice

   Synonym: 初心者 (shoshinsha)

   Antonym: 玄人 (kurōto)

2. respectable woman (one who is not a prostitute, geisha, or hostess)
3. (archaic, dialectal, Kyoto) unlicensed prostitute