老子

Chinese

		old venerable	master (honorific)
trad. (老子)		老	子
simp. #(老子)		老	子

Pronunciation 1

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Lǎozǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄠˇ ㄗˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lou⁵ zi²
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): Ló-chṳ́
• Min Dong (BUC): Lō̤-cṳ̄
• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): Nó͘-chú / Ló-chú

  (Teochew, Peng'im): lao⁶ ze²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Lǎozǐ [Phonetic: láozǐ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ㄗˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Lǎozǐh
    • Wade–Giles: Lao³-tzŭ³
    • Yale: Lǎu-dž
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Laotzyy
    • Palladius: Лаоцзы (Laoczy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: lou⁵ zi²
    • Yale: lóuh jí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lou⁵ dzi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: lou⁵ ji²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lou̯¹³ t͡siː³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Ló-chṳ́
    • Hakka Romanization System: lo` zii`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: lo³ zi³
    • Sinological IPA: /lo³¹ t͡sɨ³¹/
• Min Dong
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: Lō̤-cṳ̄
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /l̃o³³⁻³⁵ ^(t͡s-)ʒy³³/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Nó͘-chú
    • Tâi-lô: Nóo-tsú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: nofzuo
    • IPA (Taipei): /nɔ̃⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /nɔ̃⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ló-chú
    • Tâi-lô: Ló-tsú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: loyzuo
    • IPA (Taipei): /lo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /lɤ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁴¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: lao⁶ ze²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: lău tsṳ́
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lau³⁵⁻¹¹ t͡sɯ⁵²/

---

• Middle Chinese: /lɑuX  t͡sɨX/

Rime
Character	老	子
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	來 (37)	精 (13)
Final (韻)	豪 (89)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	III
Fanqie	盧晧切	即里切
Baxter	lawX	tsiX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/lɑuX/	/t͡sɨX/
Pan Wuyun	/lɑuX/	/t͡sɨX/
Shao Rongfen	/lɑuX/	/t͡sieX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/lawX/	/t͡sɨX/
Li Rong	/lɑuX/	/t͡siəX/
Wang Li	/lɑuX/	/t͡sĭəX/
Bernard Karlgren	/lɑuX/	/t͡siX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	lǎo	zǐ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	lou5	zi2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*C.rˤuʔ  tsəʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ruːʔ  ʔslɯʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	老	子
Reading #	1/1	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	lǎo	zǐ
Middle Chinese	‹ lawX ›	‹ tsiX ›
Old Chinese	/*C.rˁuʔ/	/*tsəʔ/
English	old	child; gentleman, master
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	老	子
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	7666	17857
Phonetic component	老	子
Rime group	幽	之
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	老	子
Old Chinese	/*ruːʔ/	/*ʔslɯʔ/

Proper noun

老子

1. Laozi (604–531 BCE), a Chinese philosopher, and founder of Taoism
2. Laozi (also called Tao Te Ching, a book of philosophy supposedly written by Laozi)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (老子):

• → Japanese: 老(ろう)子(し) (rōshi)
• → Korean: 로자(老子) (roja), 노자(老子) (noja)
• → Vietnamese: Lão Tử (老子)

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lǎozi

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄠˇ ˙ㄗ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lou⁵ zi²
• Min Nan (POJ): láu-chú / láu-chír

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lǎozi
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ˙ㄗ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lǎozi̊h
    • Wade–Giles: lao³-tzŭ⁵
    • Yale: lǎu-dz
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: lao.tzy
    • Palladius: лаоцзы (laoczy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴ d͡z̥z̩⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: lou⁵ zi²
    • Yale: lóuh jí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lou⁵ dzi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: lou⁵ ji²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lou̯¹³ t͡siː³⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: láu-chú
    • Tâi-lô: láu-tsú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: lawzuo
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /lau⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡su⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: láu-chír
    • Tâi-lô: láu-tsír
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /lau⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ t͡sɯ⁵⁵⁴/

---

• Middle Chinese: /lɑuX  t͡sɨX/

Rime
Character	老	子
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	來 (37)	精 (13)
Final (韻)	豪 (89)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	III
Fanqie	盧晧切	即里切
Baxter	lawX	tsiX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/lɑuX/	/t͡sɨX/
Pan Wuyun	/lɑuX/	/t͡sɨX/
Shao Rongfen	/lɑuX/	/t͡sieX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/lawX/	/t͡sɨX/
Li Rong	/lɑuX/	/t͡siəX/
Wang Li	/lɑuX/	/t͡sĭəX/
Bernard Karlgren	/lɑuX/	/t͡siX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	lǎo	zǐ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	lou5	zi2

Pronoun

老子

1. (colloquial, chiefly men's speech, sometimes humorous) I; me

   老子才不怕老闆呢。 [MSC, trad.]
   老子才不怕老板呢。 [MSC, simp.]

   Lǎozi cái bù pà lǎobǎn ne. [Pinyin]

   I'm not afraid of the boss.

   • 杯，汝來前。老子今朝，點檢形骸。 [Ci, trad.]
     杯，汝来前。老子今朝，点检形骸。 [Ci, simp.]

     From: c. 12th century, Xin Qiji (辛棄疾). Admonitions to the Goblet on the Occasion of My Determination to Stay Sober (《沁園春·將止酒戒酒杯使勿近》)

     Bēi, rǔ lái qián. Lǎozi jīnzhāo, diǎnjiǎn xínghái. [Pinyin]

     Come forth, ye goblet. Listen: from now on, I care for myself.

   • 娘甚麼？老子都不老子了。 [MSC, trad.]
     娘什么？老子都不老子了。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: Hu Shih (胡適). Mother's Teachings (《母親的教誨》)

     Niáng shènme? Lǎozi dōu bù lǎozi le. [Pinyin]

     Mom what? My dad can't give control over me now. (an example showing two different meanings of this word)

Usage notes

When 老子 (lǎozi) is used this way, it often gives off an arrogant, angry, childish or humorous tone.

Synonyms

• 爺／爷 (yé)

Coordinate terms

• 老娘 (lǎoniáng)

Noun

老子

1. old man
2. (slang) father; old man

   • 娘甚麼？老子都不老子了。 [MSC, trad.]
     娘什么？老子都不老子了。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: Hu Shih (胡適). Mother's Teachings (《母親的教誨》)

     Niáng shènme? Lǎozi dōu bù lǎozi le. [Pinyin]

     Mom what? My dad can't give control over me now. (an example showing two different meanings of this word)

3. (dated or regional) son; young man (i.e. a mother scolding her son)

   • 最奇怪的是昨天街上的那個女人，打他兒子，嘴裏說道：「老子呀！我要咬你幾口纔出氣！」他眼睛卻看着我。 [MSC, trad.]
     最奇怪的是昨天街上的那个女人，打他儿子，嘴里说道：“老子呀！我要咬你几口才出气！”他眼睛却看着我。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1918, Lu Xun, A Madman's Diary

     Zuì qíguài de shì zuótiān jiē shàng de nàge nǚrén, dǎ tā érzǐ, zuǐ lǐ shuōdào: “Lǎozi ya! Wǒ yào yǎo nǐ jǐ kǒu cái chūqì!” Tā yǎnjīng què kàn zhe wǒ. [Pinyin]

     The strangest was a woman on the street yesterday. She was hitting her son. From her mouth, I heard her say, "Young man! I'd like to take a few bites out of you just to vent my anger!" Yet, her eyes were fixed on me.

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
老	子
ろう Grade: 4	し Grade: 1
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 老子 (MC lɑuX t͡sɨX).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ろーし [ròóshí] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɾo̞ːɕi]

Proper noun

老(ろう)子(し) • (Rōshi) ^{←らうし (rausi)?}

1. Laozi
2. the works of Laozi: synonym of 老子道徳経 (Rōshi Dōtokukyō, “Tao Te Ching”)

Usage notes

The Tao Te Ching is known in Japanese by three possible names:

• 老子道徳経 (Rōshi Dōtokukyō, literally “Laozi Tao Te Ching”)
• 老子 (Rōshi, literally “Laozi”)
• 道徳経 (Dōtokukyō, literally “Tao Te Ching”)

See also

• 諸(しょ)子(し)百(ひゃっ)家(か) (Shoshi Hyakka)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
老	子
ろう Grade: 4	し Grade: 1
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 老子 (MC lɑuX t͡sɨX), based on the literal meanings of the characters 老 (“old; an elder”) + 子 (diminutive suffix).

First attested in this use in a text from 1694.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ろ​ーし [róꜜòshì] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɾo̞ːɕi]

Pronoun

老(ろう)子(し) • (rōshi) 

1. [from 1694] (archaic) you (addressing an elderly person)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
老	子
お(い) Grade: 4	こ > ご Grade: 1
kun’yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 老子 – see the following entry.

【老おい子ご】 [noun] [from late 1000s] (archaic) a child of older parents

(This term, 老子, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Korean

Hanja in this term
老	子

Proper noun

老子 • (Noja) (hangeul 노자)

1. Hanja form^? of 노자 (“Laozi”).

Vietnamese

Hán tự in this term
老	子

Proper noun

老子

1. chữ Hán form of Lão Tử (“Laozi”).