衚衕

Chinese

		phonetic
trad. (衚衕/胡同)		衚/胡	衕/同
simp. (胡同)		胡	同

衚衕。

Etymology

First attested in Yuan Dynasty.

Probably a compound from 衕 (tòng, “street, passage”), a native word attested in Shuowen Jiezi, or from Middle Chinese 巷 (MC ɦˠʌŋ^H).

Alternatively, a loan word from Middle Mongolian ᠬᠤᠳᠳᠤᠭ (quddug, “water well”) (compare Mongolian худаг (hudag)), indicating that people lived where wells could be dug.

Another theory postulates that this is borrowed from Middle Mongolian ᠭᠤᠳᠤᠮ (ɣudum, “corridor, passage, passageway”) (compare Mongolian гудам (gudam)).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): hútòng

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄨˊ ㄊㄨㄥˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): wu⁴ tung⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: hútòng → hútong (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄨˊ ㄊㄨㄥˋ → ㄏㄨˊ ˙ㄊㄨㄥ (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: hwu.tonq
    • Tongyong Pinyin: húto̊ng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xu³⁵ tʰʊŋ⁵¹/ → /xu³⁵ tʰʊŋ³/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Pinyin: hútòngr
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄨˊ ㄊㄨㄥˋㄦ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: hwutonglh
    • Tongyong Pinyin: hútòngr
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xu³⁵ tʰʊ̃ɻ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: wu⁴ tung⁴
    • Yale: wùh tùhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: wu⁴ tung⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: wu⁴ tung⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wuː²¹ tʰʊŋ²¹/

Noun

衚衕

1. hutong (a narrow street, lane, or alley, most commonly in Beijing)

Derived terms

• 死衚衕／死胡同 (sǐhútòng)
• 花衚衕／花胡同
• 血衚衕／血胡同

• 衚衕兒／胡同儿
• 錦衚衕／锦胡同

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Vietnamese

Hán tự in this term
衚	衕

Proper noun

衚衕

1. Hán tự form of hồ đồng (“hutong”).