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 (khudag)), 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) (衚衕兒／胡同儿)⁺
    • 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)

   北京的春天很適合騎車逛衚衕。 [MSC, trad.]
   北京的春天很适合骑车逛胡同。 [MSC, simp.]

   Běijīng de chūntiān hěn shìhé qíchē guàng hútòng. [Pinyin]

   Beijing’s spring is very suitable for cycling around the hutongs.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 衚衕 (“alley; lane”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		巷
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		衚衕, 巷子
Mandarin	Beijing	衚衕兒
	Taiwan	巷子
	Tianjin	衚衕兒
	Tangshan	衚衕, 巷道
	Cangzhou	衚衕兒, 過道
	Baoding	衚衕兒
	Shijiazhuang	衚衕兒
	Chifeng	衚衕兒
	Hulunbuir (Hailar)	衚衕
	Harbin	衚衕兒
	Shenyang	衚衕兒
	Muping	衚衕兒
	Qingdao	衚衕
	Jinan	衚衕道, 衚衕, 巷子
	Wanrong	衚衕
	Zhengzhou	衚衕兒, 過道兒
	Xi'an	巷子
	Yinchuan	巷子
	Lanzhou	巷道, 巷子, 巷巷子
	Xining	巷道, 巷巷
	Ürümqi	巷子
	Wuhan	巷子, 里分, 里
	Chengdu	巷子, 巷巷兒
	Chongqing	巷子, 巷巷兒
	Guiyang	巷子
	Kunming	巷, 巷巷
	Guilin	巷子
	Liuzhou	巷子
	Xuzhou	巷口子, 巷口兒
	Yangzhou	巷子
	Nanjing	巷子, 巷當
	Hefei	巷子
	Nantong	巷子
Cantonese	Guangzhou	巷
	Hong Kong	巷, 巷仔
	Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou)	巷
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin Weitou)	巷
	Hong Kong (Ting Kok)	巷
	Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)	巷
	Macau	巷
	Panyu	巷
	Huadu (Huashan)	巷
	Conghua	巷
	Zengcheng	冷, 巷
	Foshan	巷
	Nanhai (Shatou)	巷
	Shunde	巷
	Sanshui	巷
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	巷
	Zhuhai (Qianshan)	巷
	Doumen (Shangheng Tanka)	巷
	Doumen	巷
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	巷
	Xinhui	巷
	Taishan	巷
	Kaiping (Chikan)	巷
	Enping (Niujiang)	巷
	Heshan (Yayao)	巷
	Dongguan	巷, 巷仔
	Bao'an (Shajing)	巷
	Yangjiang	巷
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	巷, 巷仔
Gan	Nanchang	巷子
	Lichuan	巷仔
	Pingxiang	巷子
Hakka	Meixian	巷仔
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	巷仔
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	巷仔
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	巷
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	巷仔
	Yudu	巷子
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	巷仔
	Liudui (S. Sixian)	巷仔
	Hsinchu (Hailu)	巷仔
	Dongshi (Dabu)	巷, 巷笐
	Hsinchu (Raoping)	巷
	Yunlin (Zhao'an)	巷
	Hong Kong	巷
	Yangshuo (Jinbao)	巷子
	Senai (Huiyang)	巷
Jin	Taiyuan	巷, 黑浪
	Xinzhou	黑浪
	Linhe	巷子
	Jining	巷子
	Hohhot	巷子
	Zhangjiakou	衚衕兒, 巷兒
	Handan	衚衕, 過道
Min Bei	Jian'ou	巷仔, 弄仔
Min Dong	Fuzhou	巷, 巷巷, 巷囝
	Changle	巷巷
	Fuqing	弄頭
	Yongtai	弄
	Gutian	巷囝
	Fu'an	巷
	Ningde	弄囝
	Shouning	巷囝
	Zhouning	巷囝
	Fuding	巷囝
Min Nan	Xiamen	巷, 巷仔
	Quanzhou	巷, 巷仔
	Zhangzhou	巷, 巷仔
	Zhao'an	巷仔
	Taipei	巷
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	巷仔
	Kaohsiung	巷仔
	Yilan	巷
	Changhua (Lukang)	巷
	Taichung	巷仔
	Tainan	巷
	Hsinchu	巷仔
	Kinmen	巷
	Penghu (Magong)	巷
	Penang (Hokkien)	巷仔
	Chaozhou	巷
	Shantou	巷囝
	Jieyang	巷, 巷囝
	Haifeng	巷
	Bangkok (Teochew)	巷
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	巷囝
	Leizhou	巷囝
	Haikou	舊弄巷, 家弄巷, 弄
Zhongshan Min	Shaxi (Longdu)	巷
Wu	Shanghai	弄堂
	Chongming	弄堂, 弄
	Suzhou	弄堂, 巷
	Danyang	弄堂
	Hangzhou	巷兒, 弄堂, 弄
	Ningbo	弄堂
	Wenzhou	巷弄, 巷
	Jinhua	弄堂, 弄, 弄弄
Xiang	Changsha	巷子
	Shuangfeng	弄子

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 (hútòngr)
• 錦衚衕／锦胡同

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (衚衕):

• → Japanese: 胡(こ)同(どう) (kodō)
• → Vietnamese: hồ đồng (衚衕)

Others:

• → English: hutong
• → Japanese: 胡同(フートン) (fūton)

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Vietnamese

Hán tự in this term
衚	衕

Proper noun

衚衕

1. Hán tự form of hồ đồng (“hutong”).