一燕不成夏

Chinese

		one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	swallow (bird); surname; place name	to not form; to not constitute; unsuccessful	summer; Xia (proper name)
trad. (一燕不成夏)		一	燕	不成	夏
simp. #(一燕不成夏)		一	燕	不成	夏

Etymology

Calque of English one swallow does not a summer make.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yīyànbùchéngxià

  (Zhuyin): ㄧ ㄧㄢˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄚˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jat¹ jin³ bat¹ sing⁴ haa⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yīyànbùchéngxià [Phonetic: yíyànbùchéngxià]
    • Zhuyin: ㄧ ㄧㄢˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄚˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yiyànbùchéngsià
    • Wade–Giles: i¹-yen⁴-pu⁴-chʻêng²-hsia⁴
    • Yale: yī-yàn-bù-chéng-syà
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: iyannbucherngshiah
    • Palladius: ияньбучэнся (ijanʹbučɛnsja)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i⁵⁵⁻³⁵ jɛn⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵ ɕi̯ä⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jat¹ jin³ bat¹ sing⁴ haa⁶
    • Yale: yāt yin bāt sìhng hah
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jat⁷ jin³ bat⁷ sing⁴ haa⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: yed¹ yin³ bed¹ xing⁴ ha⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐt̚⁵ jiːn³³ pɐt̚⁵ sɪŋ²¹ haː²²/

Idiom

一燕不成夏

1. one swallow does not a summer make

Synonyms

• 孤燕不成夏 (gūyànbùchéngxià)
• 獨燕不成夏／独燕不成夏 (dúyānbùchéngxià)