故人

Chinese

		happening; instance; reason happening; instance; reason; cause; deceased; old	man; person; people
simp. and trad. (故人)		故	人

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): gùrén

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨˋ ㄖㄣˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gu³ jan⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: gùrén
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄨˋ ㄖㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: gùrén
    • Wade–Giles: ku⁴-jên²
    • Yale: gù-rén
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guhren
    • Palladius: гужэнь (gužɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku⁵¹ ʐən³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gu³ jan⁴
    • Yale: gu yàhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gu³ jan⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: gu³ yen⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kuː³³ jɐn²¹/

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• Middle Chinese: kuH nyin

Rime
Character	故	人
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)	日 (38)
Final (韻)	模 (23)	眞 (43)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	III
Fanqie	古暮切	如鄰切
Baxter	kuH	nyin
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kuoH/	/ȵiɪn/
Pan Wuyun	/kuoH/	/ȵin/
Shao Rongfen	/koH/	/ȵʑjen/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kɔH/	/ȵin/
Li Rong	/koH/	/ȵiĕn/
Wang Li	/kuH/	/ȵʑĭĕn/
Bernard Karlgren	/kuoH/	/ȵʑi̯ĕn/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	gù	rén
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gu3	jan4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*kˤaʔ-s  ni[ŋ]/

  (Zhengzhang): /*kaːs  njin/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	故	人
Reading #	2/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	gù	rén
Middle Chinese	‹ kuH ›	‹ nyin ›
Old Chinese	/*kˁaʔ-s/	/*ni[ŋ]/
English	old (not new)	(other) person
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	故	人
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	4228	10800
Phonetic component	古	人
Rime group	魚	眞
Rime subdivision	0	1
Corresponding MC rime	顧	仁
Old Chinese	/*kaːs/	/*njin/

Noun

故人

1. (literary) old friend
2. (literary) the dead; the deceased; the departed
3. (literary) former spouse or lover

   • 新人從門入　故人從閤去　新人工織縑　故人工織素 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     新人从门入　故人从𬮤去　新人工织缣　故人工织素 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Anonymous, 上山采蘼蕪

     xīnrén cóng mén rù, gùrén cóng gé qù, xīnrén gōng zhī jiān, gùrén gōng zhī sù [Pinyin]

     My new wife enters from the front door; my former wife leaves from the side door.
     My new wife is skilled in weaving fine silk; my former wife is skilled in weaving raw silk.

   • 新人如花雖可寵，故人似玉由來重。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     新人如花虽可宠，故人似玉由来重。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Tang dynasty, 李白 (Li Bai), 怨情

     Xīnrén rú huā suī kě chǒng, gùrén sì yù yóulái zhòng. [Pinyin]

     Although my new lover is lovely like a flower, my old lover has always been dignified.

   • 士之有文，如女之有色；文之有先輩、時輩，如色之有故人、新人。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     士之有文，如女之有色；文之有先辈、时辈，如色之有故人、新人。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Ming dynasty, 譚友夏, 官子時文稿序

     Shì zhī yǒu wén, rú nǚ zhī yǒu sè; wén zhī yǒu xiānbèi, shíbèi, rú sè zhī yǒu gùrén, xīnrén. [Pinyin]

     Gentlemen have literary talent, as ladies have beauty; those with literary talent may be elders or peers, as those who have beauty may be former or new lovers.

Synonyms

• (old friend):

• 以前的朋友 (yǐqián de péngyou)
• 故交 (gùjiāo) (literary)
• 故友 (gùyǒu)
• 故知 (gùzhī) (literary)
• 故舊／故旧 (gùjiù) (literary)
• 老友 (lǎoyǒu)
• 老朋 (Cantonese)
• 老朋友
• 老盆友 (lǎopényǒu) (neologism, Internet, slang, humorous, cute-sounding)
• 老相識／老相识 (lǎoxiāngshí)
• 舊交／旧交 (jiùjiāo)
• 舊友／旧友 (jiùyǒu)
• 舊故／旧故 (jiùgù) (literary)
• 舊知／旧知 (jiùzhī) (literary)

 

• (the dead):

• 亡人 (wángrén) (literary)
• 亡者 (wángzhě) (literary)
• 往生者 (wǎngshēngzhě) (Buddhism, euphemism)
• 死人 (sǐrén)
• 死者 (sǐzhě)
• 瓜碼子／瓜码子 (gua¹ ma³ zr) (Xiang)
• 聖人／圣人 (Hokkien, euphemism)
• 逝者 (shìzhě) (literary)

 

Japanese

Kanji in this term
故	人
こ Grade: 5	じん Grade: 1
kan’on

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) こ​じん [kóꜜjìǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ko̞ʑĩɴ]

Noun

故(こ)人(じん) • (kojin) ^{←こじん (kozin)?}

1. a deceased person
2. (archaic) an old friend; a friend from the past

Synonyms

• (deceased person): See Thesaurus:死人
• (old friend): 旧(きゅう)友(ゆう) (kyūyū)

Korean

Hanja in this term
故	人

Noun

故人 • (goin) (hangeul 고인)

1. Hanja form^? of 고인 (“deceased”).

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
故	人

Noun

故人

1. chữ Hán form of cố nhân (“old friend”).