溝壑

See also: 沟壑

Chinese

		ditch; gutter	gully
trad. (溝壑)		溝	壑
simp. (沟壑)		沟	壑

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): gōuhè, gōuhuò

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄡ ㄏㄜˋ, ㄍㄡ ㄏㄨㄛˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): kau¹ kok³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: gōuhè
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄡ ㄏㄜˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: gouhè
    • Wade–Giles: kou¹-ho⁴
    • Yale: gōu-hè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gouheh
    • Palladius: гоухэ (gouxɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /koʊ̯⁵⁵ xɤ⁵¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: gōuhuò
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄡ ㄏㄨㄛˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: gouhuò
    • Wade–Giles: kou¹-huo⁴
    • Yale: gōu-hwò
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gouhuoh
    • Palladius: гоухо (gouxo)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /koʊ̯⁵⁵ xu̯ɔ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: kau¹ kok³
    • Yale: kāu kok
    • Cantonese Pinyin: kau¹ kok⁸
    • Guangdong Romanization: keo¹ kog³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰɐu̯⁵⁵ kʰɔːk̚³/

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• Middle Chinese: kuw xak

Rime
Character	溝	壑
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)	曉 (32)
Final (韻)	侯 (137)	鐸 (103)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	古侯切	呵各切
Baxter	kuw	xak
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kəu/	/hɑk̚/
Pan Wuyun	/kəu/	/hɑk̚/
Shao Rongfen	/kəu/	/xɑk̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kəw/	/hak̚/
Li Rong	/ku/	/xɑk̚/
Wang Li	/kəu/	/xɑk̚/
Bernard Karlgren	/kə̯u/	/xɑk̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	gōu	he
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gau1	hok3

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[k]ˤ(r)o  qʰˤak/

  (Zhengzhang): /*koː  qʰaːɡ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	溝	壑
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	gōu	hè
Middle Chinese	‹ kuw ›	‹ xak ›
Old Chinese	/*[k]ˁ(r)o/	/*qʰˁak/
English	irrigation canal	moat; canal
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	溝	壑
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	4185	5616
Phonetic component	冓	壑
Rime group	侯	鐸
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	鉤	𦞦
Old Chinese	/*koː/	/*qʰaːɡ/

Noun

溝壑

1. ravine; gully

   • 小人老而無子，知擠於溝壑矣。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     小人老而无子，知挤于沟壑矣。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Xiǎorén lǎo ér wú zǐ, zhī jǐ yú gōuhè yǐ. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. (literary, figurative) predicament; straits; difficult situation

   • 志士不忘在溝壑，勇士不忘喪其元。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     志士不忘在沟壑，勇士不忘丧其元。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Zhìshì bù wàng zài gōuhè, yǒngshì bù wàng sàng qí yuán. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

• (ravine): 坑溝／坑沟 (Southern Min)
• (predicament):

edit

• 危境 (wēijìng)
• 厄 (literary, or in compounds)
• 困厄 (kùn'è) (literary)
• 困境 (kùnjìng)
• 地步 (dìbù)
• 時艱／时艰 (shíjiān) (difficult times at present)
• 畏景 (wèijǐng) (literary, figurative)
• 處境／处境 (chǔjìng)
• 逆境 (nìjìng)