國書

Chinese

		country; state; nation	book; letter
trad. (國書)		國	書
simp. (国书)		国	书

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): guóshū

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄕㄨ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gwok³ syu¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): kok-su / kok-sir / kok-si

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: guóshū
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄕㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: guóshu
    • Wade–Giles: kuo²-shu¹
    • Yale: gwó-shū
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gwoshu
    • Palladius: гошу (gošu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku̯ɔ³⁵ ʂu⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gwok³ syu¹
    • Yale: gwok syū
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gwok⁸ sy¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: guog³ xu¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʷɔːk̚³ syː⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kok-su
    • Tâi-lô: kok-su
    • Phofsit Daibuun: koksw
    • IPA (Xiamen, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /kɔk̚³²⁻⁴ su⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kok-sir
    • Tâi-lô: kok-sir
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kɔk̚⁵⁻²⁴ sɯ³³/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kok-si
    • Tâi-lô: kok-si
    • Phofsit Daibuun: koksy
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /kɔk̚³²⁻⁴ si⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kɔk̚³²⁻⁵ si⁴⁴/

---

• Middle Chinese: kwok syo

Rime
Character	國	書
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)	書 (26)
Final (韻)	登 (132)	魚 (22)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open
Division (等)	I	III
Fanqie	古或切	傷魚切
Baxter	kwok	syo
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kwək̚/	/ɕɨʌ/
Pan Wuyun	/kʷək̚/	/ɕiɔ/
Shao Rongfen	/kuək̚/	/ɕiɔ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kwək̚/	/ɕɨə̆/
Li Rong	/kuək̚/	/ɕiɔ/
Wang Li	/kuək̚/	/ɕĭo/
Bernard Karlgren	/kwək̚/	/ɕi̯wo/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	guo	shū
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gwak1	syu1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[C.q]ʷˤək  s-ta/

  (Zhengzhang): /*kʷɯːɡ  hlja/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	國	書
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	guó	shū
Middle Chinese	‹ kwok ›	‹ syo ›
Old Chinese	/*[C.q]ʷˁək/	/*s-ta/
English	state (n.)	write
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	國	書
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	5547	17013
Phonetic component	或	者
Rime group	職	魚
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	國	書
Old Chinese	/*kʷɯːɡ/	/*hlja/

Noun

國書

1. credentials
2. (diplomacy) letter of credence
3. documents exchanged between nations
4. national script; national writing system

   • 而以其不可以文字寫之，故惟樂人輩口相授受，或傳以國書而已。 [Korean Literary Sinitic, trad.]

     From: 《西浦漫筆》 by Kim Manjung, late 1600s

     이이기불가이문자사지^(라) 고^(로) 유악인배구상수수^(하며) 혹전이국서이이^(하니라)
     I i gi bulga i munja sa ji[-ra], go[-ro] yu agin bae gu sang susu[-hamyeo], hok jeon i gukseo ii[-hanira]. [Sino-Korean]

     But due to them being unable to be transcribed in [Chinese] characters, only groups of musicians pass them down mouth-to-mouth, or some people transmit them using the Korean alphabet, and that is all.

Synonyms

• (national script): 國字／国字 (guózì)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (國書):

• → Japanese: 国書(こくしょ) (kokusho)
• → Korean: 국서(國書) (gukseo)
• → Vietnamese: quốc thư (國書)