文明

Chinese

		language; culture; writing language; culture; writing; formal; literary; gentle	clear; bright; to understand clear; bright; to understand; next; the Ming dynasty
simp. and trad. (文明)		文	明
anagram		明文

文明机场
CIVILIZED AIRPORT

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): wénmíng

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄣˊ ㄇㄧㄥˊ

  (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): wen² min²

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): вынмин (vɨnmin, I-I)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): man⁴ ming⁴

• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): vùn-mìn
• Eastern Min (BUC): ùng-mìng
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): bûn-bêng

  (Teochew, Peng'im): bhung⁵ mêng⁵

• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ⁶ven-min

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wénmíng
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄣˊ ㄇㄧㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wúnmíng
    • Wade–Giles: wên²-ming²
    • Yale: wén-míng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wenming
    • Palladius: вэньмин (vɛnʹmin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wən³⁵ miŋ³⁵/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 文名 文明 聞名／闻名

  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: wen² min²
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: wenmin
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /uən²¹ min²¹/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: вынмин (vɨnmin, I-I)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /vəŋ²⁴ miŋ²⁴/

    (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: man⁴ ming⁴
    • Yale: màhn mìhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: man⁴ ming⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: men⁴ ming⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɐn²¹ mɪŋ²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: vùn-mìn
    • Hakka Romanization System: vunˇ minˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: vun² min²
    • Sinological IPA: /vun¹¹ min¹¹/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: ùng-mìng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /uŋ⁵³⁻³³ miŋ⁵³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bûn-bêng
    • Tâi-lô: bûn-bîng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bunbeeng
    • IPA (Xiamen): /bun²⁴⁻²² biɪŋ²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /bun²⁴⁻²² biɪŋ²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /bun¹³⁻²² biɪŋ¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /bun²⁴⁻¹¹ biɪŋ²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bun²³⁻³³ biɪŋ²³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: bhung⁵ mêng⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: bûng mêng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /buŋ⁵⁵⁻¹¹ meŋ⁵⁵/
• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ⁶ven-min
    • MiniDict: ven^去 min
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³ven-min
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /vən²² min⁴⁴/

---

• Middle Chinese: mjun mjaeng

Rime
Character	文	明
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	明 (4)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	文 (59)	庚 (111)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	無分切	武兵切
Baxter	mjun	mjaeng
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/mɨun/	/mˠiæŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/miun/	/mᵚiaŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/miuən/	/miaŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/mun/	/miajŋ/
Li Rong	/miuən/	/miɐŋ/
Wang Li	/mĭuən/	/mĭɐŋ/
Bernard Karlgren	/mi̯uən/	/mi̯ɐŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	wén	míng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	man4	ming4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*mə[n]  mraŋ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*mɯn  mraŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	文	明
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	wén	míng
Middle Chinese	‹ mjun ›	‹ mjæng ›
Old Chinese	/*mə[n]/	/*mraŋ/
English	ornate	bright
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	文	明
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	13015	9188
Phonetic component	文	明
Rime group	文	陽
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	文	明
Old Chinese	/*mɯn/	/*mraŋ/

Noun

文明

1. civilization (Classifier: 個／个 m)

   中華文明／中华文明  ―  zhōnghuá wénmíng  ―  Chinese civilization

   四大文明古國／四大文明古国  ―  sì dà wénmíng gǔguó  ―  the Four Great Ancient Civilizations

   書是傳遞文明的工具。 [MSC, trad.]
   书是传递文明的工具。 [MSC, simp.]

   Shū shì chuándì wénmíng de gōngjù. [Pinyin]

   Books are the way in which civilization is transmitted.

   人與其他生物最大的不同，就是擁有文明。 [MSC, trad.]
   人与其他生物最大的不同，就是拥有文明。 [MSC, simp.]

   Rén yǔ qítā shēngwù zuìdà de bùtóng, jiùshì yōngyǒu wénmíng. [Pinyin]

   The ability to develop civilizations is the biggest difference between humans and other living things.

2. civilized behaviour; manners

   加強文明意識／加强文明意识  ―  jiāqiáng wénmíng yìshí  ―  to improve people's awareness of civilized behaviour

Adjective

文明

1. civilized

   文明行為／文明行为  ―  wénmíng xíngwéi  ―  civilized behaviour

   文明交往  ―  wénmíng jiāowǎng  ―  to socialize in a civilized manner

   舉止文明／举止文明  ―  jǔzhǐ wénmíng  ―  to behave in a civilized manner

2. (dated) modern
3. (Classical) having literary talent

   • 其德剛健而文明，應乎天而時行。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     其德刚健而文明，应乎天而时行。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: I Ching, 11^th – 8^th century BCE

     Qí dé gāngjiàn ér wénmíng, yìng hū tiān ér shí xíng. [Pinyin]

     The attributes (of its component trigrams) are strength and vigour with elegance and brightness. (The ruling line in it) responds to (the ruling line in the symbol of) heaven, and (consequently) its action is (all) at the proper times.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "civilized"): 野蠻／野蛮 (yěmán)

Derived terms

• 政治文明 (zhèngzhì wénmíng)
• 文明人 (wénmíngrén)
• 文明國家／文明国家 (wénmíng guójiā)
• 文明小史 (Wénmíng Xiǎoshǐ)
• 文明戲／文明戏 (wénmíngxì)
• 文明棍 (wénmínggùn)
• 文明腳／文明脚
• 文明觀球／文明观球
• 物質文明／物质文明 (wùzhì wénmíng)
• 生態文明／生态文明 (shēngtài wénmíng)
• 精神文明 (jīngshén wénmíng)

 

Japanese

Kanji in this term
文	明
ぶん Grade: 1	めい Grade: 2
kan’on

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Middle Chinese 文明 (MC mjun mjaeng).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぶんめー [bùńméé] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [bɯ̟̃ᵝmːe̞ː]

Noun

文(ぶん)明(めい) • (bunmei) 

1. civilization

Derived terms

• 文(ぶん)明(めい)開(かい)化(か) (bunmeikaika)

Proper noun

文(ぶん)明(めい) • (Bunmei) 

1. the Bunmei era, 1469-1487

See also

• 応仁(おうにん) (Ōnin) (era preceding Bunmei)
• 長享(ちょうきょう) (Chōkyō) (era following Bunmei)

Korean

Hanja in this term
文	明

Noun

文明 • (munmyeong) (hangeul 문명)

1. Hanja form^? of 문명 (“civilization”).

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
文	明

Adjective

文明

1. chữ Hán form of văn minh (“civilized”).