See also: 东西

Chinese edit

east west
trad. (東西) 西
simp. (东西) 西
 
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Etymology edit

"thing; stuff"

Unknown. Many theories exist. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “needs a summary”)

Pronunciation 1 edit



Rime
Character 西
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Initial () (5) (16)
Final () (1) (39)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division () I IV
Fanqie
Baxter tuwng sej
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/tuŋ/ /sei/
Pan
Wuyun
/tuŋ/ /sei/
Shao
Rongfen
/tuŋ/ /sɛi/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/təwŋ/ /sɛj/
Li
Rong
/tuŋ/ /sei/
Wang
Li
/tuŋ/ /siei/
Bernard
Karlgren
/tuŋ/ /siei/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
dōng
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
dung1 sai1
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 西
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
dōng
Middle
Chinese
‹ tuwng › ‹ sej ›
Old
Chinese
/*tˁoŋ/ (< *tˁoŋʔ ?) /*s-nˁər/
English east west

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 西
Reading # 1/1 1/1
No. 2435 13236
Phonetic
component
西
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
0 1
Corresponding
MC rime
西
Old
Chinese
/*toːŋ/ /*sɯːl/
Notes

Noun edit

東西

  1. east and west
  2. nearby; vicinity
  3. everywhere
  4. (literary) seventy to eighty years old

Adverb edit

東西

  1. from east to west

Derived terms edit

See also edit

Pronunciation 2 edit


Note:
  • dōngxi - standard in China;
  • dōngxī - common in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and South China.

Noun edit

東西

  1. (chiefly Mandarin, Gan, Hakka, Jin, Xiang) thing; stuff; something (Classifier: ; ; )
    東西 [MSC, trad.]
    东西 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ yǒu dōngxi yào gěi nǐ. [Pinyin]
    I have something for you.
    東西 [MSC, trad.]
    东西 [MSC, simp.]
    Bǎ wǒ de dōngxi huán gěi wǒ. [Pinyin]
    Give my stuff back.
    東西 [MSC, trad.]
    东西 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ hái yǒu hěn duō dōngxi yào xué. [Pinyin]
    I still have a lot to learn.
    存在東西怎麼能夠 [MSC, trad.]
    存在东西怎么能够 [MSC, simp.]
    Bù cúnzài de dōngxi, wǒ zěnme nénggòu kàn de dào? [Pinyin]
    How can I see that which does not exist?
  2. Referring to a person or animal with emotion.
    不是東西不是东西  ―  Nǐ bùshì ge dōngxī!  ―  You're good for nothing!
Usage notes edit
  • In Mandarin, whilst 東西/东西 can mean a thing in either a physical or abstract sense, 事情 (shìqing) only means a thing in an abstract sense.
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
  • White Hmong: toobxib

Japanese edit

Kanji in this term
西
とう
Grade: 2
さい > ざい
Grade: 2
on’yomi

Etymology edit

From Middle Chinese 東西 (MC tuwng sej). (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?) The sai of 西 changes to zai due to

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sort=とうさい
Please see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.

rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

(とう)西(ざい) (tōzai

  1. east and west
  2. (by extension) all over, here and there
  3. Orient and Occident
  4. (slang) a name of a good or money, originally a Chinese slang term

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Interjection edit

(とう)西(ざい) (tōzai

  1. Synonym of 東西東西 (your attention please; hear ye)

References edit

  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN