苜蓿

Chinese

		phonetic
trad. (苜蓿)		苜	蓿
simp. #(苜蓿)		苜	蓿
alternative forms		目宿 牧宿 牧蓿 木粟

Etymology

Borrowed from a Central Asian language during the Han Dynasty (Laufer, 1967). Compare Tibetan བུག་སུག (bug sug, “alfalfa; bird's-foot trefoil”), Ladakhi [script needed] (bukhsukh, “Nepeta salviifolia, now Nepeta racemosa”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): mùxu, mùsù

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄨˋ ˙ㄒㄩ, ㄇㄨˋ ㄙㄨˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): muk⁶ suk¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bo̍k-siok

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: mùxu
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄨˋ ˙ㄒㄩ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: mùsyů
    • Wade–Giles: mu⁴-hsü⁵
    • Yale: mù-syu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: muh.shiu
    • Palladius: мусюй (musjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mu⁵¹ ɕy¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan, common variant in Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: mùsù
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄨˋ ㄙㄨˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: mùsù
    • Wade–Giles: mu⁴-su⁴
    • Yale: mù-sù
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: muhsuh
    • Palladius: мусу (musu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mu⁵¹⁻⁵³ su⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: muk⁶ suk¹
    • Yale: muhk sūk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: muk⁹ suk⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: mug⁶ sug¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mʊk̚² sʊk̚⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bo̍k-siok
    • Tâi-lô: bo̍k-siok
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bogsiog
    • IPA (Xiamen): /bɔk̚⁴⁻³² siɔk̚³²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /bɔk̚²⁴⁻² siɔk̚⁵/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /bɔk̚¹²¹⁻²¹ siɔk̚³²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /bɔk̚⁴⁻³² siɔk̚³²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bɔk̚⁴⁻³² siɔk̚³²/

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• Middle Chinese: mjuwk sjuwk

Rime
Character	苜	蓿
Reading #	1/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	明 (4)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	東 (4)	東 (4)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	莫六切	息逐切
Baxter	mjuwk	sjuwk
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/mɨuk̚/	/sɨuk̚/
Pan Wuyun	/miuk̚/	/siuk̚/
Shao Rongfen	/miuk̚/	/siuk̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/muwk̚/	/suwk̚/
Li Rong	/miuk̚/	/siuk̚/
Wang Li	/mĭuk̚/	/sĭuk̚/
Bernard Karlgren	/mi̯uk̚/	/si̯uk̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	mù	su
Expected Cantonese Reflex	muk6	suk1

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*muɡ  suɡ/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	苜	蓿
Reading #	2/2	1/1
No.	9334	12106
Phonetic component	目	宿
Rime group	覺	覺
Rime subdivision	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	目	肅
Old Chinese	/*muɡ/	/*suɡ/
Notes	見史記	見史記，漢書作宿

Noun

苜蓿

1. Medicago (a genus of flowering plants including alfalfa)

Synonyms

• (chiefly Wu, colloquial) 草頭／草头 (cǎotóu)

Derived terms

• 南苜蓿
• 紫花苜蓿
• 苜蓿盤空／苜蓿盘空
• 苜蓿長欄干／苜蓿长栏干
• 苜蓿風味／苜蓿风味
• 黃花苜蓿／黄花苜蓿

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (苜蓿):

• → Japanese: 苜蓿(もくしゅく) (mokushuku)
• → Korean: 목숙(苜蓿) (moksuk)
• → Vietnamese: mục túc (苜蓿)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
苜	蓿
もく Hyōgaiji	しゅく Hyōgaiji
on’yomi

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mo̞kɯ̟ᵝɕɨᵝkɯ̟ᵝ]

Noun

苜(もく)蓿(しゅく) • (mokushuku) 

1. Medicago polymorpha