僧多粥少

Chinese

		monk	many; much; a lot of many; much; a lot of; numerous; multi-	congee; gruel; porridge	young; few; little young; few; little; lack
trad. (僧多粥少)		僧	多	粥	少
simp. #(僧多粥少)		僧	多	粥	少
Literally: “many monks and not much gruel”.

Alternative forms

• 粥少僧多

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sēngduōzhōushǎo

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄥ ㄉㄨㄛ ㄓㄡ ㄕㄠˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zang¹ do¹ zuk¹ siu²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): cheng-to-chiok-siáu

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sēngduōzhōushǎo
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄥ ㄉㄨㄛ ㄓㄡ ㄕㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sengduojhoushǎo
    • Wade–Giles: sêng¹-to¹-chou¹-shao³
    • Yale: sēng-dwō-jōu-shǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sengduojoushao
    • Palladius: сэндочжоушао (sɛndočžoušao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɤŋ⁵⁵ tu̯ɔ⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂoʊ̯⁵⁵ ʂɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zang¹ do¹ zuk¹ siu²
    • Yale: jāng dō jūk síu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzang¹ do¹ dzuk⁷ siu²
    • Guangdong Romanization: zeng¹ do¹ zug¹ xiu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɐŋ⁵⁵ tɔː⁵⁵ t͡sʊk̚⁵ siːu̯³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: cheng-to-chiok-siáu
    • Tâi-lô: tsing-to-tsiok-siáu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zengdoicioksiao
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ tɤ⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡siɔk̚³²⁻⁴ siau⁴¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ to⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡siɔk̚³²⁻⁴ siau⁵³/

Idiom

僧多粥少

1. not enough to go around; having demands exceeding supply