夜中

Chinese

		night	middle; centre; within middle; centre; within; among; in; while (doing sth); during; China; Chinese; hit (the mark)
simp. and trad. (夜中)		夜	中

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yèzhōng

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄝˋ ㄓㄨㄥ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yèzhōng
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄝˋ ㄓㄨㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yèjhong
    • Wade–Giles: yeh⁴-chung¹
    • Yale: yè-jūng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yehjong
    • Palladius: ечжун (ječžun)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛ⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʊŋ⁵⁵/

Noun

夜中

1. (literary) midnight

Synonyms

• 夜半 (yèbàn)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
夜	中
よ Grade: 2	なか Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Compound of 夜 (yo, “night”) +‎ 中 (naka, “middle”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) よなか​ [yònákáꜜ] (Odaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [jo̞na̠ka̠]

Noun

夜(よ)中(なか) • (yonaka) 

1. late at night, the middle of the night
2. midnight

   Synonym: 真夜中 (mayonaka)

Usage notes

The midnight sense of specifically at 12:00 AM is more commonly expressed by the term 真夜中 (mayonaka).

Derived terms

• 真(ま)夜(よ)中(なか) (mayonaka, “midnight”)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
夜	中
や Grade: 2	ちゅう Grade: 1
on’yomi

Apparently from Middle Chinese 夜中 (MC yaeH trjuwng).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) や​ちゅう [yáꜜchùù] (Atamadaka – [1])
• (Tokyo) やちゅう [yàchúú] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ja̠t͡ɕɨᵝː]

Noun

夜(や)中(ちゅう) • (yachū) 

1. nighttime, the night, the period of time during the night

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
夜	中
よ Grade: 2	じゅう Grade: 1
yutōyomi

Compound of 夜 (yo, “night”) +‎ 中 (jū, “during, throughout”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) よじゅう [yòjúú] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [jo̞ʑɨᵝː]

Noun

夜(よ)中(じゅう) • (yojū) ^{←よぢゆう (yodyuu)?}

1. the entire night, the period of time throughout the night