子音

Chinese

		child; son; (noun suffix) child; son; (noun suffix); small thing; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch; 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight	sound; noise; news
simp. and trad. (子音)		子	音

Etymology

Japanese 子音 (shiin)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): zǐyīn

  (Zhuyin): ㄗˇ ㄧㄣ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): зыйин (zɨyin, II-I)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zi² jam¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chú-im / chír-im
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁵tsy-in

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zǐyīn
    • Zhuyin: ㄗˇ ㄧㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: zǐhyin
    • Wade–Giles: tzŭ³-yin¹
    • Yale: dž-yīn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzyyin
    • Palladius: цзыинь (czyinʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ in⁵⁵/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: зыйин (zɨyin, II-I)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sz̩⁵¹ iŋ²⁴/

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

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zi² jam¹
    • Yale: jí yām
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzi² jam¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ji² yem¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː³⁵ jɐm⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chú-im
    • Tâi-lô: tsú-im
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zwym
    • IPA (Taipei, Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /t͡su⁵³⁻⁴⁴ im⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡su⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ im⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chír-im
    • Tâi-lô: tsír-im
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sɯ⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ im³³/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁵tsy-in
    • MiniDict: tsy^去 in
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²tsr-in
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡sz̩³³ in⁴⁴/

Noun

子音

1. (phonetics) consonant

Synonyms

• 輔音／辅音 (fǔyīn)

See also

• 母音 (mǔyīn)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
子	音
し Grade: 1	おん Grade: 1
goon

Kanji in this term
子	音
し Grade: 1	いん Grade: 1
kan'on

Etymology

子 (“child”) +‎ 音 (“sound”). From the notion of a mothering vowel mating with a fathering consonant and giving birth to an onsetted mora, according to Meiji-era linguists, as in father /k/ + mother あ (/a/) = child か (/ka/).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) しいん [shìíń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɕiĩɴ]

• (Tokyo) しおん [shìóń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɕiõ̞ɴ]

Noun

子(し)音(いん) or 子(し)音(おん) • (shiin or shion) 

1. (obsolete, phonology) any of the morae with an onset consonant listed on the 五十音図 (gojūonzu, literally “chart of the fifty sounds”), such as か (ka) or し (shi), but not あ (a) or い (i), and not が (ga), じ (ji) or ぱ (pa)

   Hypernyms: 清音 (seion), 熟音 (jukuon)

   Meronyms: 父音 (fuon), 母音 (boon)

   Coordinate terms: 濁音 (dakuon), 半濁音 (handakuon)

   • 1893 March, 宗司 大宮, “第二章　　母音　父音　子音 [Chapter 2: Mother Sounds, Father Sounds and Child Sounds]”, in 日本辭林 [A Japanese Dictionary], Tokyo: Hakubunkan, page 6:

     子音とは、五十音の中より、五個の母音を除きたる、他の四十五音をいふ。こは、父母兩音の配合して成れるものなれば、その音聲單純ならず。故に、（か……ア）、（き……イ）の如く、聲を長く延くときは、その韻必ず母音に歸するなり。今、こゝに父音と母音と配合して、子音を生ずる順序を示さむ。

     Shion to wa, gojūon no naka yori, goko no boon o nozoki taru, hoka no shijūgoon o iu. Kowa, fubo ryōon no haigō shite nareru mono nare ba, sono onsei tanjun narazu. Yue ni, (ka……a), (ki……i) no gotoku, koe o nagaku hiku toki wa, sono in kanarazu boon ni kisuru nari. Ima, koko ni fuon to boon to haigō shite, shion o shōzuru junjo o shimesamu.

     Excluding the five mother sounds from the fifty sounds, the forty-five remaining sounds are called ‘child sounds’. Since they result from combining father and mother sounds, their quality is not simple. Thus, if the voicing is prolonged, as in (ka……a) or (ki……i), the rhymes always turn back into mother sounds. Now, I shall demonstrate the order in which father sounds and mother sounds combine and bear child sounds.

   • 1897 March, “〇子音 [〇Child Sounds]”, in 日本文典 [A Japanese Grammar], 中等學科敎授法硏究會:

     五十音中、母音外の四十五音を、子音といふ。子音は、母音と、他の一種幽微なる音との、配合して生じたるものにして、その音純ならず。故に、之を長く引きて呼べば、皆、母音にかへらむ。卽ち、カ—ア、キ—イの如し。

     Gojūonchū, boongai no shijūgoon o, SHION to iu. Shion wa, boon to, hoka no isshu yūbi naru on to no, haigō shite shōji taru mono ni shite, sono on jun narazu. Yue ni, kore o nagaku hikite yobe ba, mina, boon ni kaeramu. Sunawachi, ka—a, ki—i no gotoshi.

     Among the fifty sounds, the forty-five ones other than the mother sounds are called child sounds. Child sounds are born by mother sounds combined with a sort of subtle sound, and their quality is not pure. That is, if you prolong them, they should turn back into mother sounds, as in, for example ka—a or ki—i.

   • 1897 November, Shioi, Ukō, “第二　　子音 [Number 2: Child Sounds]”, in 中學日本文典 [A Middle-School Japanese Grammar], 六盟館, page 3:

     故に、此の四十五音を、子音と稱し、其のクスツヌフムユル𛄢の如き九音を、父音と稱す。此の父音は、極めて隱微なるものにて、明に聲に發する能はざれど、やゝ、これ等に似たる故に、此の九個の音の文字にて、これを示せるなり。

     Yue ni, kono shijūgoon o, shion to shōshi, sono ku su tsu nu fu mu yu ru wu no gotoki kuon o, fuon to shōsu. Kono fuon wa, kiwamete inbi naru mono ni te, saya ni koe ni hassuru nō wa zaredo, yaya, korera ni ni taru ni, kono kuko no on no moji ni te, kore o shimeseru nari.

     Thus, the forty-five sounds are called ‘child sounds’, and the nine sounds such as ku, su, tsu, nu, fu, mu, yu, ru and wu are called ‘father sounds’. The father sounds are highly obscure, and even though they can be clearly uttered, they can only be approximated by these nine phonetic characters that sound close to them.

   • 1905 June, 黃山 片岡, “子音 [Child Sounds]”, in 黃山著作集, Saitama: Suharaya, page 14:

     子音は、父音と母音と相合して、生するなり、左の如し

     Shion wa, fuon to boon to aiai site, shōzuru nari, hidari no gotoshi

     ‘Child sounds’ are born by combining father sounds and mother sounds, as shown on the left page

   • 1912, 淸 榊原, “⑷　子音 [⑷ Child Sounds]”, in 自習速記術 [Self-Taught Stenography], 以文館, pages 15–16:

     子(し)音(おん)と云(い)ふものはカ行(ぎやう)のキクケコ、サ行(ぎやう)のシスセソのやうなものであります。子(し)音(おん)が父(ふ)音(おん)と母(ぼ)音(おん)との爲(た)めに生(う)まれると云(い)ふ事(こと)は既(すで)に說(と)いて置(お)いた通(とほ)りでありますが、左(さ)の表(へう)に依(よ)つて明(あきら)かになるであらうと思(おも)ひます。但(ただ)し表(へう)は母(ぼ)音(おん)のアだけは省(はぶ)きます。

     Shion to iu mono fa kagyō no ki ku ke ko, sagyō no shi su se so no yō na mono de arimasu. Shion ga fuon to boon to no tame ni umareru to iu koto wa sude ni toite oita tōri de arimasu ga, sa no hō ni yotte akiraka ni naru de arau to omoimasu. Tadashi hō wa boon no a dake wa habukimasu.

     ‘Child sounds’ are letters such as ki, ku, ke and ko of the ka-row or shi, su, se and so of the sa-row. Child sounds are said to be born by father sounds and mother sounds, which I have already explained, so I assume the demonstration on the left chart should be easily understood. Note that the mother sound a is left out of the chart.

2. (phonetics, phonology) a consonant

   Synonym: 父音 (fuin)

   Coordinate term: 母音 (boin)

Antonyms

• 母音 (“vowel”)

Descendants

• → Chinese: 子音 (zǐyīn)
• → Korean: 자음 (ja'eum)

References

• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.