Chinese edit

 
small; tiny; few
small; tiny; few; young
year
simp. and trad.
(小年)

Pronunciation edit



Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Initial () (16) (8)
Final () (91) (85)
Tone (調) Rising (X) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division () III IV
Fanqie
Baxter sjewX nen
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/siᴇuX/ /nen/
Pan
Wuyun
/siɛuX/ /nen/
Shao
Rongfen
/sjæuX/ /nɛn/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/siawX/ /nɛn/
Li
Rong
/siɛuX/ /nen/
Wang
Li
/sĭɛuX/ /nien/
Bernard
Karlgren
/si̯ɛuX/ /nien/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
xiǎo nián
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
siu2 nin4
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
xiǎo nián
Middle
Chinese
‹ sjewX › ‹ nen ›
Old
Chinese
/*[s]ewʔ/ /*C.nˁi[ŋ]/
English small harvest; year

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
Reading # 1/1 1/1
No. 13705 9482
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
2 2
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*smewʔ/ /*niːŋ/
Notes

Noun edit

小年

  1. lunar year in which the last month has 29 days
    Antonym: 大年 (dànián)
  2. festival on the 23rd or 24th of the 12th month of the lunar year when sacrifices are made to the kitchen god
  3. (regional) Lantern Festival
  4. off year (for fruit trees, bamboos, etc.)
  5. (literary) a short lifespan
    • 朝菌晦朔蟪蛄春秋小年 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]
      From: Zhuangzi, circa 3rd – 2nd centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
      Zhāojūn bù zhī huìshuò, huìgū bù zhī chūnqiū, cǐ xiǎonián yě. [Pinyin]
      The mushroom of a morning does not know (what takes place between) the beginning and end of a month; the short-lived cicada does not know (what takes place between) the spring and autumn. These are instances of a short term of life.
  6. (literary) youth
  7. (literary) nearly a year; a long time

Synonyms edit