斯文

Chinese

		phonetic; this	language; culture; writing language; culture; writing; formal; literary; gentle
simp. and trad. (斯文)		斯	文

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sīwén

(Zhuyin): ㄙㄨㄣˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): si¹ man⁴
Gan (Wiktionary): si¹ un
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sṳ̂-vùn
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): su-bûn / sir-bûn

(Teochew, Peng'im): se¹ bhung⁵

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sīwén → sīwen (toneless final syllable variant)
  - Zhuyin: ㄙㄨㄣˊ → ㄙ ˙ㄨㄣ (toneless final syllable variant)
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sihwůn
  - Wade–Giles: ssŭ¹-wên⁵
  - Yale: sz̄-wen
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sy.wen
  - Palladius: сывэнь (syvɛnʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩⁵⁵ wən³⁵/ → /sz̩⁵⁵ wən²/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: si¹ man⁴
  - Yale: sī màhn
  - Cantonese Pinyin: si¹ man⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: xi¹ men⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /siː⁵⁵ mɐn²¹/
Gan
- (Nanchang)
  - Wiktionary: si¹ un
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩⁴² un²/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sṳ̂-vùn
  - Hakka Romanization System: sii´ vunˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: si¹ vun²
  - Sinological IPA: /sɨ²⁴ vun¹¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: su-bûn
  - Tâi-lô: su-bûn
  - Phofsit Daibuun: su'buun
  - IPA (Xiamen): /su⁴⁴⁻²² bun²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /su⁴⁴⁻³³ bun²³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /su⁴⁴⁻²² bun¹³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /su⁴⁴⁻³³ bun²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sir-bûn
  - Tâi-lô: sir-bûn
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /sɯ³³ bun²⁴/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: se¹ bhung⁵
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: sṳ bûng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɯ³³⁻²³ buŋ⁵⁵/

Adjective

斯文

gentle; refined; courteous; polite
女仔要斯文啲 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]
neoi⁵ zai² jiu³ si¹ man⁴ di¹ [Jyutping]
girls need to be refined

Synonyms

優美／优美 (yōuměi) (of music, scenery)
典雅 (diǎnyǎ)
古雅 (gǔyǎ)
嫻／娴 (xián) (literary, or in compounds)
嫻靜／娴静 (xiánjìng)
幽美 (yōuměi) (literary, of an environment)
彬 (bīn) (literary, or in compounds)
彬彬 (bīnbīn) (literary)
文雅 (wényǎ)
文靜／文静 (wénjìng)
斯文胎胎 (si¹ wen² tai¹ tai¹) (Sichuanese)
斯斯文文 (sīsīwénwén)
柔美 (róuměi) (of music, scenery)
酥巧 (Xiamen Hokkien)
雅相 (ia³ sian⁴) (Xiang)
雅緻／雅致 (yǎzhì)
高尚 (gāoshàng)
高雅 (gāoyǎ)

Antonyms

低下 (dīxià)
低俗 (dīsú)
低級／低级 (dījí)
俗氣／俗气 (súqì)
俗骨 (zuk⁶ gwat¹) (Cantonese)
傖俗／伧俗 (cāngsú) (formal)
卑俗 (bēisú)
庸俗 (yōngsú)
鄙俗 (bǐsú)
鄙吝 (bǐlìn) (literary)

Derived terms

斯文人
斯斯文文 (sīsīwénwén)

Noun

斯文

(literary) scholar; literati
(literary) elegance; refinement
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see 斯 (sī),‎ 文.
1. (literary) this text
  - 後之攬者，亦將有感於斯文。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
    后之揽者，亦将有感于斯文。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
    From: 353 CE, Wang Xizhi, Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion
    Hòu zhī lǎn zhě, yì jiāng yǒu gǎn yú sī wén. [Pinyin]
    For the people who read this in future generations, perhaps you will likewise be moved by this text.

Derived terms