See also: 东西

Chinese

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east west
trad. (東西) 西
simp. (东西) 西
 
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Etymology

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"thing; stuff"

Unknown. Many theories exist. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “needs a summary”)

Pronunciation 1

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Rime
Character 西
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Initial () (5) (16)
Final () (1) (39)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division () I IV
Fanqie
Baxter tuwng sej
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/tuŋ/ /sei/
Pan
Wuyun
/tuŋ/ /sei/
Shao
Rongfen
/tuŋ/ /sɛi/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/təwŋ/ /sɛj/
Li
Rong
/tuŋ/ /sei/
Wang
Li
/tuŋ/ /siei/
Bernard
Karlgren
/tuŋ/ /siei/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
dōng
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
dung1 sai1
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 西
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
dōng
Middle
Chinese
‹ tuwng › ‹ sej ›
Old
Chinese
/*tˁoŋ/ (< *tˁoŋʔ ?) /*s-nˁər/
English east west

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 西
Reading # 1/1 1/1
No. 2435 13236
Phonetic
component
西
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
0 1
Corresponding
MC rime
西
Old
Chinese
/*toːŋ/ /*sɯːl/
Notes

Noun

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東西

  1. east and west
  2. nearby; vicinity
  3. everywhere
  4. (literary) seventy to eighty years old

Adverb

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東西

  1. from east to west

Derived terms

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See also

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Pronunciation 2

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Note:
  • dōngxi - standard in China;
  • dōngxī - common in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and South China.

Noun

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東西

  1. (chiefly Mandarin, Gan, Hakka, Jin, Xiang) thing; stuff; something (Classifier: ; ; )
    東西 [MSC, trad.]
    东西 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ yǒu dōngxi yào gěi nǐ. [Pinyin]
    I have something for you.
    東西 [MSC, trad.]
    东西 [MSC, simp.]
    Bǎ wǒ de dōngxi huán gěi wǒ. [Pinyin]
    Give my stuff back.
    東西 [MSC, trad.]
    东西 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ hái yǒu hěn duō dōngxi yào xué. [Pinyin]
    I still have a lot to learn.
    存在東西怎麼能夠 [MSC, trad.]
    存在东西怎么能够 [MSC, simp.]
    Bù cúnzài de dōngxi, wǒ zěnme nénggòu kàn de dào? [Pinyin]
    How can I see that which does not exist?
  2. Referring to a person or animal with emotion.
    不是東西不是东西  ―  Nǐ bùshì ge dōngxī!  ―  You're good for nothing!
Usage notes
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  • In Mandarin, whilst 東西/东西 can mean a thing in either a physical or abstract sense, 事情 (shìqing) only means a thing in an abstract sense.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • White Hmong: toobxib

Japanese

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Kanji in this term
西
とう
Grade: 2
さい > ざい
Grade: 2
on'yomi

Etymology

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From Middle Chinese 東西 (MC tuwng sej). (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?) The sai of 西 changes to zai due to rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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(とう)西(ざい) (tōzai

  1. east and west
  2. (by extension) all over, here and there
  3. Orient and Occident
  4. (slang) a name of a good or money, originally a Chinese slang term

Derived terms

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Interjection

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(とう)西(ざい) (tōzai

  1. Synonym of 東西東西 (your attention please; hear ye)

References

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  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN