東西

See also: 东西

Chinese

		east	west
trad. (東西)		東	西
simp. (东西)		东	西

Etymology

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

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dōngxī

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄨㄥ ㄒㄧ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): dung¹ sai¹
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): tûng-sî
• Min Nan (POJ): tang-sai

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: dōngxī
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄨㄥ ㄒㄧ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dongshi
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dongsi
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʊŋ⁵⁵ ɕi⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: dung¹ sai¹
    • Yale: dūng sāi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dung¹ sai¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: dung¹ sei¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʊŋ⁵⁵ sɐi̯⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: tûng-sî
    • Hakka Romanization System: dung´ xi´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: dung¹ xi¹
    • Sinological IPA: /tuŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ ɕi²⁴/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tang-sai
    • Tâi-lô: tang-sai
    • Phofsit Daibuun: dangsay
    • IPA (Xiamen): /taŋ⁴⁴⁻²² saɪ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /taŋ³³ saɪ³³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /taŋ⁴⁴⁻²² saɪ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /taŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ saɪ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /taŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ saɪ⁴⁴/

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• Middle Chinese: /tuŋ  sei/

Rime
Character	東	西
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	端 (5)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	東 (1)	齊 (39)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	IV
Fanqie	德紅切	先稽切
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	xī

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*tˤoŋ  s-nˤər/

  (Zhengzhang): /*toːŋ  sɯːl/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	東	西	西
Reading #	1/1	1/2	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	dōng	xī	xī
Middle Chinese	‹ tuwng ›	‹ sej ›	‹ sej ›
Old Chinese	/*tˁoŋ/ (< *tˁoŋʔ ?)	/*s-nˁər/	/*s-nˁər/
English	east	west	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	東	西
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	2435	13236
Phonetic component	東	西
Rime group	東	微
Rime subdivision	0	1
Corresponding MC rime	東	西
Old Chinese	/*toːŋ/	/*sɯːl/
Notes	種（種籽）初文，甲金文象種皮甲坼萌生根芽， 參敕字陳字注

Noun

東西

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

Adverb

東西

1. from east to west

Derived terms

• 古今東西／古今东西 (gǔjīndōngxī)

• 東西南北／东西南北 (dōngxīnánběi)

See also

• 南北 (nánběi)

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): dōngxi

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄨㄥ ˙ㄒㄧ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic): дунщи (dunxi, I-I)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): dung¹ sai¹
• Gan (Wiktionary): dung¹ xi
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): tûng-sî
• Jin (Wiktionary): dung¹ xi³
• Min Nan (POJ): tong-si
• Xiang (Wiktionary): dong¹ si

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: dōngxi
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄨㄥ ˙ㄒㄧ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dong.shi
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dongsi̊
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʊŋ⁵⁵ ɕi²/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic: дунщи (dunxi, I-I)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tuŋ²⁴ ɕi²⁴/

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

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: dung¹ sai¹
    • Yale: dūng sāi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dung¹ sai¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: dung¹ sei¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʊŋ⁵⁵ sɐi̯⁵⁵/
• Gan
  • (Nanchang)
    • Wiktionary: dung¹ xi
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tuŋ⁴² ɕi²/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: tûng-sî
    • Hakka Romanization System: dung´ xi´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: dung¹ xi¹
    • Sinological IPA: /tuŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ ɕi²⁴/
• Jin
  • (Taiyuan)⁺
    • Wiktionary: dung¹ xi³
    • Sinological IPA (old-style): /tũŋ¹¹ ɕi⁴⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tong-si
    • Tâi-lô: tong-si
    • Phofsit Daibuun: dongsy
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /tɔŋ³³ ɕi³³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /tɔŋ⁴⁴⁻²² ɕi⁴⁴/
• Xiang
  • (Changsha)
    • Wiktionary: dong¹ si
    • Sinological IPA ^(key) (old-style): /tʊŋ³³ si³/
    • Sinological IPA ^(key) (new-style): /tən³³ ɕi³/

Noun

東西

1. (chiefly Mandarin, Gan, Hakka, Jin, Xiang) thing; stuff; something (Classifier: 個／个; 件; 樣／样)

   我有東西要給你。 / 我有东西要给你。  ―  Wǒ yǒu dōngxi yào gěi nǐ.  ―  I have something for you.

   把我的東西還給我。 [MSC, trad.]
   把我的东西还给我。 [MSC, simp.]

   Bǎ wǒ de dōngxi huángěi wǒ. [Pinyin]

   Give my stuff back.

   我還有很多東西要學。 [MSC, trad.]
   我还有很多东西要学。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ hái yǒu hěn duō dōngxi yào xué. [Pinyin]

   I still have a lot to learn.

   不存在的東西，我怎麼能夠看得到？ [MSC, trad.]
   不存在的东西，我怎么能够看得到？ [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.

Usage notes

• 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

• 物品 (wùpǐn)

Dialectal synonyms of 東西 (“thing, object”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		物
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		東西
Mandarin	Beijing	東西
	Taiwan	東西
	Jinan	東西
	Xi'an	東西
	Wuhan	東西, 家伙
	Chengdu	東西
	Yangzhou	東子, 東西
	Hefei	東西
	Malaysia	東西
	Singapore	東西
Cantonese	Guangzhou	嘢
	Hong Kong	嘢
	Shunde	嘢
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	嘢
	Doumen (Shangheng Tanka)	嘢
	Taishan	嘢
	Dongguan	嘢
	Shaoguan	嘢
	Yunfu	嘢
	Yangjiang	嘢
	Xinyi	嘢
	Lianjiang	嘢
	Nanning	嘢
	Kuala Lumpur	嘢
	Singapore	嘢
Gan	Nanchang	東西
Hakka	Meixian	東西
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	東西
	Liudui (S. Sixian)	東西
	Hsinchu (Hailu)	東西
	Dongshi (Dabu)	東西
	Hsinchu (Raoping)	東西
	Yunlin (Zhao'an)	物件
Huizhou	Jixi	物事
Jin	Taiyuan	東西
Min Bei	Jian'ou	物事
Min Dong	Fuzhou	乇
Min Nan	Xiamen	物件, 物
	Quanzhou	物件
	Zhangzhou	物件
	Taipei	物件
	Kaohsiung	物仔, 物件
	Tainan	物仔, 物件
	Taichung	物件
	Hsinchu	物件
	Lukang	物, 物件
	Sanxia	物件
	Yilan	物仔, 物件
	Kinmen	物, 物件
	Magong	物, 物件
	Penang (Hokkien)	物件
	Singapore (Hokkien)	物件
	Philippines (Manila Hokkien)	物件
	Chaozhou	物件, 物
	Shantou	物件
	Singapore (Teochew)	物件
Wu	Shanghai	物事
	Suzhou	物事
	Wenzhou	物事, 物色, 名堂
Xiang	Changsha	東西, 家伙
	Shuangfeng	東西, 家伙

Derived terms

• 不是東西／不是东西 (bùshì dōngxi)
• 小東西／小东西 (xiǎodōngxi)

• 買東西／买东西 (mǎi dōngxi)

Descendants

• → White Hmong: toobxib

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Japanese

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

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• On’yomi: Goon
  • (Tokyo) と​ーざい [tóꜜòzàì] (Atamadaka – [1])
  • IPA^(key): [to̞ːza̠i]

Noun

東西(とうざい) • (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

• 古(こ)今(こん)東(とう)西(ざい) (kokontōzai, “all times and places”)
• 東(とう)西(ざい)南(なん)北(ぼく) (tōzainanboku, “east, west, south and north”)
• 東西(とうざい)冷戦(れいせん) (tōzai reisen, “Cold War”)

Related terms

• 南(なん)北(ぼく) (nanboku): north and south - literally, south and north
• 和(わ)洋(よう) (wayō, “Japan and Europe”)

Interjection

東西(とうざい) • (tōzai)

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