Chinese

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jade woods; forest
simp. and trad.
(玉林)

Etymology

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From its original name 鬱林, which is homophonous with 玉林 in Mandarin but not in the local Yue dialect.

In numerous texts from the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China era, 鬱林 was written as 玉林, presumably because the character is relatively more complex. The official name change from 鬱林 to 玉林 took place in April 1956.

Note a similar name change did not take place for Yunan (鬱南) county in Guangdong.

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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玉林

  1. () Yulin (a city in Guangxi, China)

Usage notes

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  • 鬱林郁林 (Yùlín) is officially deprecated but remains in use among the (Cantonese-speaking) older generations.