自古以來

Chinese

		from time immemorial; since ancient times	since; for
trad. (自古以來)		自古	以來
simp. (自古以来)		自古	以来

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zìgǔ yǐlái

  (Zhuyin): ㄗˋ ㄍㄨˇ ㄧˇ ㄌㄞˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zi⁶ gu² ji⁵ loi⁴

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zìgǔ yǐlái [Phonetic: zìgúyǐlái]
    • Zhuyin: ㄗˋ ㄍㄨˇ ㄧˇ ㄌㄞˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: zìhgǔ yǐlái
    • Wade–Giles: tzŭ⁴-ku³ i³-lai²
    • Yale: dz̀-gǔ yǐ-lái
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzyhguu yiilai
    • Palladius: цзыгу илай (czygu ilaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sz̩⁵¹ ku²¹⁴⁻³⁵ i²¹⁴⁻²¹ laɪ̯³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zi⁶ gu² ji⁵ loi⁴
    • Yale: jih gú yíh lòih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzi⁶ gu² ji⁵ loi⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: ji⁶ gu² yi⁵ loi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː²² kuː³⁵ jiː¹³ lɔːi̯²¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: dzijH kuX yiX loj

Rime
Character	自	古	以	來
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	從 (15)	見 (28)	以 (36)	來 (37)
Final (韻)	脂 (15)	模 (23)	之 (19)	咍 (41)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	I	III	I
Fanqie	疾二切	公戸切	羊己切	洛哀切
Baxter	dzijH	kuX	yiX	loj
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/d͡ziɪH/	/kuoX/	/jɨX/	/lʌi/
Pan Wuyun	/d͡ziH/	/kuoX/	/jɨX/	/ləi/
Shao Rongfen	/d͡zjɪH/	/koX/	/ieX/	/lɒi/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/d͡ziH/	/kɔX/	/jɨX/	/ləj/
Li Rong	/d͡ziH/	/koX/	/iəX/	/lᴀi/
Wang Li	/d͡ziH/	/kuX/	/jĭəX/	/lɒi/
Bernard Karlgren	/d͡zʱiH/	/kuoX/	/iX/	/lɑ̆i/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	zì	gǔ	yǐ	lái
Expected Cantonese Reflex	zi6	gu2	ji5	loi4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*s.[b]i[t]-s  kˤaʔ  ləʔ  mə.rˤək/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɦljids  kaːʔ  lɯʔ  m·rɯːɡ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	自	古	以	來
Reading #	2/2	1/1	1/1	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	zì	gǔ	yǐ	lái
Middle Chinese	‹ dzijH ›	‹ kuX ›	‹ yiX ›	‹ loj ›
Old Chinese	/*s.[b]i[t]-s/	/*kˁaʔ/	/*ləʔ/	/*mə.rˁək/ (> *rˁə)
English	to follow; from	ancient	take, use	come
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	自	古	以	來
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1
No.	17879	4219	14929	7598
Phonetic component	自	古	以	來
Rime group	至	魚	之	之
Rime subdivision	1	0	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	自	古	以
Old Chinese	/*ɦljids/	/*kaːʔ/	/*lɯʔ/	/*m·rɯːɡ/

Adverb

自古以來

1. from time immemorial; since ancient times

   • 志業於好，講禮於等，示威於眾，昭明於神，自古以來，未之或失也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     志业于好，讲礼于等，示威于众，昭明于神，自古以来，未之或失也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Zhì yè yú hǎo, jiǎng lǐ yú děng, shìwēi yú zhòng, zhāomíng yú shén, zìgǔ yǐlái, wèi zhī huò shī yě. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

• 古來／古来 (gǔlái) (literary)
• 終古／终古 (zhōnggǔ) (literary)
• 自古 (zìgǔ)