Chinese edit

 
direction; way; method
direction; way; method; road; path; principle; truth; reason; skill; Tao (of Taoism); a measure word; to say; to speak; to talk
 
let; allow; listen
let; allow; listen; hear; obey
Alternative form of () to speak; to say; persuade (politically)
trad. (道聽塗說)
simp. (道听涂说)
alternative forms 道聽涂說道听涂说
道聽途說道听途说
道聽途説道听途说 PRC standard
Literally: “to tell, as one go along, what they have heard on the way”.

Etymology edit

From the Analects, Book 17 (《論語·陽貨》):

子曰:「道聽塗說。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
子曰:「道听涂说。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Zǐyuē: “Dào tīng ér tú shuō, dé zhī qì yě.” [Pinyin]
The Master said, "To tell, as we go along, what we have heard on the way, is to cast away our virtue."

Pronunciation edit



Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/2 1/2 3/3
Initial () (7) (6) (7) (26)
Final () (89) (125) (23) (82)
Tone (調) Rising (X) Level (Ø) Level (Ø) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open Open Closed
Division () I IV I III
Fanqie
Baxter dawX theng du sywet
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/dɑuX/ /tʰeŋ/ /duo/ /ɕiuᴇt̚/
Pan
Wuyun
/dɑuX/ /tʰeŋ/ /duo/ /ɕʷiɛt̚/
Shao
Rongfen
/dɑuX/ /tʰɛŋ/ /do/ /ɕjuæt̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/dawX/ /tʰɛjŋ/ /dɔ/ /ɕwiat̚/
Li
Rong
/dɑuX/ /tʰeŋ/ /do/ /ɕiuɛt̚/
Wang
Li
/dɑuX/ /tʰieŋ/ /du/ /ɕĭuɛt̚/
Bernard
Karlgren
/dʱɑuX/ /tʰieŋ/ /dʱuo/ /ɕi̯wɛt̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
dào tīng shuo
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
dou6 ting1 tou4 syut3
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 2/2 1/2 2/2 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
dào tīng shuō
Middle
Chinese
‹ dawX › ‹ theng › ‹ du › ‹ sywet ›
Old
Chinese
/*[kə.l]ˁuʔ/ /*l̥ˁeŋ/ /*lˁa/ /*l̥ot/
English way listen road speak, explain

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
Reading # 1/1 1/2 2/2 2/3
No. 11669 11392 15774 2571
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
1 0 0 3
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*l'uːʔ/ /*l̥ʰeːŋ/ /*l'aː/ /*hljod/
Notes

Idiom edit

道聽塗說

  1. rumor; hearsay

Descendants edit

Sino-Xenic (道聽塗說):