騏驎

Chinese

		piebald horse
trad. (騏驎)		騏	驎
simp. (骐𬴊)		骐	𬴊
alternative forms		騏麟／骐麟

Etymology

mythic beast

See 麒麟 (qílín)

fine horse, steed

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “From sense "qilin"?”)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qílín

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧˊ ㄌㄧㄣˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): kei⁴ leon⁴

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qílín
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧˊ ㄌㄧㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cílín
    • Wade–Giles: chʻi²-lin²
    • Yale: chí-lín
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chyilin
    • Palladius: цилинь (cilinʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi³⁵ lin³⁵/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 淇淋 麒麐／麒麟 麒麟

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: kei⁴ leon⁴
    • Yale: kèih lèuhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: kei⁴ loen⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: kéi⁴ lên⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰei̯²¹ lɵn²¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: gi lin

Rime
Character	騏	驎
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	群 (30)	來 (37)
Final (韻)	之 (19)	眞 (43)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	渠之切	力珍切
Baxter	gi	lin
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɡɨ/	/liɪn/
Pan Wuyun	/ɡɨ/	/lin/
Shao Rongfen	/ɡie/	/ljen/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/gɨ/	/lin/
Li Rong	/ɡiə/	/liĕn/
Wang Li	/ɡĭə/	/lĭĕn/
Bernard Karlgren	/gi/	/li̯ĕn/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	qí	lín
Expected Cantonese Reflex	kei4	lan4

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɡɯ  rin/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	騏
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	qí
Middle Chinese	‹ gi ›
Old Chinese	/*[ɡ](r)ə/
English	black-mottled grey horse
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	騏	驎
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	9954	8207
Phonetic component	其	粦
Rime group	之	眞
Rime subdivision	0	1
Corresponding MC rime	其	㷠
Old Chinese	/*ɡɯ/	/*rin/
Notes		見爾雅

Noun

騏驎

1. (literary) fine horse; steed

   • 金鞭頻策騏驎馬。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     金鞭频策骐𬴊马。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     From: Taiping Guangji (Extensive Records of the Taiping Era), 978 CE

     Jīnbiān pín cè qílínmǎ. [Pinyin]

     The gilden whip neverendingly urges the Qilin steed.

2. Alternative form of 麒麟 (qílín)

   • 鳳皇、騏驎，太平之瑞也。太平之際，見來至也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     凤皇、骐𬴊，太平之瑞也。太平之际，见来至也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Wang Chong, Lun Heng (Discussive Weighing), 80 CE, translated based on Alfred Forke's version

     Fènghuáng, qílín, tàipíng zhī ruì yě. Tàipíng zhī jì, jiàn láizhì yě. [Pinyin]

     Fenghuang and qilin are omens of universal peace. In time of universal peace one will see them arrive.

Japanese

Kanji in this term
騏	驎
き Hyōgaiji	りん Hyōgaiji
on'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 騏驎 – see the following entry.

【麒麟きりん】 [noun] [from 720] 麒麟, 騏驎: (mythology, Chinese mythology) a qilin [noun] [date unknown] 麒麟, 騏驎: (shogi) the kirin, a piece in chūshōgi and larger shogi variants [noun] [from 1798] 麒麟, 騏驎, キリン: a giraffe (mammal) Alternative spelling キリン

(This term, 騏驎, is an alternative spelling (general use) of the above term.)