性命

性命

Chinese

		sex; nature; suffix corresponding to ‑ness or ‑ity	life; fate
simp. and trad. (性命)		性	命

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xìngmìng

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄇㄧㄥˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sing³ ming⁶
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sin-miang
• Min Nan (POJ): sìⁿ-miā / sèⁿ-miā / sèng-bēng

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xìngmìng → xìngming (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄇㄧㄥˋ → ㄒㄧㄥˋ ˙ㄇㄧㄥ (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sìngmi̊ng
    • Wade–Giles: hsing⁴-ming⁵
    • Yale: syìng-ming
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shinq.minq
    • Palladius: синмин (sinmin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕiŋ⁵¹⁻⁵³ miŋ⁵¹/ → /ɕiŋ⁵¹ miŋ¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: sing³ ming⁶
    • Yale: sing mihng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sing³ ming⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: xing³ ming⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɪŋ³³ mɪŋ²²/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sin-miang
    • Hakka Romanization System: xin miang
    • Hagfa Pinyim: xin⁴ miang⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /ɕin⁵⁵ mi̯aŋ⁵⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taipei, Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sìⁿ-miā
    • Tâi-lô: sìnn-miā
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sviemia
    • IPA (Taipei): /ɕĩ¹¹⁻⁵³ miã³³/
    • IPA (Singapore): /ɕĩ²¹⁻⁴² mia²²/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /ɕĩ²¹⁻⁵³ miã²²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ɕĩ⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ miã⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sèⁿ-miā
    • Tâi-lô: sènn-miā
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sveamia
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /sɛ̃²¹⁻⁵³ miã²²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /sẽ²¹⁻⁴¹ miã³³/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sèng-bēng
    • Tâi-lô: sìng-bīng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: seangbeng
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɕiɪŋ²¹⁻⁴¹ biɪŋ³³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /ɕiɪŋ¹¹⁻⁵³ biɪŋ³³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ɕiɪŋ⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ biɪŋ⁴¹/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /ɕiɪŋ²¹⁻⁵³ biɪŋ²²/

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• Middle Chinese: /siᴇŋ^H  mˠiæŋ^H/

Rime
Character	性	命
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	清 (121)	庚 (111)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	息正切	眉病切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/siᴇŋH/	/mˠiæŋH/
Pan Wuyun	/siɛŋH/	/mᵚiaŋH/
Shao Rongfen	/siæŋH/	/miaŋH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/siajŋH/	/miajŋH/
Li Rong	/siɛŋH/	/miɐŋH/
Wang Li	/sĭɛŋH/	/mĭɐŋH/
Bernard Karlgren	/si̯ɛŋH/	/mi̯ɐŋH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xìng	mìng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sing3	ming6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*seŋ-s  m-riŋ-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*sleŋs  mreŋs/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	性	命
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xìng	mìng
Middle Chinese	‹ sjengH ›	‹ mjængH ›
Old Chinese	/*seŋ-s/	/*m-riŋ-s/ (dialect: *m-r- > *mr-, *-iŋ> *-eŋ)
English	nature	command (n.)
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	性	命
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	11358	8275
Phonetic component	生	令
Rime group	耕	耕
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	性	命
Old Chinese	/*sleŋs/	/*mreŋs/
Notes		令轉註字

Noun

性命

1. life; survival

   性命交關／性命交关  ―  xìngmìng jiāoguān  ―  vitally important (lit. related to life)

   性命圭旨  ―  xìngmìng guīzhǐ  ―  (please add an English translation of this example)

Synonyms

edit

命仔 (Cantonese) 活命 (huómìng)

生命 (shēngmìng) 一口氣／一口气 (yīkǒuqì) (figurative)

Derived terms

丕性命 性命之交 身家性命 (shēnjiā xìngmìng) 壞了性命／坏了性命

性命之憂／性命之忧 性命交關／性命交关 (xìngmìngjiāoguān) 性命攸關／性命攸关 (xìngmìngyōuguān) 潑性命／泼性命

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (性命):

• → Japanese: 性命(せいめい) (seimei)
• → Korean: 성명(性命) (seongmyeong)
• → Vietnamese: tính mạng (性命)

References

• “Entry #3919”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (in Chinese and Min Nan), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.