江湖

江湖

Chinese

		river	lake
simp. and trad. (江湖)		江	湖

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jiānghú

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄤ ㄏㄨˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gong¹ wu⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): kông-fù
• Min Nan (POJ): kang-ô͘
• Wu (Wiktionary): kaan hhu (T1)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: jiānghú → jiānghu (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄤ ㄏㄨˊ → ㄐㄧㄤ ˙ㄏㄨ (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiang.hwu
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵⁵ xu³⁵/ → /t͡ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵⁵ xu²/

Note: Toneless - usually the sense of “man of experience”.

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: gong¹ wu⁴
    • Yale: gōng wùh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gong¹ wu⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: gong¹ wu⁴
    • IPA ^(key): /kɔːŋ⁵⁵ wuː²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kông-fù
    • Hakka Romanization System: gong´ fuˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: gong¹ fu²
    • IPA: /koŋ²⁴ fu¹¹/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kang-ô͘
    • Tâi-lô: kang-ôo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kang'oo
    • IPA (Xiamen): /kaŋ⁴⁴⁻²² ɔ²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kaŋ³³ ɔ²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kaŋ⁴⁴⁻²² ɔ¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /kaŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ ɔ²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kaŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ ɔ²³/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • Wiktionary: kaan hhu (T1)
    • IPA ^(key): /kɑ̃⁵⁵ ɦv̩ʷ²¹/

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• Middle Chinese: /kˠʌŋ  ɦuo/▼

Rime
Character	江	湖
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)	匣 (33)
Final (韻)	江 (9)	模 (23)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	II	I
Fanqie	古雙切	戸吳切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kˠʌŋ/	/ɦuo/
Pan Wuyun	/kᵚɔŋ/	/ɦuo/
Shao Rongfen	/kɔŋ/	/ɣo/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kaɨwŋ/	/ɦɔ/
Li Rong	/kɔŋ/	/ɣo/
Wang Li	/kɔŋ/	/ɣu/
Bernard Karlgren	/kɔŋ/	/ɣuo/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	jiāng	hú

• Old Chinese▼

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*kˤroŋ  [ɡ]ˤa/

  (Zhengzhang): /*kroːŋ  ɡaː/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	江	湖
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	jiāng	hú
Middle Chinese	‹ kæwng ›	‹ hu ›
Old Chinese	/*kˁroŋ/	/*[ɡ]ˁa/
English	(Yangzi) river	lake
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	江	湖
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	3995	4247
Phonetic component	工	古
Rime group	東	魚
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	江	胡
Old Chinese	/*kroːŋ/	/*ɡaː/

Noun

江湖

1. (literally) rivers and lakes

   • 泉涸，魚相與處於陸，相呴以溼，相濡以沫，不如相忘於江湖。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     泉涸，鱼相与处于陆，相呴以湿，相濡以沫，不如相忘于江湖。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE

     Quán hé, yú xiāngyǔ chǔ yú lù, xiāng xǔ yǐ shī, xiāng rú yǐ mò, bùrú xiāngwàng yú jiānghú. [Pinyin]

     When the springs are dried up, the fishes collect together on the land. Than that they should moisten one another there by the damp about them, and keep one another wet by their slime, it would be better for them to forget one another in the rivers and lakes.

2. (figuratively) all corners of the country; (around) the whole country
3. (figuratively) wandering life; private and plebian domain beyond the control of the government; underworld
4. (figuratively) place of residence of a hermit; reclusive place
5. (figuratively) vagrant; itinerant (entertainer, quack doctor, swindler etc.)
6. (figuratively) old experienced person; man of experience

Derived terms

Derived terms from 江湖

人在江湖，身不由己 江湖好漢／江湖好汉 江湖義氣／江湖义气 江湖藝人／江湖艺人 江湖術士／江湖术士 江湖術語／江湖术语 江湖道義／江湖道义 江湖郎中

江湖騙子／江湖骗子 (jiānghú piànzi) 浪跡江湖／浪迹江湖 笑傲江湖 老江湖 走江湖 跑江湖 重現江湖／重现江湖 闖江湖／闯江湖

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (江湖):

• → Japanese: 江 (こう)湖 (こ) (kōko)
• → Korean: 강호 (江湖, gangho)
• → Vietnamese: giang hồ (江湖)