猶子

猶子

Chinese

		as if; still	child; son; (noun suffix) child; son; (noun suffix); small thing; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch; 11 pm-1 am; midnight
trad. (猶子)		猶	子
simp. (犹子)		犹	子
Literally: “comparable to one's own child/son”.

Etymology

Originally from a passage from the Liji (《禮記》) in the context of the proper rites of mourning:

喪服，兄弟之子猶子也，蓋引而進之也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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丧服，兄弟之子犹子也，盖引而进之也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Sāngfú, xiōngdì zhī zǐ yóu zǐ yě, gài yǐn ér jìnzhī yě. [Pinyin]

The mourning worn for the son of a brother should be the same as for one's own son: the object being to bring him still nearer to one's self.

Gradually the phrase was taken out of its original context and became idiomatic, despite (prescriptionist) objections from classical scholars.[1] For non-idiomatic usages, see the individual characters 猶, 子.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yóuzǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄡˊ ㄗˇ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yóuzǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄡˊ ㄗˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yóuzǐh
    • Wade–Giles: yu²-tzŭ³
    • Yale: yóu-dž
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: youtzyy
    • Palladius: юцзы (juczy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /joʊ̯³⁵ t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

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• Middle Chinese: /jɨu  t͡sɨ^X/

Rime
Character	猶	子
Reading #	1/3	1/1
Initial (聲)	以 (36)	精 (13)
Final (韻)	尤 (136)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	以周切	即里切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/jɨu/	/t͡sɨX/
Pan Wuyun	/jiu/	/t͡sɨX/
Shao Rongfen	/iəu/	/t͡sieX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/juw/	/t͡sɨX/
Li Rong	/iu/	/t͡siəX/
Wang Li	/jĭəu/	/t͡sĭəX/
Bernard Karlgren	/i̯ə̯u/	/t͡siX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yóu	zǐ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jau4	zi2

Noun

猶子

1. nephew (son of a brother)

   • 伯兮叔兮，同見戮於猶子。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     伯兮叔兮，同见戮于犹子。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Yu Xin, c. 578, The Lament for the South (《哀江南賦》)

     Bó xī shū xī, tóng jiànlù yú yóuzǐ. [Pinyin]

     His sons, young and old, lost their lives to the nephew.

   • 拿破侖一世破壞法蘭西共和，帝制自為，身敗名辱。其猶子拿破侖三世，仍明目張膽，蹈其覆轍。 [MSC, trad.]
     拿破仑一世破坏法兰西共和，帝制自为，身败名辱。其犹子拿破仑三世，仍明目张胆，蹈其覆辙。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1916, Ch'en Tu-hsiu (陳獨秀), The Resurrection of Yuan Shih-k'ai (《袁世凱復活》).

     Nápòlún Yīshì pòhuài Fǎlánxī gònghé, dìzhì zìwéi, shēnbài míngrǔ. Qí yóuzǐ Nápòlún Sānshì, réng míngmùzhāngdǎn, dǎo qí fùzhé. [Pinyin]

     Napoleon I betrayed the French republic and crowned himself Emperor; he ended up defeated and disgraced. Yet his nephew, Napoleon III, still brazenly followed his footprints to the ruinous end.

2. (uncommon) niece

References

1. 黎靖德, et al., editor (circa 13th–17th century) 朱子語類 [A Collection of Conversations of Master Zhu] (in Chinese), ctp:n597013, 禮四·小戴禮·檀弓上: “今人呼兄弟之子為「猶子」，非是。”