玉碎

玉碎

Chinese

		jade	to break down; to break into pieces; fragmentary
simp. and trad. (玉碎)		玉	碎
anagram		碎玉
Literally: “a jade breaks”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yùsuì

  (Zhuyin): ㄩˋ ㄙㄨㄟˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): juk⁶ seoi³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: yùsuì
    • Zhuyin: ㄩˋ ㄙㄨㄟˋ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yiwsuey
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yùsuèi
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /y⁵¹⁻⁵³ sweɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: juk⁶ seoi³
    • Yale: yuhk seui
    • Cantonese Pinyin: juk⁹ soey³
    • Guangdong Romanization: yug⁶ sêu³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jʊk̚² sɵy̯³³/

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• Middle Chinese: /ŋɨok̚  suʌi^H/

Rime
Character	玉	碎
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	疑 (31)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	燭 (8)	灰 (42)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	魚欲切	蘇内切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ŋɨok̚/	/suʌiH/
Pan Wuyun	/ŋiok̚/	/suoiH/
Shao Rongfen	/ŋiok̚/	/suɒiH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ŋuawk̚/	/swəjH/
Li Rong	/ŋiok̚/	/suᴀiH/
Wang Li	/ŋĭwok̚/	/suɒiH/
Bernard Karlgren	/ŋi̯wok̚/	/suɑ̆iH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yù	suì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	juk6	seoi3

Verb

玉碎

1. (figuratively) to die for moral principles, one's ideals or justice

Derived terms

寧可玉碎，不能瓦全／宁可玉碎，不能瓦全 (nìngkě yùsuì, bùnéng wǎquán)

寧為玉碎，不為瓦全／宁为玉碎，不为瓦全

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (玉碎):

• → Japanese: 玉砕(ぎょくさい) (gyokusai) (see there for further descendants)
• → Korean: 옥쇄 (玉碎, okswae)