螻蟻

螻蟻

Chinese

		mole-cricket; Gryllotalpa africona	ant
trad. (螻蟻)		螻	蟻
simp. (蝼蚁)		蝼	蚁
variant forms		螻螘

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lóuyǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄡˊ ㄧˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lau⁴ ngai⁵

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: lóuyǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄡˊ ㄧˇ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: louyyi
    • IPA ^(key): /loʊ̯³⁵ i²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: lau⁴ ngai⁵
    • Yale: làuh ngáih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lau⁴ ngai⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: leo⁴ ngei⁵
    • IPA ^(key): /lɐu̯²¹ ŋɐi̯¹³/

---

• Middle Chinese: /ləu  ŋˠiᴇ^X/▼

Rime
Character	螻	蟻
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	來 (37)	疑 (31)
Final (韻)	侯 (137)	支 (13)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	Chongniu III
Fanqie	落侯切	魚倚切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ləu/	/ŋˠiᴇX/
Pan Wuyun	/ləu/	/ŋᵚiɛX/
Shao Rongfen	/ləu/	/ŋiɛX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ləw/	/ŋjiə̆X/
Li Rong	/lu/	/ŋjeX/
Wang Li	/ləu/	/ŋǐeX/
Bernard Karlgren	/lə̯u/	/ŋie̯X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	lóu	yǐ

• Old Chinese▼

  (Zhengzhang): /*roː  ŋralʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	蟻
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yǐ
Middle Chinese	‹ ngjeX ›
Old Chinese	/*m-qʰ(r)ajʔ/
English	ant
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	螻	蟻
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	8458	13049
Phonetic component	婁	我
Rime group	侯	歌
Rime subdivision	0	1
Corresponding MC rime	樓	螘
Old Chinese	/*roː/	/*ŋralʔ/
Notes		同螘本作蛾此見孫子

Noun

螻蟻

1. mole crickets and ants
2. (by extension) tiny creatures
3. (figuratively) petty, powerless people

Derived terms

先驅螻蟻／先驱蝼蚁 螻蟻尚且偷生／蝼蚁尚且偷生

螻蟻尚且貪生／蝼蚁尚且贪生 螻蟻得志／蝼蚁得志