半桶水

Chinese

		half; semi-; incomplete half; semi-; incomplete; (after a number) and a half	pail; bucket; bin pail; bucket; bin; barrel	water; river
simp. and trad. (半桶水)		半	桶	水
Literally: “half a bucket of water”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): bàntǒngshuǐ

(Zhuyin): ㄅㄢˋ ㄊㄨㄥˇ ㄕㄨㄟˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): bun³ tung² seoi²
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): pan-thúng-súi

(Hailu, HRS): ban^ˇ tung^ˊ shui^ˊ

(Meixian, Guangdong): ban⁴ tung³ sui³
Northern Min (KCR): bui̿ng-tǒ̤ng-sṳ̌
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): pòaⁿ-tháng-chúi

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bàntǒngshuǐ [Phonetic: bàntóngshuǐ]
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄢˋ ㄊㄨㄥˇ ㄕㄨㄟˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: bàntǒngshuěi
  - Wade–Giles: pan⁴-tʻung³-shui³
  - Yale: bàn-tǔng-shwěi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: banntoongshoei
  - Palladius: баньтуншуй (banʹtunšuj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pän⁵¹ tʰʊŋ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: bun³ tung² seoi²
  - Yale: bun túng séui
  - Cantonese Pinyin: bun³ tung² soey²
  - Guangdong Romanization: bun³ tung² sêu²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /puːn³³ tʰʊŋ³⁵ sɵy̯³⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: pan-thúng-súi
  - Hakka Romanization System: ban tung^ˋ sui^ˋ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: ban⁴ tung³ sui³
  - Sinological IPA: /pan⁵⁵ tʰuŋ³¹ su̯i³¹/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: ban⁴ tung³ sui³
  - Sinological IPA: /pan⁵³⁻⁵⁵ tʰʊŋ³¹ suɪ³¹/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
  - Hakka Romanization System: ban^ˇ tung^ˊ shui^ˊ
  - Sinological IPA: /pan¹¹ tʰuŋ²⁴⁻³³ ʃui²⁴/
Northern Min
- (Jian'ou)
  - Kienning Colloquial Romanized: bui̿ng-tǒ̤ng-sṳ̌
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /puiŋ³³ tʰɔŋ²¹ sy²¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Singapore)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pòaⁿ-tháng-chúi
  - Tâi-lô: puànn-tháng-tsuí
  - Phofsit Daibuun: pvoartafngzuie
  - IPA (Taipei): /puã¹¹⁻⁵³ tʰaŋ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sui⁵³/
  - IPA (Singapore): /puã²¹⁻⁴² tʰaŋ⁴²⁻²⁴ t͡sui⁴²/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /puã²¹⁻⁴¹ tʰaŋ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ t͡sui⁴¹/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /puã²¹⁻⁵³ tʰaŋ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sui⁵³/

Adjective

半桶水

(colloquial) limited (of one's skills, knowledge, etc.)

Noun

半桶水

(colloquial) smatterer; amateur; dabbler

Synonyms

半瓶醋 (bànpíngcù)
半瓶子醋 (bànpíngzicù)
(Hokkien, Teochew) 半桶屎, 半桶師仔／半桶师仔, 半桶師／半桶师, 半路師／半路师, 半精戇／半精戆, 𣍐半精／𫧃半精