妻妾

Chinese

		wife	concubine
trad. (妻妾)		妻	妾
simp. #(妻妾)		妻	妾

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qīqiè

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧ ㄑㄧㄝˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cai¹ cip³
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): chhî-chhiap

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qīqiè
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧ ㄑㄧㄝˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ciciè
    • Wade–Giles: chʻi¹-chʻieh⁴
    • Yale: chī-chyè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chichieh
    • Palladius: цице (cice)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰi̯ɛ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: cai¹ cip³
    • Yale: chāi chip
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsai¹ tsip⁸
    • Guangdong Romanization: cei¹ qib³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɐi̯⁵⁵ t͡sʰiːp̚³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chhî-chhiap
    • Hakka Romanization System: qi^ˊ qiab^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: qi¹ qiab⁵
    • Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰi²⁴ t͡sʰi̯ap̚²/

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• Middle Chinese: tshej tshjep

Rime
Character	妻	妾
Reading #	1/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	清 (14)	清 (14)
Final (韻)	齊 (39)	葉 (155)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	IV	III
Fanqie	七稽切	七接切
Baxter	tshej	tshjep
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/t͡sʰei/	/t͡sʰiᴇp̚/
Pan Wuyun	/t͡sʰei/	/t͡sʰiɛp̚/
Shao Rongfen	/t͡sʰɛi/	/t͡sʰjæp̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/t͡sʰɛj/	/t͡sʰiap̚/
Li Rong	/t͡sʰei/	/t͡sʰiɛp̚/
Wang Li	/t͡sʰiei/	/t͡sʰĭɛp̚/
Bernard Karlgren	/t͡sʰiei/	/t͡sʰi̯ɛp̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	qī	qie
Expected Cantonese Reflex	cai1	cip3

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[tsʰ]ˤəj  [tsʰ]ap/

  (Zhengzhang): /*sʰiːl  sʰeb/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	妻	妾
Reading #	1/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	qī	qiè
Middle Chinese	‹ tshej ›	‹ tshjep ›
Old Chinese	/*[tsʰ]ˁəj/	/*[tsʰ]ap/
English	consort, wife	concubine
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	妻	妾
Reading #	1/2	1/1
No.	9913	10467
Phonetic component	妻	妾
Rime group	脂	盍
Rime subdivision	1	2
Corresponding MC rime	妻	妾
Old Chinese	/*sʰiːl/	/*sʰeb/

Noun

妻妾

1. wives and concubines (of a man); harem

   • 為宮室之美，妻妾之奉，所識窮乏者得我與？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     为宫室之美，妻妾之奉，所识穷乏者得我与？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Wèi gōngshì zhī měi, qīqiè zhī fèng, suǒ shí qióngfá zhě dé wǒ yú? [Pinyin]

     [When he takes them,] is it not that he may obtain beautiful mansions, that he may secure the services of wives and concubines, or that the poor and needy of his acquaintance may be helped by him?

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (妻妾):

• → Japanese: 妻妾(さいしょう) (saishō)
• → Korean: 처첩(妻妾) (cheocheop)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
妻	妾
さい Grade: 5	しょう Hyōgai
on'yomi

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) さいしょー [sàíshóó] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [sa̠iɕo̞ː]

Noun

妻(さい)妾(しょう) • (saishō) ^{←さいせふ (saisefu)?}

1. wife and concubine

   妻(さい)妾(しょう)同(どう)居(きょ)

   saishō dōkyo

   wife and concubine living under the same roof