小康

Chinese

		small; tiny; few small; tiny; few; young	peaceful; spongy (of radishes)
trad. (小康)		小	康
simp. #(小康)		小	康
Literally: “small tranquility”.

Etymology

From the Book of Rites, Book 9 (《禮記·禮運》):

……如有不由此者，在勢者去，眾以為殃，是謂小康。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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……如有不由此者，在势者去，众以为殃，是谓小康。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

...... Rú yǒu bù yóu cǐ zhě, zài shì zhě qù, zhòng yǐ wéi yāng, shì wèi xiǎokāng. [Pinyin]

[…] Any rulers who did not follow this course were driven away by those who possessed power and position, and all regarded them as pests. This is the period of what we call Small Tranquillity.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiǎokāng

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄎㄤ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): siu² hong¹
• Hakka (Meixian, Guangdong): xiau³ kong¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sió-khong / siáu-khong

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎokāng
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄎㄤ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siǎokang
    • Wade–Giles: hsiao³-kʻang¹
    • Yale: syǎu-kāng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheaukang
    • Palladius: сяокан (sjaokan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ kʰɑŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: siu² hong¹
    • Yale: síu hōng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: siu² hong¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: xiu² hong¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːu̯³⁵ hɔːŋ⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: xiau³ kong¹
    • Sinological IPA: /siau³¹ kʰɔŋ⁴⁴/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sió-khong
    • Tâi-lô: sió-khong
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sioy'qofng
    • IPA (Xiamen): /sio⁵³⁻⁴⁴ kʰɔŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /sio⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ kʰɔŋ³³/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siáu-khong
    • Tâi-lô: siáu-khong
    • Phofsit Daibuun: siaw'qofng
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /siau⁵³⁻⁴⁴ kʰɔŋ⁴⁴/

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• Middle Chinese: sjewX khang

Rime
Character	小	康
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	溪 (29)
Final (韻)	宵 (91)	唐 (101)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	私兆切	苦岡切
Baxter	sjewX	khang
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/siᴇuX/	/kʰɑŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/siɛuX/	/kʰɑŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/sjæuX/	/kʰɑŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/siawX/	/kʰaŋ/
Li Rong	/siɛuX/	/kʰɑŋ/
Wang Li	/sĭɛuX/	/kʰɑŋ/
Bernhard Karlgren	/si̯ɛuX/	/kʰɑŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xiǎo	kāng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	siu2	hong1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[s]ewʔ  k-r̥ˤaŋ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*smewʔ  kʰlaːŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	小	康
Reading #	1/1	2/3
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xiǎo	kāng
Middle Chinese	‹ sjewX ›	‹ khang ›
Old Chinese	/*[s]ewʔ/	/*k-r̥ˁaŋ/
English	small	tranquil; at ease
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	小	康
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	13705	3981
Phonetic component	小	庚
Rime group	宵	陽
Rime subdivision	2	0
Corresponding MC rime	小	康
Old Chinese	/*smewʔ/	/*kʰlaːŋ/
Notes	甲金文象沙而指小， 指事字

Noun

小康

1. (Chinese philosophy) Confucian near-ideal state of society; period of peace and prosperity
2. (modern uses) comparatively good living standards; moderate affluence

Derived terms

• 奔小康
• 小康社會 / 小康社会 (xiǎokāng shèhuì)
• 小康計畫 / 小康计画

Japanese

Kanji in this term
小	康
しょう Grade: 1	こう Grade: 4
on'yomi

Etymology

/seukau/ → /ɕeukau/ → /ɕeukɔː/ → /ɕoːkoː/

From Middle Chinese compound 小康 (sjew^X khang, literally “small + tranquil”). Compare modern Cantonese siu² hong¹ or Mandarin xiǎokāng.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) しょーこー [shòókóó] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ːko̞ː]

Noun

小(しょう)康(こう) • (shōkō) ^{←せうかう (seukau)?}

1. a lull, a respite, a breathing spell, a short time of peace

Derived terms

• 小康状態(しょうこうじょうたい) (shōkō jōtai): a state of reduced activity