已而

Chinese

		already; to stop; then already; to stop; then; afterwards	and; as well as; but (not) and; as well as; but (not); yet (not); (shows causal relation); (shows change of state); (shows contrast)
simp. and trad. (已而)		已	而
anagram		而已

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǐ'ér

  (Zhuyin): ㄧˇ ㄦˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ji⁵ ji⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǐ'ér
    • Zhuyin: ㄧˇ ㄦˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǐ-ér
    • Wade–Giles: i³-êrh²
    • Yale: yǐ-ér
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yiierl
    • Palladius: иэр (ier)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i²¹⁴⁻²¹ ˀɤɻ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ji⁵ ji⁴
    • Yale: yíh yìh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ji⁵ ji⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: yi⁵ yi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiː¹³ jiː²¹/

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• Middle Chinese: yiX|yiH nyi

Rime
Character	已	已	而
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	以 (36)	以 (36)	日 (38)
Final (韻)	之 (19)	之 (19)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III	III
Fanqie	羊己切	羊吏切	如之切
Baxter	yiX	yiH	nyi
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/jɨX/	/jɨH/	/ȵɨ/
Pan Wuyun	/jɨX/	/jɨH/	/ȵɨ/
Shao Rongfen	/ieX/	/ieH/	/ȵʑie/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/jɨX/	/jɨH/	/ȵɨ/
Li Rong	/iəX/	/iəH/	/ȵiə/
Wang Li	/jĭəX/	/jĭəH/	/ȵʑĭə/
Bernhard Karlgren	/iX/	/iH/	/ȵʑi/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yǐ	yì	ér
Expected Cantonese Reflex	ji5	ji6	ji4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*ɢ(r)əʔ  nə/

  (Zhengzhang): /*lɯʔ  njɯ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	已	而
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yǐ	ér
Middle Chinese	‹ yiX ›	‹ nyi ›
Old Chinese	/*ɢ(r)əʔ/	/*nə/
English	cease; already	and, but
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	已	而
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	14924	2720
Phonetic component	已	而
Rime group	之	之
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	以	而
Old Chinese	/*lɯʔ/	/*njɯ/
Notes	巳轉註字

Adverb

已而

1. (Classical) soon; before long

Verb

已而

1. (Classical) forget it; let it be

   Synonym: 算了 (suànle)

   • 楚狂接輿歌而過孔子曰：「鳳兮！鳳兮！何德之衰？往者不可諫，來者猶可追。已而，已而！今之從政者殆而！」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     楚狂接舆歌而过孔子曰：「凤兮！凤兮！何德之衰？往者不可谏，来者犹可追。已而，已而！今之从政者殆而！」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Chǔ kuáng Jiē Yú gē ér guò kǒngzǐ yuē: “Fèng xī! Fèng xī! Hé dé zhī shuāi? Wǎng zhě bùkě jiàn, lái zhě yóu kě zhuī. Yǐ'ér, yǐ'ér! Jīn zhī cóngzhèngzhě dài ér!” [Pinyin]

     The madman of Chu, Jie Yu, passed by Confucius, singing and saying, "O Feng! O Feng! How is your virtue degenerated! As to the past, reproof is useless; but the future may still be provided against. Give up your vain pursuit. Give up your vain pursuit. Peril awaits those who now engage in affairs of government."