文言

Chinese

		language; culture; writing language; culture; writing; formal; literary; gentle	to speak; to say; talk to speak; to say; talk; word
simp. and trad. (文言)		文	言

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): wényán

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄣˊ ㄧㄢˊ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): вын-ян (vɨn-i͡an, I-II)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): man⁴ jin⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): vùn-ngièn / vùn-ngiàn
• Eastern Min (BUC): ùng-ngiòng
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bûn-giân / bûn-gân
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶ven-ghe

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wényán
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄣˊ ㄧㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wúnyán
    • Wade–Giles: wên²-yen²
    • Yale: wén-yán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wenyan
    • Palladius: вэньянь (vɛnʹjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wən³⁵ jɛn³⁵/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: вын-ян (vɨn-i͡an, I-II)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /vəŋ²⁴ iæ̃⁵¹/

    (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: man⁴ jin⁴
    • Yale: màhn yìhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: man⁴ jin⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: men⁴ yin⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɐn²¹ jiːn²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: vùn-ngièn
    • Hakka Romanization System: vun^ˇ ngien^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: vun² ngian²
    • Sinological IPA: /vun¹¹ ŋi̯en¹¹/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: vùn-ngiàn
    • Hakka Romanization System: vun^ˇ ngian^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: vun² ngian²
    • Sinological IPA: /vun¹¹ ŋi̯an¹¹/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: ùng-ngiòng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /uŋ⁵³⁻³³ ŋyoŋ⁵³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bûn-giân
    • Tâi-lô: bûn-giân
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bun'gieen
    • IPA (Xiamen, Quanzhou): /bun²⁴⁻²² ɡiɛn²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bun²³⁻³³ ɡiɛn²³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /bun²⁴⁻¹¹ ɡiɛn²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bûn-gân
    • Tâi-lô: bûn-gân
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bun'gaan
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /bun¹³⁻²² ɡan¹³/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁶ven-ghe
    • MiniDict: ven^去 ghe
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³ven-hhe
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /vən²² ɦe⁴⁴/

Noun

文言

1. Literary Chinese (literary language used from the fall of the Han dynasty (220 C.E.) to the early 20th century)
2. Classical Chinese (literary language used in old China)

   文言詞彙／文言词汇  ―  wényán cíhuì  ―  Classical Chinese vocabulary

Usage notes

Careful usage distinguishes between 文言 (wényán) (literary writing, used from the fall of the Han dynasty (220 C.E.) to the early 20th century) on the one hand, and 古文 (gǔwén, “Ancient Writing”) or, formally, 古典漢語／古典汉语 (gǔdiǎn hànyǔ, “Classical Chinese”) (Classical Chinese, used from the Zhou Dynasty (1045 B.C.E.) (especially the Spring and Autumn Period), through to the end of the Han Dynasty (220 C.E.)) on the other. However, the terms are often conflated.

Antonyms

• Vernacular Chinese 白話／白话 (báihuà)

Derived terms

• 文言文 (wényánwén)

 

See also

• 文話／文话 (wénhuà)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
文	言
もん Grade: 1	ごん Grade: 2
goon

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) もんごん [mòńgóń] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) もんごん [mòńgóꜜǹ] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [mõ̞ŋɡõ̞ɴ]

Noun

文(もん)言(ごん) • (mongon) 

1. wording (esp. of written text); words

   Synonym: 文句 (monku)

   • 1927, 林不忘, 魔像 新版大岡政談‎^[1], 青空文庫:

     矢文(やぶみ)、矢(や)のさきに手紙(てがみ)が挾(はさ)んである。開(ひら)いてみると「明夜(みょうや)、残余(ざんよ)の首頂戴(くびちょうだい)に参堂(さんどう)、御用意(ごようい)あれ」――何(なん)とも不気味(ぶきみ)な、人(ひと)を食(く)った文言(もんごん)である。

     Yabumi, ya no saki ni tegami ga hasande aru. Hiraite miru to “myōya, zan'yo no kubi chōdai ni sandō, go-yōi are”――nan to mo bukimi na, hito o kutta mongon de aru.

     A letter was fixed to the front end of the arrow. They opened it and it read, “Tomorrow night, we will visit to collect the remaining heads. Be prepared.” The words were unspeakably eerie and taunting.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
文	言
ぶん Grade: 1	げん Grade: 2
kan'on

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぶんげん [bùńgéń] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) ぶんげん [bùńgéꜜǹ] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [bɯ̟̃ŋɡẽ̞ɴ]

Noun

文(ぶん)言(げん) • (bungen) 

1. wording (esp. of written text); words
2. Classical Chinese; classical Chinese literary style; traditional written Chinese

   Antonym: 白話 (hakuwa)

Korean

Hanja in this term
文	言

Noun

文言 • (muneon) (hangeul 문언)

1. hanja form^? of 문언 (“Classical Chinese wording”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
文	言

Noun

文言

1. chữ Hán form of văn ngôn (“Classical Chinese wording”).