桃李

Chinese

		peach	plum
trad. (桃李)		桃	李
simp. #(桃李)		桃	李

Etymology

The figurative sense is from an ancient anecdote that describes how planting either the peach or the plum tree in spring will give you shade in summer and fruit ripe for the picking in autumn as opposed to planting, let's say, thorns; also refers to the fact that peach and plum trees take considerable amount of time and care to cultivate, but the fruit is always sweet.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): táolǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄠˊ ㄌㄧˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tou⁴ lei⁵
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): thò-lí
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): thô-lí

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: táolǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄠˊ ㄌㄧˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: táolǐ
    • Wade–Giles: tʻao²-li³
    • Yale: táu-lǐ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: taurlii
    • Palladius: таоли (taoli)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰɑʊ̯³⁵ li²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: tou⁴ lei⁵
    • Yale: tòuh léih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tou⁴ lei⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: tou⁴ léi⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰou̯²¹ lei̯¹³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: thò-lí
    • Hakka Romanization System: to^ˇ li^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: to² li³
    • Sinological IPA: /tʰo¹¹ li³¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thô-lí
    • Tâi-lô: thô-lí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: toilie
    • IPA (Xiamen): /tʰo²⁴⁻²² li⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /tʰo²⁴⁻²² li⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /tʰo¹³⁻²² li⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /tʰo²⁴⁻¹¹ li⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /tʰɤ²³⁻³³ li⁴¹/

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• Middle Chinese: daw liX

Rime
Character	桃	李
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	定 (7)	來 (37)
Final (韻)	豪 (89)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	III
Fanqie	徒刀切	良士切
Baxter	daw	liX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/dɑu/	/lɨX/
Pan Wuyun	/dɑu/	/lɨX/
Shao Rongfen	/dɑu/	/lieX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/daw/	/lɨX/
Li Rong	/dɑu/	/liəX/
Wang Li	/dɑu/	/lĭəX/
Bernard Karlgren	/dʱɑu/	/liX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	táo	lǐ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	tou4	lei5

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*C.lˤaw  C.rəʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*l'aːw  rɯʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	桃	李
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	táo	lǐ
Middle Chinese	‹ daw ›	‹ liX ›
Old Chinese	/*C.lˁaw/	/*C.rəʔ/
English	peach	plum
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	桃	李
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	16844	17869
Phonetic component	兆	子
Rime group	宵	之
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	陶	里
Old Chinese	/*l'aːw/	/*rɯʔ/

Noun

桃李

1. (literal, Classical) peaches and plums
2. (Classical) peach flowers and plum flowers
3. (figurative) all the pupils of a teacher over their lifetime

Derived terms

• 公門桃李／公门桃李
• 春夜宴桃李園序／春夜宴桃李园序
• 桃李不言，下自成行
• 桃李不言，下自成蹊
• 桃李之教
• 桃李滿天下／桃李满天下 (táolǐ mǎn tiānxià)
• 桃李滿門／桃李满门 (táolǐmǎnmén)
• 桃李無言，下自成蹊／桃李无言，下自成蹊
• 桃李爭妍／桃李争妍
• 桃李爭輝／桃李争辉
• 桃李遍天下
• 桃李門牆／桃李门墙
• 色豔桃李／色艳桃李
• 豔如桃李／艳如桃李
• 門牆桃李／门墙桃李