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

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/

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/	/lɨ^X/
Pan Wuyun	/dɑu/	/lɨ^X/
Shao Rongfen	/dɑu/	/lie^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/daw/	/lɨ^X/
Li Rong	/dɑu/	/liə^X/
Wang Li	/dɑu/	/lĭə^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/dʱɑu/	/li^X/
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 ›	‹ li^X ›
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

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

Derived terms