法螺

Chinese

		law; method; way law; method; way; Buddhist teaching; Legalist; France (abbrev.)	aquatic snail
simp. and trad. (法螺)		法	螺

法螺 (1, 2)

Etymology

Calque of Sanskrit धर्म शङ्ख (dharma śaṅkha, “conch shell of religion; conch of the law”). Tibetan equivalent is ཆོས་དུང (chos dung).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): fǎluó

  (Zhuyin): ㄈㄚˇ ㄌㄨㄛˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): faat³ lo⁴
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁷faq-lu

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: fǎluó
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄚˇ ㄌㄨㄛˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: fǎluó
    • Wade–Giles: fa³-lo²
    • Yale: fǎ-lwó
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: faaluo
    • Palladius: фало (falo)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fä²¹⁴⁻²¹ lu̯ɔ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: faat³ lo⁴
    • Yale: faat lòh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: faat⁸ lo⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: fad³ lo⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /faːt̚³ lɔː²¹/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁷faq-lu
    • MiniDict: fah^入 lu
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ⁴faq-lu
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /faʔ³³ lu⁴⁴/

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• Middle Chinese: pjop lwa

Rime
Character	法	螺
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	幫 (1)	來 (37)
Final (韻)	乏 (148)	戈 (95)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Closed
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	方乏切	落戈切
Baxter	pjop	lwa
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/pɨɐp̚/	/luɑ/
Pan Wuyun	/piɐp̚/	/luɑ/
Shao Rongfen	/piɐp̚/	/luɑ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/puap̚/	/lwa/
Li Rong	/piɐp̚/	/luɑ/
Wang Li	/pĭwɐp̚/	/luɑ/
Bernhard Karlgren	/pi̯wɐp̚/	/luɑ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	fa	luó
Expected Cantonese Reflex	faat3	lo4

Noun

法螺

1. (Buddhism) conch shell used as a Buddhist trumpet
2. Triton's trumpet; giant triton (Charonia tritonis)
3. (Buddhism) power and command of Buddhist teaching; doctrines of Buddhism
4. (figurative) boasting; bragging; exaggeration; overstatement

Synonyms

• (conch shell used as a Buddhist trumpet): (Hokkien) 龍角／龙角, 角鼓, 哨角 (shàojiǎo), 牛角鼓, 角管

Derived terms

• 吹大法螺 (chuīdàfǎluó)
• 吹法螺
• 大吹法螺 (dàchuīfǎluó)
• 大法螺

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (法螺):

• → Japanese: 法(ほ)螺(ら) (hora); 法(ほう)螺(ら) (hōra)
• → Korean: 법라(法螺) (beomna)
• → Vietnamese: pháp loa (法螺)

Further reading

• Ding, Fubao (丁福保) (1922), “法螺” in 佛學大辭典 [A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms].

Japanese

Kanji in this term
法	螺
ほう > ほ Grade: 4	ら Jinmeiyō
on'yomi

Noun

法(ほ)螺(ら) • (hora) 

1. boasting

Derived terms

• ほら話(ばなし) (horabanashi)
• 法(ほ)螺(ら)貝(がい) (horagai)
• 駄(だ)法(ぼ)螺(ら) (dabora)