濫觴

See also: 滥觞

Chinese

		excessive; indiscriminate	feast; goblet
trad. (濫觴)		濫	觴
simp. (滥觞)		滥	觞

Etymology

From the concept that the water source is so gentle at the source of a river, that a beverage vessel — 觴／觞 (shāng, “a kind of alcohol drinkware”) — can be steadily floated, as if in a banquet with "floating cups" (cf. 流觴曲水). For example, in the Xunzi it was said that

昔者江出於岷山；其始出也，其源可以濫觴；及其至江之津也，不放舟，不避風，則不可涉也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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昔者江出于岷山；其始出也，其源可以滥觞；及其至江之津也，不放舟，不避风，则不可涉也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Xunzi, c. 3^rd century BCE

Xīzhě Jiāng chū yú Mínshān; qí shǐ chū yě, qí yuán kěyǐ lànshāng; jí qí zhì Jiāng zhī jīn yě, bù fàngzhōu, bù bìfēng, zé bùkě shè yě. [Pinyin]

Consider the Jiang that flows out of the Min Mountains — at its source it used to be able so gentle that one may float a drinking vessels with it. Now at downstream wharfs, only with a boat may one attempt crossing it, and only if the wind permits.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lànshāng

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄢˋ ㄕㄤ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): laam⁵ soeng¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lànshāng
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄢˋ ㄕㄤ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lànshang
    • Wade–Giles: lan⁴-shang¹
    • Yale: làn-shāng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: lannshang
    • Palladius: ланьшан (lanʹšan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /län⁵¹ ʂɑŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: laam⁵ soeng¹
    • Yale: láahm sēung
    • Cantonese Pinyin: laam⁵ soeng¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: lam⁵ sêng¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /laːm¹³ sœːŋ⁵⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: lamH syang

Rime
Character	濫	觴
Reading #	2/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	來 (37)	書 (26)
Final (韻)	談 (143)	陽 (105)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	III
Fanqie	盧𣊟切	式羊切
Baxter	lamH	syang
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/lɑmH/	/ɕɨɐŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/lɑmH/	/ɕiɐŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/lɑmH/	/ɕiɑŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/lamH/	/ɕɨaŋ/
Li Rong	/lɑmH/	/ɕiaŋ/
Wang Li	/lɑmH/	/ɕĭaŋ/
Bernhard Karlgren	/lɑmH/	/ɕi̯aŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	làn	shāng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	laam6	soeng1

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɡ·raːms  hljaŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	觴
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	shāng
Middle Chinese	‹ syang ›
Old Chinese	/*l̥aŋ/
English	goblet
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	濫	觴
Reading #	1/2	1/1
No.	6094	14583
Phonetic component	監	昜
Rime group	談	陽
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime		商
Old Chinese	/*ɡ·raːms/	/*hljaŋ/

Verb

濫觴

1. (literary) to originate
2. (literary) to spread to and affect; to spread and influence; to involve
3. (literary) to spread unchecked; to run rampant

Synonyms

• (to originate):

edit

• 來源／来源 (láiyuán)
• 來自／来自 (láizì)
• 出乎 (chūhū)
• 出於／出于 (chūyú)
• 出自 (chūzì)
• 嚟自 (lei⁴ zi⁶) (Cantonese)
• 導源／导源 (dǎoyuán)
• 張本／张本 (zhāngběn) (literary)
• 源於／源于 (yuányú)
• 源自 (yuánzì)
• 發源／发源 (fāyuán) (figurative)
• 發脈／发脉 (fa⁶ me⁶) (Xiang)
• 起源 (qǐyuán)

 

• (to spread and affect): 波及 (bōjí), 影響／影响 (yǐngxiǎng), 作用 (zuòyòng)
• (to spread unchecked): 泛濫／泛滥 (fànlàn)

Noun

濫觴

1. (literary) source; origin

Synonyms

edit

• 來源／来源 (láiyuán)
• 出處／出处 (chūchù)
• 基本 (jīběn)
• 大本 (dàběn) (literary)
• 本源 (běnyuán)
• 根 (gēn)
• 根本 (gēnběn)
• 根源 (gēnyuán)
• 根頭／根头 (Xiamen Hokkien, Zhangzhou Hokkien)
• 泉源 (quányuán)
• 淵源／渊源 (yuānyuán)
• 源 (yuán) (literary, or in compounds)
• 源泉 (yuánquán) (figurative)
• 源頭／源头 (yuántóu) (figurative)
• 由來／由来 (yóulái)
• 起源 (qǐyuán)