玉碎

Chinese

		jade	to break down; to break into pieces; fragmentary
simp. and trad. (玉碎)		玉	碎
anagram		碎玉
Literally: “a jade breaks”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yùsuì

  (Zhuyin): ㄩˋ ㄙㄨㄟˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): juk⁶ seoi³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yùsuì
    • Zhuyin: ㄩˋ ㄙㄨㄟˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yùsuèi
    • Wade–Giles: yü⁴-sui⁴
    • Yale: yù-swèi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yuhsuey
    • Palladius: юйсуй (jujsuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /y⁵¹⁻⁵³ su̯eɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: juk⁶ seoi³
    • Yale: yuhk seui
    • Cantonese Pinyin: juk⁹ soey³
    • Guangdong Romanization: yug⁶ sêu³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jʊk̚² sɵy̯³³/

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• Middle Chinese: ngjowk swojH

Rime
Character	玉	碎
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	疑 (31)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	燭 (8)	灰 (42)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	魚欲切	蘇内切
Baxter	ngjowk	swojH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ŋɨok̚/	/suʌiH/
Pan Wuyun	/ŋiok̚/	/suoiH/
Shao Rongfen	/ŋiok̚/	/suɒiH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ŋuawk̚/	/swəjH/
Li Rong	/ŋiok̚/	/suᴀiH/
Wang Li	/ŋĭwok̚/	/suɒiH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ŋi̯wok̚/	/suɑ̆iH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yù	suì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	juk6	seoi3

Verb

玉碎

1. (figurative) to die for moral principles, one's ideals or justice

Antonyms

• 瓦全 (wǎquán)

Derived terms

• 寧可玉碎，不能瓦全 / 宁可玉碎，不能瓦全
• 寧為玉碎，不為瓦全 / 宁为玉碎，不为瓦全

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (玉碎):

• → Japanese: 玉砕(ぎょくさい) (gyokusai) (see there for further descendants)
• → Korean: 옥쇄(玉碎) (okswae)