白首

Chinese

		white; empty; blank white; empty; blank; bright; clear; plain; pure; gratuitous	head; chief; first (occasion) head; chief; first (occasion); first (thing); measure word for poems
simp. and trad. (白首)		白	首

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): báishǒu

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄞˊ ㄕㄡˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): baak⁶ sau²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): pe̍k-siú

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: báishǒu
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄞˊ ㄕㄡˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: báishǒu
    • Wade–Giles: pai²-shou³
    • Yale: bái-shǒu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bairshoou
    • Palladius: байшоу (bajšou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paɪ̯³⁵ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: baak⁶ sau²
    • Yale: baahk sáu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: baak⁹ sau²
    • Guangdong Romanization: bag⁶ seo²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paːk̚² sɐu̯³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pe̍k-siú
    • Tâi-lô: pi̍k-siú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: pegsiuo
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /piɪk̚⁴⁻³² siu⁴¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /piɪk̚⁴⁻³² siu⁵³/

---

• Middle Chinese: baek syuwX

Rime
Character	白	首
Reading #	1/1	1/2
Initial (聲)	並 (3)	書 (26)
Final (韻)	陌 (113)	尤 (136)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	II	III
Fanqie	傍陌切	書九切
Baxter	baek	syuwX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/bˠæk̚/	/ɕɨuX/
Pan Wuyun	/bᵚak̚/	/ɕiuX/
Shao Rongfen	/bak̚/	/ɕiəuX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/baɨjk̚/	/ɕuwX/
Li Rong	/bɐk̚/	/ɕiuX/
Wang Li	/bɐk̚/	/ɕĭəuX/
Bernard Karlgren	/bʱɐk̚/	/ɕi̯ə̯uX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	bó	shǒu
Expected Cantonese Reflex	bak6	sau2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*bˤrak  l̥uʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*braːɡ  hljuʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	白	首
Reading #	1/1	1/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bái	shǒu
Middle Chinese	‹ bæk ›	‹ syuwX ›
Old Chinese	/*bˁrak/	/*l̥uʔ/
English	white	head
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	白	首
Reading #	1/1	1/2
No.	207	11671
Phonetic component	白	首
Rime group	鐸	幽
Rime subdivision	0	1
Corresponding MC rime	白	首
Old Chinese	/*braːɡ/	/*hljuʔ/

Noun

白首

1. (literary) white hair
2. (literary) old age
3. (literary) old people

Derived terms

• 白首一節／白首一节
• 白首之心
• 白首北面
• 白首同歸／白首同归
• 白首如新
• 白首無成／白首无成
• 白首相知
• 白首空歸／白首空归
• 白首窮經／白首穷经

 

Verb

白首

1. (literary, of a couple) to live together until the white hairs of old age; to grow old together

   • 妾與君無媒妁之言，父母之命，逾牆鑽隙，何能白首？ [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     妾与君无媒妁之言，父母之命，逾墙钻隙，何能白首？ [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     From: 1740 CE, Pu Songling, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio

     Qiè yǔ jūn wú méishuòzhīyán, fùmǔzhīmìng, yúqiángzuānxì, hé néng báishǒu? [Pinyin]

     You and I are meeting secretly without the words of a matchmaker and the commands of our parents. How can we live together until our hairs turn grey?

   • 寧願能白首　還是罷手 [Literary Cantonese, trad.]
     宁愿能白首　还是罢手 [Literary Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 2019, 林家謙 [Terence Lam], 下一位前度 [NEXT]

     ning⁴ jyun⁶ nang⁴ baak⁶ sau², waan⁴ si⁶ baa⁶ sau² [Jyutping]

     Would I rather be able to grow old together [with them] or let go?

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
白	首
はく Grade: 1	しゅ Grade: 2
kan'on	goon

Noun

白(はく)首(しゅ) • (hakushu) 

1. white hair
2. old people

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
白	首
しろ Grade: 1	くび Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Noun

白(しろ)首(くび) • (shirokubi) 

1. (historical) a low class unlicensed prostitute who paints the nape of her neck with white powder

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:娼婦

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
白	首
しら Grade: 1	くび Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Noun

白(しら)首(くび) • (shirakubi) 

1. Synonym of 白首 (shirokubi, “low class unlicensed prostitute”)