窈窕淑女

Chinese

		quiet and elegant; graceful and fair; gentle and beautiful	virtuous and beautiful woman; lady; quiet girl
trad. (窈窕淑女)		窈窕	淑女
simp. #(窈窕淑女)		窈窕	淑女

Etymology

From the Classic of Poetry, poem 1 (《詩經·周南·關雎》):

窈窕淑女，君子好逑。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Yǎotiǎo shūnǚ, jūnzǐ hǎoqiú. [Pinyin]

The modest, retiring, virtuous, young lady:
For our prince a good mate she.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǎotiǎoshūnǚ, yǎotiǎoshúnǚ

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄠˇ ㄊㄧㄠˇ ㄕㄨ ㄋㄩˇ, ㄧㄠˇ ㄊㄧㄠˇ ㄕㄨˊ ㄋㄩˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): miu⁵ tiu⁵ suk⁶ neoi⁵ / jiu² tiu⁵ suk⁶ neoi⁵
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): iao² tiao² sog⁴ neng²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǎotiǎoshūnǚ [Phonetic: yáotiǎoshūnǚ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄠˇ ㄊㄧㄠˇ ㄕㄨ ㄋㄩˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǎotiǎoshunyǔ
    • Wade–Giles: yao³-tʻiao³-shu¹-nü³
    • Yale: yǎu-tyǎu-shū-nyǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yeauteaushuneu
    • Palladius: яотяошунюй (jaotjaošunjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ tʰi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂu⁵⁵ ny²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǎotiǎoshúnǚ [Phonetic: yáotiǎoshúnǚ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄠˇ ㄊㄧㄠˇ ㄕㄨˊ ㄋㄩˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǎotiǎoshúnyǔ
    • Wade–Giles: yao³-tʻiao³-shu²-nü³
    • Yale: yǎu-tyǎu-shú-nyǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yeauteaushwuneu
    • Palladius: яотяошунюй (jaotjaošunjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ tʰi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂu³⁵ ny²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: miu⁵ tiu⁵ suk⁶ neoi⁵ / jiu² tiu⁵ suk⁶ neoi⁵
    • Yale: míuh tíuh suhk néuih / yíu tíuh suhk néuih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: miu⁵ tiu⁵ suk⁹ noey⁵ / jiu² tiu⁵ suk⁹ noey⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: miu⁵ tiu⁵ sug⁶ nêu⁵ / yiu² tiu⁵ sug⁶ nêu⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /miːu̯¹³ tʰiːu̯¹³ sʊk̚² nɵy̯¹³/, /jiːu̯³⁵ tʰiːu̯¹³ sʊk̚² nɵy̯¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: iao² tiao² sog⁴ neng²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: iáu thiáu sok nṳ́ng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /iau⁵²⁻³⁵ tʰiau⁵²⁻³⁵ sok̚²⁻⁴ nɯŋ⁵²⁻²¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: 'ewX dewX dzyuwk nrjoX

Rime
Character	窈	窕	淑	女
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/2
Initial (聲)	影 (34)	定 (7)	常 (25)	娘 (12)
Final (韻)	蕭 (93)	蕭 (93)	屋 (4)	魚 (22)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)	Checked (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	IV	IV	III	III
Fanqie	烏皎切	徒了切	殊六切	尼吕切
Baxter	'ewX	dewX	dzyuwk	nrjoX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʔeuX/	/deuX/	/d͡ʑɨuk̚/	/ɳɨʌX/
Pan Wuyun	/ʔeuX/	/deuX/	/d͡ʑiuk̚/	/ɳiɔX/
Shao Rongfen	/ʔeuX/	/deuX/	/d͡ʑiuk̚/	/niɔX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʔɛwX/	/dɛwX/	/d͡ʑuwk̚/	/ɳɨə̆X/
Li Rong	/ʔeuX/	/deuX/	/ʑiuk̚/	/niɔX/
Wang Li	/ieuX/	/dieuX/	/ʑĭuk̚/	/nĭoX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʔieuX/	/dʱieuX/	/ʑi̯uk̚/	/ni̯woX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yǎo	diào	shú	nǚ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jiu2	diu6	suk6	neoi5

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*ʔˤ[e]wʔ  lˤ[e]wʔ  [d]iwk  nraʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*qiːwʔ  l'eːwʔ  ɦljɯwɢ  naʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	窈	窕	淑	女
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yǎo	tiǎo	shū	nǚ
Middle Chinese	‹ ʔewX ›	‹ dewX ›	‹ dzyuwk ›	‹ nrjoX ›
Old Chinese	/*ʔˁ[e]wʔ/	/*lˁ[e]wʔ/	/*[d]iwk/	/*nraʔ/
English	ʔewX-dewX hidden; deep	窈窕 beautiful	fine, good	female
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	窈	窕	淑	女
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/2
No.	15634	16893	11756	9616
Phonetic component	幼	兆	尗	女
Rime group	幽	宵	覺	魚
Rime subdivision	2	2	2	0
Corresponding MC rime		窕	熟
Old Chinese	/*qiːwʔ/	/*l'eːwʔ/	/*ɦljɯwɢ/	/*naʔ/

Idiom

窈窕淑女

1. virtuous and beautiful girl

   • 因為在前邊領路的那位窈窕淑女明明很從容地就走過去了 [MSC, trad.]
     因为在前边领路的那位窈窕淑女明明很从容地就走过去了 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1983, 蕭乾, 《海外行蹤》

     Yīnwèi zài qiánbiān lǐnglù de nàwèi yǎotiǎoshūnǚ míngmíng hěn cóngróng de jiù zǒu guoqu le [Pinyin]

     Because obviously that virtuous and beautiful girl who led the way ahead had walked past very calmly

Korean

Hanja in this term
窈	窕	淑	女

Noun

窈窕淑女 • (yojosungnyeo) (hangeul 요조숙녀)

1. hanja form^? of 요조숙녀 (“reserved and beautiful young woman”)