竊竊

Chinese

		steal; secretly; personally	steal; secretly; personally
trad. (竊竊)		竊	竊
simp. (窃窃)		窃	窃
alternative forms		切切

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qièqiè

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧㄝˋ ㄑㄧㄝˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sit³ sit³

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qièqiè
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄝˋ ㄑㄧㄝˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cièciè
    • Wade–Giles: chʻieh⁴-chʻieh⁴
    • Yale: chyè-chyè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chiehchieh
    • Palladius: цеце (cece)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi̯ɛ⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡ɕʰi̯ɛ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sit³ sit³
    • Yale: sit sit
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sit⁸ sit⁸
    • Guangdong Romanization: xid³ xid³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːt̚³ siːt̚³/

---

• Middle Chinese: tshet tshet

Rime
Character	竊
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	清 (14)
Final (韻)	屑 (87)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	IV
Fanqie	千結切
Baxter	tshet
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/t͡sʰet̚/
Pan Wuyun	/t͡sʰet̚/
Shao Rongfen	/t͡sʰɛt̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/t͡sʰɛt̚/
Li Rong	/t͡sʰet̚/
Wang Li	/t͡sʰiet̚/
Bernard Karlgren	/t͡sʰiet̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	qie
Expected Cantonese Reflex	cit3

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[tsʰ]ˤet  [tsʰ]ˤet/

  (Zhengzhang): /*sʰleːd  sʰleːd/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	竊
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	qiè
Middle Chinese	‹ tshet ›
Old Chinese	/*[tsʰ]ˁet/
English	steal
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	竊
Reading #	1/1
No.	10472
Phonetic component	竊
Rime group	月
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime
Old Chinese	/*sʰleːd/

Adjective

竊竊

1. (literary, ideophonic, archaic) with careful discrimination; observing clearly

   • 且有大覺而後知此其大夢也，而愚者自以為覺，竊竊然知之。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     且有大觉而后知此其大梦也，而愚者自以为觉，窃窃然知之。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE

     Qiě yǒu dà jué ér hòu zhī cǐ qí dà mèng yě, ér yú zhě zì yǐ wéi jué, qièqiè rán zhī zhī. [Pinyin]

     And there is the great awaking, after which we shall know that this life was a great dream. All the while, the stupid think they are awake, and with nice discrimination insist on their knowledge.

   • 是其於辯也，將妄鑿垣牆而殖蓬蒿也。簡髮而櫛，數米而炊，竊竊乎又何足以濟世哉！ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     是其于辩也，将妄凿垣墙而殖蓬蒿也。简发而栉，数米而炊，窃窃乎又何足以济世哉！ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE

     Shì qí yú biàn yě, jiāngwàng záo yuánqiáng ér zhí pénghāo yě. Jiǎn fà ér zhì, shǔ mǐ ér chuī, qièqiè hū yòu hé zú yǐ jìshì zāi! [Pinyin]

     Their sophistical reasonings (resembled) the reckless breaking down of walls and enclosures and planting the wild rubus and wormwood in their place; or making the hair thin before they combed it; or counting the grains of rice before they cooked them. They would do such things with careful discrimination; but what was there in them to benefit the world?

2. (ideophonic) talking in a low voice; whispering; in whispers

Derived terms

• 竊竊偶語／窃窃偶语
• 竊竊私私／窃窃私私
• 竊竊私語／窃窃私语 (qièqièsīyǔ)
• 竊竊私議／窃窃私议
• 竊竊細語／窃窃细语
• 竊竊詡詡／窃窃诩诩

 

Adverb

竊竊

1. secretly; privately; covertly; behind one's back

   • 我都寂寞多久了還是沒好　感覺全世界都在竊竊嘲笑 [MSC, trad.]
     我都寂寞多久了还是没好　感觉全世界都在窃窃嘲笑 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2013, 田馥甄 (lyrics 施人誠), 《你就不要想起我》

     wǒ dōu jìmò duōjiǔ le háishì méi hǎo, gǎnjiào quánshìjiè dōu zài qièqiè cháoxiào [Pinyin]

     It's been so long but my loneliness still hasn't gone,
     It feels like the whole world is laughing at me in its sleeve;