素餐

Chinese

		plain; element	eat; meal
trad. (素餐)		素	餐
simp. #(素餐)		素	餐

Etymology

From the Classic of Poetry, poem 112 (《詩經·魏風·伐檀》):

彼君子兮，不素餐兮。 [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

Bǐ jūnzǐ xī, bù sùcān xī. [Pinyin]

O that superior man! He would not eat the bread of idleness!

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sùcān

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄨˋ ㄘㄢ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sou³ caan¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sùcān
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄨˋ ㄘㄢ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sùcan
    • Wade–Giles: su⁴-tsʻan¹
    • Yale: sù-tsān
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: suhtsan
    • Palladius: суцань (sucanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /su⁵¹ t͡sʰän⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sou³ caan¹
    • Yale: sou chāan
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sou³ tsaan¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: sou³ can¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sou̯³³ t͡sʰaːn⁵⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: suH tshan

Rime
Character	素	餐
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	清 (14)
Final (韻)	模 (23)	寒 (61)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	桑故切	七安切
Baxter	suH	tshan
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/suoH/	/t͡sʰɑn/
Pan Wuyun	/suoH/	/t͡sʰɑn/
Shao Rongfen	/soH/	/t͡sʰɑn/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/sɔH/	/t͡sʰan/
Li Rong	/soH/	/t͡sʰɑn/
Wang Li	/suH/	/t͡sʰɑn/
Bernhard Karlgren	/suoH/	/t͡sʰɑn/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	sù	cān
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sou3	caan1

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*saːs  sʰaːn/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	素
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	sù
Middle Chinese	‹ suH ›
Old Chinese	/*[s]ˁak-s/
English	white silk
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	素	餐
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	12099	1117
Phonetic component	素	粲
Rime group	魚	元
Rime subdivision	0	1
Corresponding MC rime	訴	餐
Old Chinese	/*saːs/	/*sʰaːn/
Notes		聲符皆爲歺又

Verb

素餐

1. (literary) to eat without working
2. to maintain a vegetarian diet

Synonyms

• (to maintain a vegetarian diet): 吃素 (chīsù)

Derived terms

• 尸位素餐 (shīwèisùcān)
• 尸利素餐 (shīlìsùcān)
• 尸祿素餐 (shīlùsùcān)
• 素餐尸位

 

Noun

素餐

1. vegetarian foods (Classifier: 頓／顿 m)

Synonyms

• 蔬食 (shūshí)
• 素食 (sùshí)