聖賢

See also: 圣贤

Chinese

		holy; sacred; saint holy; sacred; saint; sage	worthy (person)
trad. (聖賢)		聖	賢
simp. (圣贤)		圣	贤

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shèngxián

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄥˋ ㄒㄧㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sing³ jin⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sṳn-hièn / sṳn-hiàn
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): sèng-hiân

  (Teochew, Peng'im): sian³ hiang⁵

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shèngxián
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄥˋ ㄒㄧㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shèngsián
    • Wade–Giles: shêng⁴-hsien²
    • Yale: shèng-syán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shenqshyan
    • Palladius: шэнсянь (šɛnsjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɤŋ⁵¹ ɕi̯ɛn³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sing³ jin⁴
    • Yale: sing yìhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sing³ jin⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: xing³ yin⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɪŋ³³ jiːn²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sṳn-hièn
    • Hakka Romanization System: siin hien^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: sin⁴ hian²
    • Sinological IPA: /sɨn⁵⁵ hi̯en¹¹/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sṳn-hiàn
    • Hakka Romanization System: siin hian^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: sin⁴ hian²
    • Sinological IPA: /sɨn⁵⁵ hi̯an¹¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sèng-hiân
    • Tâi-lô: sìng-hiân
    • Phofsit Daibuun: seanghieen
    • IPA (Xiamen): /siɪŋ²¹⁻⁵³ hiɛn²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /siɪŋ⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ hiɛn²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /siɪŋ²¹⁻⁵³ hiɛn¹³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: sian³ hiang⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: siàⁿ hiâng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sĩã²¹³⁻⁵⁵ hiaŋ⁵⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: syengH hen

Rime
Character	聖	賢
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	書 (26)	匣 (33)
Final (韻)	清 (121)	先 (85)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	IV
Fanqie	式正切	胡田切
Baxter	syengH	hen
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɕiᴇŋH/	/ɦen/
Pan Wuyun	/ɕiɛŋH/	/ɦen/
Shao Rongfen	/ɕiæŋH/	/ɣɛn/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɕiajŋH/	/ɦɛn/
Li Rong	/ɕiɛŋH/	/ɣen/
Wang Li	/ɕĭɛŋH/	/ɣien/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ɕi̯ɛŋH/	/ɣien/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shèng	xián
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sing3	jin4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*l̥eŋ-s  [g]ˤi[n]/

  (Zhengzhang): /*hljeŋs  ɡiːn/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	聖	賢
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	shèng	xián
Middle Chinese	‹ syengH ›	‹ hen ›
Old Chinese	/*l̥eŋ-s/	/*[g]ˁi[n]/
English	sage (n.)	worthy
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	聖	賢
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	11391	1337
Phonetic component	聖	臣
Rime group	耕	眞
Rime subdivision	0	1
Corresponding MC rime	聖	賢
Old Chinese	/*hljeŋs/	/*ɡiːn/
Notes	甲金文象人張耳對口會耳聰意， 非呈聲

Noun

聖賢

1. (literary) sage; saint

Derived terms

• 人非聖賢，孰能無過 / 人非圣贤，孰能无过 (rén fēi shèngxián, shú néng wúguò)
• 人非聖賢，誰能無過 / 人非圣贤，谁能无过 (rén fēi shèngxián, shéi néng wúguò)
• 聖賢孔子鳥 / 圣贤孔子鸟 (shèngxián kǒngzǐniǎo)
• 聖賢爺 / 圣贤爷
• 酒喻聖賢 / 酒喻圣贤

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (聖賢):

• → Japanese: 聖賢(せいけん) (seiken)
• → Korean: 성현(聖賢) (seonghyeon)
• → Vietnamese: thánh hiền (聖賢)