蓬萊

See also: 蓬莱

Chinese

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): pénglái

(Zhuyin): ㄆㄥˊ ㄌㄞˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): pung⁴ loi⁴ / fung⁴ loi⁴
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): hông-lâi

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: pénglái
  - Zhuyin: ㄆㄥˊ ㄌㄞˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: pénglái
  - Wade–Giles: pʻêng²-lai²
  - Yale: péng-lái
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: pernglai
  - Palladius: пэнлай (pɛnlaj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰɤŋ³⁵ laɪ̯³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: pung⁴ loi⁴ / fung⁴ loi⁴
  - Yale: pùhng lòih / fùhng lòih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: pung⁴ loi⁴ / fung⁴ loi⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: pung⁴ loi⁴ / fung⁴ loi⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰʊŋ²¹ lɔːi̯²¹/, /fʊŋ²¹ lɔːi̯²¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hông-lâi
  - Tâi-lô: hông-lâi
  - Phofsit Daibuun: honglaai
  - IPA (Xiamen): /hɔŋ²⁴⁻²² lai²⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /hɔŋ²⁴⁻²² lai²⁴/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /hɔŋ¹³⁻²² lai¹³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /hɔŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ lai²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /hɔŋ²³⁻³³ lai²³/

Middle Chinese: buwng loj

Rime
Character	蓬	萊
Reading #	1/1	1/2
Initial (聲)	並 (3)	來 (37)
Final (韻)	東 (1)	咍 (41)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	薄紅切	洛哀切
Baxter	buwng	loj
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/buŋ/	/lʌi/
Pan Wuyun	/buŋ/	/ləi/
Shao Rongfen	/buŋ/	/lɒi/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/bəwŋ/	/ləj/
Li Rong	/buŋ/	/lᴀi/
Wang Li	/buŋ/	/lɒi/
Bernhard Karlgren	/bʱuŋ/	/lɑ̆i/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	péng	lái
Expected Cantonese Reflex	pung⁴	loi⁴

Old Chinese
(Zhengzhang): /*boːŋ rɯː/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	蓬	萊
Reading #	1/1	1/2
No.	3216	7599
Phonetic component	丰	來
Rime group	東	之
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	蓬
Old Chinese	/*boːŋ/	/*rɯː/

Etymology 1

		phonetic
trad. (蓬萊)		蓬	萊
simp. (蓬莱)		蓬	莱

Wikipedia has articles on:

蓬萊 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
蓬萊 (Cantonese)
Hông-lâi-chhī (Southern Min)
Penglai Island (English)
Penglai, Shandong (English)

Uncertain.

It bears striking resemblance to a Southeast Asian word for “sea”. Compare Burmese ပင်လယ် (panglai, “sea; ocean”), Shan ပၢင်ႇလၢႆႇ (pàang làai, “sea; ocean”), Jingpho pang lai (“sea”), S'gaw Karen ပီၣ်လဲၣ် (paẁ leh̀, “sea”). These seem to be borrowings, possibly from a Mon-Khmer language; compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *d[n]liʔ (“sea”), whence Old Khmer danle, danley (“large river; lake; sea”) > Khmer ទន្លេ (tŭənlei, “river”), Thai ทะเล (tá-lee, “sea”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Alternatively, it may be a transcription of an earlier Austroasiatic name; cf. 萊國／莱国 (Láiguó, “Lai”), an ancient Dongyi tribe, where 萊／莱 (lái) has been argued to transcribe a native word for "mountain" or "wilderness". The latter interpretation was mentioned in the Classical Chinese text Yue Jue Shu (越絕書 [Eastern Han]) and discussed by Zhengzhang (1999).

Proper noun

蓬萊

(Chinese mythology) Penglai (a mythical eastern isle of immortals)
See also: 瀛洲, 方丈
(by extension) fairyland
(～區, formerly ～縣, ～市) Penglai (a district, former county, and former county-level city in Yantai, Shandong, China)

Synonyms

(mythical island):
- 蓬萊山／蓬莱山 (Péngláishān)
- 蓬萊島／蓬莱岛 (Péngláidǎo)
- 蓬萊仙島／蓬莱仙岛 (Pénglái Xiāndǎo)
- 蓬山 (Péngshān)
- 蓬岛
- 蓬丘
- 蓬壺／蓬壶
(district):
- (historical) 登州 (Dēngzhōu)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

		(grass); disheveled	Chenopodium album
trad. (蓬萊)		蓬	萊
simp. (蓬莱)		蓬	莱

Noun

蓬萊

(literary) wilderness
- 舉英奇於仄陋，拔髦秀於蓬萊。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  举英奇于仄陋，拔髦秀于蓬莱。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Book of the Later Han, circa 5^th century CE
  Jǔ yīngqí yú zèlòu, bá máoxiù yú pénglái. [Pinyin]
  (please add an English translation of this usage example)