西語

See also: 西语

Chinese

		west	speech; language; dialect speech; language; dialect; tell to
trad. (西語)		西	語
simp. (西语)		西	语

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xīyǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧ ㄩˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sai¹ jyu⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xīyǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧ ㄩˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siyǔ
    • Wade–Giles: hsi¹-yü³
    • Yale: syī-yǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shiyeu
    • Palladius: сиюй (sijuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi⁵⁵ y²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 西予 西語 / 西语

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sai¹ jyu⁵
    • Yale: sāi yúh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sai¹ jy⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: sei¹ yu⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐi̯⁵⁵ jyː¹³/

Noun

西語

1. (obsolescent) Western languages
2. Short for 西班牙語／西班牙语 (xībānyáyǔ, “Spanish language”).

Usage notes

In ancient times, this word referred to the languages of Xiyu or the Western Regions, and sometimes to Sanskrit as well. During the 19th and 20th centuries, people mostly used this word to refer to European languages. This usage—referring to languages in general rather than any specific one—remains standard to this day, as defined in the 7th edition of Xiandai Hanyu Cidian. Nonetheless, it is increasingly used nowadays as a shorthand of Spanish. The original sense is rarely used now and is gradually being forgotten.

Synonyms

• 西文 (xīwén)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
西	語
せい Grade: 2	ご Grade: 2
on'yomi

Etymology

西(せい) (sei, which is an ateji (当て字) abbreviation for 西班牙(スペイン) (Supein, “Spain”)) + 語(ご) (go, “language”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [se̞ːɡo̞]

Noun

西(せい)語(ご) • (seigo) 

1. Spanish language

   Synonym: スペイン語