阿魏

Chinese

		phonetic
trad. (阿魏)		阿	魏
simp. #(阿魏)		阿	魏
alternative forms		阿䭳

Etymology

Borrowed from some unspecified language in the Western Regions.

Attested first in Medieval Chinese, and was reported to have come from the Jia-she-na (< ga-ʑa-na?) (伽闍那) country in Northern India―possibly referring to modern Ghazni in Afghanistan.

Compare Persian انگدان (angodân), انگژد (angožad), Tocharian B aṅkwaṣ, Khotanese aṃgūṣḍa-, Arabic أَنْجُدَان (ʔanjudān), Sanskrit हिङ्गु (hiṅgu), all meaning “asafoetida” and all possibly derived, ultimately, from Proto-Iranian *Hanguǰatu (“asafoetida”), where *ǰátu is “gum” (cf. Modern Persian ژد (žad)) and the first part *Hangwr̥ (“resin”).

This term was discussed in detail in Sino-Iranica. Zhengzhang (2006) points out that the sibilant final in Tocharian B ("Kuchean") aṅkwaṣ matches the tonogenesis of Middle Chinese 去聲／去声 (qùshēng, “departing tone”) from Old Chinese in 魏 (MC ngjw+jH) < 魏 (OC *ŋɡuls).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): ēwèi, āwèi

  (Zhuyin): ㄜ ㄨㄟˋ, ㄚ ㄨㄟˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): o¹ ngai⁶
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): a¹ ghui⁷

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: ēwèi
    • Zhuyin: ㄜ ㄨㄟˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ewèi
    • Wade–Giles: o¹-wei⁴
    • Yale: ē-wèi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ewey
    • Palladius: эвэй (evɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀɤ⁵⁵ weɪ̯⁵¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: āwèi
    • Zhuyin: ㄚ ㄨㄟˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: awèi
    • Wade–Giles: a¹-wei⁴
    • Yale: ā-wèi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: awey
    • Palladius: авэй (avɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀä⁵⁵ weɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: o¹ ngai⁶
    • Yale: ō ngaih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: o¹ ngai⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: o¹ ngei⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɔː⁵⁵ ŋɐi̯²²/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: a¹ ghui⁷
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: a gūi
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /a³³⁻²³ ɡui¹¹/

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• Middle Chinese: 'a ngjw+jH

Rime
Character	阿	魏
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	影 (34)	疑 (31)
Final (韻)	歌 (94)	微 (21)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	I	III
Fanqie	烏何切	魚貴切
Baxter	'a	ngjw+jH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʔɑ/	/ŋʉiH/
Pan Wuyun	/ʔɑ/	/ŋʷɨiH/
Shao Rongfen	/ʔɑ/	/ŋiuəiH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʔa/	/ŋujH/
Li Rong	/ʔɑ/	/ŋiuəiH/
Wang Li	/ɑ/	/ŋĭwəiH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʔɑ/	/ŋwe̯iH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	ē	wèi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	o1	ngai6

Noun

阿魏

1. asafoetida
2. Ferula

Synonyms

• 形虞 (xíngyú)

Derived terms

• 臭阿魏
• 阿魏膠 / 阿魏胶
• 阿魏酸 (āwèisuān)
• 䭳 (wèi)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (阿魏):

• → Japanese: 阿魏(あぎ) (agi)
• → Korean: 아위(阿魏) (awi)