險阻

Chinese

		danger(ous); rugged	to hinder; to block; to obstruct
trad. (險阻)		險	阻
simp. (险阻)		险	阻

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiǎnzǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄢˇ ㄗㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): him² zo²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): hiám-chó͘

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎnzǔ [Phonetic: xiánzǔ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄢˇ ㄗㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siǎnzǔ
    • Wade–Giles: hsien³-tsu³
    • Yale: syǎn-dzǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheantzuu
    • Palladius: сяньцзу (sjanʹczu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴⁻³⁵ t͡su²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: him² zo²
    • Yale: hím jó
    • Cantonese Pinyin: him² dzo²
    • Guangdong Romanization: him² zo²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hiːm³⁵ t͡sɔː³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hiám-chó͘
    • Tâi-lô: hiám-tsóo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hiafmzor
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /hiam⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sɔ⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /hiam⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ t͡sɔ⁵⁵⁴/

---

• Middle Chinese: xjemX tsrjoX

Rime
Character	險	阻
Reading #	1/1	1/2
Initial (聲)	曉 (32)	莊 (18)
Final (韻)	鹽 (154)	魚 (22)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	虚檢切	側吕切
Baxter	xjemX	tsrjoX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/hˠiᴇmX/	/t͡ʃɨʌX/
Pan Wuyun	/hᵚiɛmX/	/ʈ͡ʂiɔX/
Shao Rongfen	/xiæmX/	/t͡ʃiɔX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/hjiamX/	/ʈ͡ʂɨə̆X/
Li Rong	/xjɛmX/	/t͡ʃiɔX/
Wang Li	/xĭɛmX/	/t͡ʃĭoX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/xi̯ɛmX/	/ʈ͡ʂi̯woX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xiǎn	zhǔ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	him2	zo2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*qʰr[a]mʔ  [ts]raʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*qʰramʔ  ʔsraʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	險	阻
Reading #	1/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xiǎn	zǔ
Middle Chinese	‹ xjæmX ›	‹ tsrjoX ›
Old Chinese	/*qʰr[a]mʔ/	/*[ts]raʔ/
English	precipitous, dangerous	filled with obstacles
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	險	阻
Reading #	1/1	1/2
No.	10221	10446
Phonetic component	僉	且
Rime group	談	魚
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	險
Old Chinese	/*qʰramʔ/	/*ʔsraʔ/

Adjective

險阻

1. (usually of roads) dangerous and difficult, and with obstructions

Noun

險阻

1. obstacle; bottleneck (geographic feature that is difficult to traverse)

   • 不知山林、險阻、沮澤之形者，不能行軍。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     不知山林、险阻、沮泽之形者，不能行军。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Art of War, circa 5^th century BCE, translated based on Lionel Giles's version

     Bùzhī shānlín, xiǎnzǔ, jùzé zhī xíng zhě, bùnéng xíngjūn. [Pinyin]

     We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country - its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps.

Derived terms

• 艱難險阻／艰难险阻 (jiānnánxiǎnzǔ)
• 險阻艱難／险阻艰难