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青梅竹馬

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: 青梅竹马

Chinese

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green (blue, black); Qinghai province (abbrev.) plum flower hobby horse; bamboo horse used in folk dance
trad. (青梅竹馬/靑梅竹馬) / 竹馬
simp. (青梅竹马) 竹马
Literally:green plums and bamboo horse”.
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Etymology

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From a poem by Tang dynasty poet Li Bai:

竹馬同居十四未嘗 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
竹马同居十四未尝 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Li Bai (701–762), Ballad of a Trader's Wife (長干里), translated by Xu Yuanchong
Qiè fà chū fù é, zhé huā mén qián jù. Láng qí zhúmǎ lái, rào chuáng nòng qīng méi. Tóngjū cháng gān lǐ, liǎng xiǎo wú xián cāi. Shísì wéi jūn fù, xiū yán wèicháng kāi. [Pinyin]
My forehead covered by my hair cut straight,
I played with flowers pluck'd before the gate.
On hobby horse you came upon the scene,
Around the well we played with plums still green.
We lived, close neighbors on Riverside Lane,
Carefree and innocent, we children twain.
At fourteen years when I became your bride,
I'd often turn my bashful face aside. []

The same poem was also the source of the idiom 兩小無猜两小无猜 (liǎngxiǎowúcāi), which has a very similar meaning.

Pronunciation

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Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/1 1/1 1/1
Initial () (14) (4) (9) (4)
Final () (125) (42) (4) (98)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø) Checked (Ø) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open Closed Open Open
Division () IV I III II
Fanqie
Baxter tsheng mwoj trjuwk maeX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/t͡sʰeŋ/ /muʌi/ /ʈɨuk̚/ /mˠaX/
Pan
Wuyun
/t͡sʰeŋ/ /muoi/ /ʈiuk̚/ /mᵚaX/
Shao
Rongfen
/t͡sʰɛŋ/ /muɒi/ /ȶiuk̚/ /maX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/t͡sʰɛjŋ/ /mwəj/ /ʈuwk̚/ /maɨX/
Li
Rong
/t͡sʰeŋ/ /muᴀi/ /ȶiuk̚/ /maX/
Wang
Li
/t͡sʰieŋ/ /muɒi/ /ȶĭuk̚/ /maX/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/t͡sʰieŋ/ /muɑ̆i/ /ȶi̯uk̚/ /maX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
qīng méi zhu
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
cing1 mui4 zuk1 maa5

Idiom

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青梅竹馬

  1. a girl and a boy playing innocently together; a man and a woman who had an innocent affection for each other in childhood; childhood sweethearts

Descendants

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Sino-Xenic (青梅竹馬):
  • Vietnamese: thanh mai trúc mã (青梅竹馬)

References

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  • 蔡俊明 [Cai Junming], editor (1991), “青梅竹馬 ts'e~˧ bue˥ tek˨꜒ be˥˧꜕꜖”, in 潮州方言詞滙潮州方言词滙 (Cháozhōu fāngyán cíhuì), 香港 [Hong Kong]: 香港中文大學香港中文大学 [The Chinese University of Hong Kong]