首爾

Chinese

		head; chief; first (occasion) head; chief; first (occasion); first (thing); measure word for poems	phonetic
trad. (首爾)		首	爾
simp. (首尔)		首	尔

Etymology

Borrowed from Korean 서울 (Seoul). The first character 首 (shǒu, “first”) is a phono-semantic matching from Korean. Compare 首都 (shǒudū, “capital”)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Shǒu'ěr

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄡˇ ㄦˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sau² ji⁵
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): Sú-ngí

  (Meixian, Guangdong): su³ ngi³

• Eastern Min (BUC): Siū-ī
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): Siú-ní / Siú-jíⁿ

  (Teochew, Peng'im): siu² re²

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁵seu-er

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Shǒu'ěr [Phonetic: shóuěr]
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄡˇ ㄦˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Shǒu-ěr
    • Wade–Giles: Shou³-êrh³
    • Yale: Shǒu-ěr
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Shooueel
    • Palladius: Шоуэр (Šouer)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ˀɤɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sau² ji⁵
    • Yale: sáu yíh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sau² ji⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: seo² yi⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐu̯³⁵ jiː¹³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Sú-ngí
    • Hakka Romanization System: su^ˋ ngi^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: su³ ngi³
    • Sinological IPA: /su³¹ ŋi³¹/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: su³ ngi³
    • Sinological IPA: /su³¹ ŋi³¹/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: Siū-ī
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sieu³³⁻³⁵ i³³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Siú-ní
    • Tâi-lô: Siú-ní
    • Phofsit Daibuun: siwnie
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /siu⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ nĩ⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /siu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ nĩ⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Siú-jíⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: Siú-jínn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: siwjvie
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /siu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ d͡zĩ⁵³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: siu² re²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: siú jṳ́
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siu⁵²⁻³⁵ d͡zɯ⁵²⁻²¹/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁵seu-er
    • MiniDict: seu^去 r
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²seu-er
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /sɤ³³ əl⁴⁴/

Proper noun

首爾

1. (～市) Seoul (the capital city of South Korea)

Usage notes

• 漢城／汉城 (Hànchéng) was the name used for the city until 2005, when the city government changed its official Chinese name to 首爾／首尔 (Shǒu'ěr). 漢城／汉城 (Hànchéng) remains to be used in unofficial settings.
• The use of the original name 漢城／汉城 (Hànchéng) is dispreferred in both Koreas. The name 首爾／首尔 (Shǒu'ěr) was specifically designed for transliterating the Korean name 서울 (Seoul) into modern Standard Chinese and is not a Korean hanja (Sino-Korean) representation of the city name, which doesn't have a hanja form.

Synonyms

• 漢城／汉城 (Hànchéng) (dated or colloquial)