鮮卑

See also: 鲜卑

Chinese

		phonetic
trad. (鮮卑)		鮮	卑
simp. (鲜卑)		鲜	卑

Etymology

"Xianbei"

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Paul Pelliot (1928:141, 142) suggested this was borrowed from Xianbei *serbi ~ *särbi.

"belt hook"

Thought to be related to the Xianbei sense. Compare similar forms such as 犀比, 犀毗, 師比／师比 (shīpí), 胥紕／胥纰.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Xiānbēi

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄢ ㄅㄟ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sin¹ bei¹
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): Siên-pî
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): Sian-pi

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Xiānbēi
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄢ ㄅㄟ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Sianbei
    • Wade–Giles: Hsien¹-pei¹
    • Yale: Syān-bēi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Shianbei
    • Palladius: Сяньбэй (Sjanʹbɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵ peɪ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sin¹ bei¹
    • Yale: sīn bēi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sin¹ bei¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: xin¹ béi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːn⁵⁵ pei̯⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Siên-pî
    • Hakka Romanization System: xien^ˊ bi^ˊ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: xian¹ bi¹
    • Sinological IPA: /si̯en²⁴⁻¹¹ pi²⁴/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sian-pi
    • Tâi-lô: Sian-pi
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sienpy
    • IPA (Xiamen): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻²² pi⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /siɛn³³ pi³³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻²² pi⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ pi⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ pi⁴⁴/

---

• Middle Chinese: sjen pjie

Rime
Character	鮮	卑
Reading #	1/3	1/1
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	幫 (1)
Final (韻)	仙 (77)	支 (11)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	相然切	府移切
Baxter	sjen	pjie
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/siᴇn/	/piᴇ/
Pan Wuyun	/siɛn/	/piɛ/
Shao Rongfen	/sjæn/	/pjɛ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/sian/	/piə̆/
Li Rong	/siɛn/	/pie/
Wang Li	/sĭɛn/	/pǐe/
Bernhard Karlgren	/si̯ɛn/	/pie̯/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xiān	bī
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sin1	bei1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*s[a]r  pe/

  (Zhengzhang): /*sen  pe/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	鮮	卑
Reading #	2/3	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xiān	bēi
Middle Chinese	‹ sjen ›	‹ pjie ›
Old Chinese	/*s[a]r/	/*pe/
English	鮮卑 *s[a]r.pe Xiānbēi	鮮卑 *s[a]r.pe Xiānbēi
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	鮮	卑
Reading #	1/3	1/1
No.	13490	368
Phonetic component	鮮	卑
Rime group	元	支
Rime subdivision	2	0
Corresponding MC rime	仙	卑
Old Chinese	/*sen/	/*pe/
Notes	說文羴省聲

Proper noun

鮮卑

1. (historical) Xianbei (group of northern nomadic peoples)

   • 烏丸、鮮卑即古所謂東胡也。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     乌丸、鲜卑即古所谓东胡也。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     From: Chen Shou, Records of the Three Kingdoms, circa 3^rd century CE

     Wūwán, Xiānbēi jí gǔ suǒwèi Dōnghú yě. [Pinyin]

     The Wuhuan and Xianbei are the so-called Eastern Hu of yore.

2. a surname

Synonyms

• 白賊／白贼 (báizéi) (offensive, derogatory)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (鮮卑):

• → Japanese: 鮮(せん)卑(ぴ) (senpi)
• → Korean: 선비(鮮卑) (seonbi)
• → Vietnamese: Tiên Ti (鮮卑)

Others:

• → English: Xianbei
• → French: Xianbei
• → German: Xianbei
• → Portuguese: xianbei
• → Russian: сяньби́ (sjanʹbí), сяньбэ́й (sjanʹbɛ́j)
• → Spanish: xianbei
• → Ukrainian: сяньбі́ (sjanʹbí)

Noun

鮮卑

1. (obsolete) belt hook of northern non-Chinese peoples

   • 小腰秀頸，若鮮卑只。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     小腰秀颈，若鲜卑只。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Verses of Chu, 4^th century BCE – 2^nd century CE

     Xiǎo yāo xiù jǐng, ruò xiānbēi zhǐ. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
鮮	卑
せん Grade: S	ひ > ぴ Grade: S
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
鮮卑 (kyūjitai)

Proper noun

鮮(せん)卑(ぴ) • (Senpi) 

1. Xianbei (group of northern nomadic peoples)

Korean

Hanja in this term
鮮	卑

Proper noun

鮮卑 • (Seonbi) (hangeul 선비)

1. hanja form^? of 선비 (“Xianbei (group of northern nomadic peoples)”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
鮮	卑

Proper noun

鮮卑

1. chữ Hán form of Tiên Ti (“Xianbei (group of northern nomadic peoples)”).