黑暗

See also: 黒暗

Chinese

	black; dark; Heilongjiang Province (abbrev.)	dark; gloomy; hidden dark; gloomy; hidden; secret
simp. and trad. (黑暗)	黑	暗
alternative forms	黑黯
anagram	暗黑

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): hēi'àn

(Zhuyin): ㄏㄟㄢˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): hak¹ am³ / haak¹ am³
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): het-am
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): hek-àm

(Teochew, Peng'im): hêg⁴ am³
Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): he⁶ ngan⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: hēi'àn
  - Zhuyin: ㄏㄟㄢˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: hei-àn
  - Wade–Giles: hei¹-an⁴
  - Yale: hēi-àn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: heiann
  - Palladius: хэйань (xɛjanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /xeɪ̯⁵⁵ ˀän⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: hak¹ am³ / haak¹ am³
  - Yale: hāk am / hāak am
  - Cantonese Pinyin: hak⁷ am³ / haak⁷ am³
  - Guangdong Romanization: heg¹ em³ / hag¹ em³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɐk̚⁵ ɐm³³/, /haːk̚⁵ ɐm³³/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: het-am
  - Hakka Romanization System: hed^ˋ am
  - Hagfa Pinyim: hed⁵ am⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /het̚² am⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hek-àm
  - Tâi-lô: hik-àm
  - Phofsit Daibuun: hek'axm
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /hiɪk̚³²⁻⁴ am²¹/
  - IPA (Taipei): /hiɪk̚³²⁻⁴ am¹¹/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: hêg⁴ am³
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: hek àm
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hek̚²⁻⁴ am²¹³/
Xiang
- (Changsha)
  - Wiktionary: he⁶ ngan⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /xɤ̞²⁴ ŋan⁴⁵/

Middle Chinese: xok 'omH

Rime
Character	黑	暗
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	曉 (32)	影 (34)
Final (韻)	德 (131)	覃 (159)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	呼北切	烏紺切
Baxter	xok	'omH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/hək̚/	/ʔʌm^H/
Pan Wuyun	/hək̚/	/ʔəm^H/
Shao Rongfen	/xək̚/	/ʔɒm^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/hək̚/	/ʔəm^H/
Li Rong	/xək̚/	/ʔᴀm^H/
Wang Li	/xək̚/	/ɒm^H/
Bernhard Karlgren	/xək̚/	/ʔăm^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	he	àn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	hak¹	am³

Etymology 1

Adjective

黑暗

dark; unlighted
他們被人驅趕進入一個黑暗的地牢。 [MSC, trad.]
他们被人驱赶进入一个黑暗的地牢。 [MSC, simp.]
Tāmen bèi rén qūgǎn jìnrù yī ge hēi'àn de dìláo. [Pinyin]
They were driven into a dark dungeon.
- 光照在黑暗裏，黑暗卻不接受光。 [MSC, trad.]
  光照在黑暗里，黑暗却不接受光。 [MSC, simp.]
  From: 新標點和合本 (Chinese Union Version), 約翰福音 (John) 1:5
  Guāng zhào zài hēi'àn lǐ, hēi'àn què bù jiēshòu guāng. [Pinyin]
  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
(figurative) backward; unenlightened; evil; corrupt; sordid; dark
一個黑暗的世界／一个黑暗的世界 ― yīge hēi'àn de shìjiè ― a dark world

Synonyms

(dark):

edit

冥冥 (míngmíng) (literary)
慘 / 惨 (cǎn) (literary, or in compounds)
慘淡 / 惨淡 (cǎndàn)
慘白 / 惨白 (cǎnbái)
昏暗 (hūn'àn)
昏沉 (hūnchén)
昏黑 (hūnhēi)
晦冥 (huìmíng) (literary, used both literally and figuratively)
晦暗 (huì'àn) (literary)
暗淡 (àndàn) (used both literally and figuratively)
烏暗 / 乌暗 (Hokkien, Teochew)
陰幽 / 阴幽 (yīnyōu) (literary)

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “dark”): 光明 (guāngmíng)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

The 9^th-century Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang described 黑暗 (MC xok 'omH, “lit. black-dark”) as the name for “rhinoceros(-horn)” in the place Po-se (波斯 (Bōsī), “Persia”), in parallel to 白暗 (MC baek 'omH, “lit. white-dark”), the designation for “ivory”.

Laufer (1914: 145) and Laufer (1967: 473) pointed out that these names cannot be Persian, but are Malayan in origin. Additionally, it is clear that neither the Malayan words for “rhinoceros-horn” and “ivory”, nor the words for “rhinoceros” and “elephant”, are implicated in these etymologies. It appears that these two Chinese words are corruptions of the colour names “black” and “white”, with which the local traders in Malaya at the time distinguished rhinoceros-horn and ivory.

Laufer compared the former with Jarai [Term?] (hötam), Cebuano itom, Malay hitam, Javanese item, Tagalog itim, all meaning “black” (in Austronesian languages), and the latter with: Čam bauṅ, boṅ, or bhuṅ; Senoi biūg, other forms in the Sakei and Semang languages of Malakka biok, biäk, biēg, begiäk, bekuṅ, bekog; Alfur, Boloven, Kon tu, Kaseng, Lave, and Niah bok, Sedeng röboṅ, Stieng bōk (“white”); Bahnar bak (Mon bu), most of which are the Mon-Khmer words for “white” (proto-form *kɓɔɔk and *kbooʔ).

Noun

黑暗

(obsolete) rhinoceros horn

Japanese

Kanji in this term
黑	暗
こく Jinmeiyō	あん Grade: 3
on'yomi	kan'on

For pronunciation and definitions of 黑暗 – see the following entry.

【黒暗こくあん】

[noun] absolute darkness

[noun] (Buddhism) a complete lack of virtue or wisdom

[noun] pure black (color/colour)

Alternative spelling
黒闇

(This term, 黑暗, is the kyūjitai of the above term.)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
黑	暗

Noun

黑暗

chữ Hán form of hắc ám (“dark; unlighted”).