侏儒

Chinese

FWOTD – 31 March 2015
phonetic
trad. (侏儒)
simp. #(侏儒)
alternative forms 朱儒 obsolete
𫾭需 obsolete
侏𠍶 ancient

Etymology

Possibly cognate with 蜘蛛 (OC *te to, “spider”), per the dialectal dictionary Fangyan (1st century CE):

鼅鼄鼄蝥西之間鼄蝥鼅鼄蠾蝓蠾蝓侏儒北燕朝鮮洌水之間蝳蜍 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
𱌄𬹣,𬹣蝥西之间𬹣蝥𱌄𬹣,𧑏蝓𧑏蝓侏儒北燕朝鲜洌水之间蝳蜍 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
From: Yang Xiong, Fangyan, c. 1st century BCE
Zhīzhū, zhūmáo yě. Zì Guān ér xī, Qín Jìn zhījiān wèi zhī zhūmáo. Zì Guān ér dōng, Zhào Wèi zhī jiāo wèi zhī zhīzhū, huò wèi zhī zhúyú, zhúyú zhě zhūrú yǔ zhī zhuǎn yě. Běiyàn Cháoxiān Lièshuǐ zhījiān, wèi zhī dúchú. [Pinyin]
Te to”, spider; also called “to mo”. To the west of Hangu Pass, in the Qin and Jin regions, it is called “to mo”. To the east of the Pass, in the Zhao and Wei regions, it is called “te to”, or “to lo”. The latter is an alternation of the word “to no” (“dwarf”). In the Northern Yan, Korea, and Lie River regions, it is called “to la”.

Compare the derivation of English midget from midge.

Pronunciation



Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Initial () (23) (38)
Final () (24) (24)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed Closed
Division () III III
Fanqie
Baxter tsyu nyu
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/t͡ɕɨo/ /ȵɨo/
Pan
Wuyun
/t͡ɕio/ /ȵio/
Shao
Rongfen
/t͡ɕio/ /ȵʑio/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/cuə̆/ /ȵuə̆/
Li
Rong
/t͡ɕio/ /ȵio/
Wang
Li
/t͡ɕĭu/ /ȵʑĭu/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/t͡ɕi̯u/ /ȵʑi̯u/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
zhū
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
zyu1 jyu4
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
zhū
Middle
Chinese
‹ tsyu › ‹ nyu ›
Old
Chinese
/*to/ /*no/
English 侏儒 zhūrú "dwarf" 侏儒 zhūrú "dwarf", scholar, Confucianism
(not in original list)

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
Reading # 1/1 1/1
No. 17570 13969
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
0 0
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*tjo/ /*njo/

Noun

侏儒

  1. dwarf; pygmy; midget
  2. (literary) minor; child
  3. (literary, historical) dwarf who acts as an entertainer or musician for the officials
  4. (literary, figurative) one who caters to the officials and is in their favour
  5. (literary, obsolete) (alt. form 株檽) short column on the beam
  6. (literary, obsolete) spider

Synonyms

Derived terms

  • 侏儒一節 / 侏儒一节
  • 侏儒導 / 侏儒导
  • 侏儒症 (zhūrúzhèng)
  • 侏儒米
  • 侏儒粟
  • 侏儒觀戲 / 侏儒观戏
  • 侏儒飽 / 侏儒饱
  • 侏優 / 侏优

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (侏儒):
  • Japanese: 侏儒(しゅじゅ) (shuju)
  • Korean: 주유(侏儒) (juyu)
  • Vietnamese: chu nhu (侏儒)

Adjective

侏儒

  1. (literary) dwarfish; short in stature
  2. (literary) short in stature (due to young age); little

Verb

侏儒

  1. (literary, figurative) to be discontented with unfair treatment

Proper noun

侏儒

  1. (街道) Zhuru (a subdistrict of Caidian district, Wuhan, Hubei, China)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
しゅ
Hyōgai
じゅ
Grade: S
on'yomi

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ɕɨʑɨ]

Noun

(しゅ)(じゅ) • (shuju

  1. dwarf

Korean

Hanja in this term

Noun

侏儒 • (juyu) (hangeul 주유)

  1. hanja form? of 주유 (dwarf)