元年

Chinese

		primary; first; fundamental primary; first; fundamental; dollar; (dynasty)	year
simp. and trad. (元年)		元	年

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): yuánnián

(Zhuyin): ㄩㄢˊ ㄋㄧㄢˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): jyun⁴ nin⁴
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): goân-nî

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: yuánnián
  - Zhuyin: ㄩㄢˊ ㄋㄧㄢˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: yuánnián
  - Wade–Giles: yüan²-nien²
  - Yale: ywán-nyán
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yuannian
  - Palladius: юаньнянь (juanʹnjanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɥɛn³⁵ ni̯ɛn³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: jyun⁴ nin⁴
  - Yale: yùhn nìhn
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jyn⁴ nin⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: yun⁴ nin⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyːn²¹ niːn²¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: goân-nî
  - Tâi-lô: guân-nî
  - Phofsit Daibuun: goannii
  - IPA (Xiamen): /ɡuan²⁴⁻²² nĩ²⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /ɡuan²⁴⁻²² nĩ²⁴/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /ɡuan¹³⁻²² nĩ¹³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /ɡuan²⁴⁻¹¹ nĩ²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɡuan²³⁻³³ nĩ²³/

Middle Chinese: ngjwon nen

Rime
Character	元	年
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	疑 (31)	泥 (8)
Final (韻)	元 (66)	先 (85)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open
Division (等)	III	IV
Fanqie	愚袁切	奴顚切
Baxter	ngjwon	nen
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ŋʉɐn/	/nen/
Pan Wuyun	/ŋʷiɐn/	/nen/
Shao Rongfen	/ŋiuɐn/	/nɛn/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ŋuan/	/nɛn/
Li Rong	/ŋiuɐn/	/nen/
Wang Li	/ŋĭwɐn/	/nien/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ŋi̯wɐn/	/nien/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yuán	nián
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jyun⁴	nin⁴

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[ŋ]o[r] C.nˤi[ŋ]/

(Zhengzhang): /*ŋon niːŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	元	年
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yuán	nián
Middle Chinese	‹ ngjwon ›	‹ nen ›
Old Chinese	/*[ŋ]o[r]/ (< nasal + uvular)	/*C.nˁi[ŋ]/
English	head; first	harvest; year
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	元	年
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	16145	9482
Phonetic component	元	秊
Rime group	元	眞
Rime subdivision	3	2
Corresponding MC rime	元
Old Chinese	/*ŋon/	/*niːŋ/
Notes		同秊

Noun

元年

(historical) first year of an imperial reign
(calendar) first year (of any period)

Synonyms

(first year of an imperial reign): (literary) 始年 (shǐnián)
(first year of any period): (literary) 始年 (shǐnián)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
元	年
がん Grade: 2	ねん Grade: 1
kan'yōon	goon

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) がんねん [gáꜜǹnèǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
IPA^(key): [ɡã̠nːẽ̞ɴ]

Noun

元(がん)年(ねん) • (gannen)

(monarchy) the first year of a calendar era, especially an East Asian imperial reign
紀(き)元(げん)元(がん)年(ねん)
Kigen gannen
1 CE

洪(こう)武(ぶ)元(がん)年(ねん)
Kōbu gannen
Hongwu 1 (1368)

平(へい)成(せい)元(がん)年(ねん)
Heisei gannen
Heisei 1 (1989)

令(れい)和(わ)元(がん)年(ねん)
Reiwa gannen
Reiwa 1 (2019)

光(こう)武(ぶ)元(がん)年(ねん)
Kōbu gannen
Gwangmu 1 (1897)

嘉(か)隆(りゅう)元(がん)年(ねん)
Karyū gannen
Gia Long 1 (1802)

Usage notes

The first year of an imperial era is strictly 元年, not *一年. Later years are simply 二年 (“2”), 三年 (“3”), etc.

References

2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.

^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term
元	年

Noun

元年 • (wonnyeon) (hangeul 원년)

hanja form^? of 원년 (“first year”)