元祖

Chinese

		primary; first; fundamental primary; first; fundamental; dollar; (dynasty)	ancestor; forefather; grandparents
simp. and trad. (元祖)		元	祖

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): yuánzǔ

(Zhuyin): ㄩㄢˊ ㄗㄨˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): jyun⁴ zou²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: yuánzǔ
  - Zhuyin: ㄩㄢˊ ㄗㄨˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: yuánzǔ
  - Wade–Giles: yüan²-tsu³
  - Yale: ywán-dzǔ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yuantzuu
  - Palladius: юаньцзу (juanʹczu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɥɛn³⁵ t͡su²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: jyun⁴ zou²
  - Yale: yùhn jóu
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jyn⁴ dzou²
  - Guangdong Romanization: yun⁴ zou²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyːn²¹ t͡sou̯³⁵/

Middle Chinese: ngjwon tsuX

Rime
Character	元	祖
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	疑 (31)	精 (13)
Final (韻)	元 (66)	模 (23)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	愚袁切	則古切
Baxter	ngjwon	tsuX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ŋʉɐn/	/t͡suo^X/
Pan Wuyun	/ŋʷiɐn/	/t͡suo^X/
Shao Rongfen	/ŋiuɐn/	/t͡so^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ŋuan/	/t͡sɔ^X/
Li Rong	/ŋiuɐn/	/t͡so^X/
Wang Li	/ŋĭwɐn/	/t͡su^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ŋi̯wɐn/	/t͡suo^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yuán	zǔ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jyun⁴	zou²

Noun

元祖

(literary) earliest ancestor; primogenitor; progenitor
(literary) originator; initiator; creator; founder
- 佛乃道德之元祖，神明之宗緒。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  佛乃道德之元祖，神明之宗绪。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: 弘明集 (四部叢刊本)/卷第一
  Fó nǎi dàodé zhī yuánzǔ, shénmíng zhī zōngxù. [Pinyin]
  Buddha is the originator of ethics, and the progenitor of deities.

Synonyms

始祖 (shǐzǔ)
鼻祖 (bízǔ)

Proper noun

元祖

A temple name used for Chinese or Vietnamese monarchs.

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (元祖):

→ Japanese: 元祖(がんそ) (ganso)
→ Korean: 원조(元祖) (wonjo)
→ Vietnamese: nguyên tổ (元祖)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
元	祖
がん Grade: 2	そ Grade: 5
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
(kyūjitai)

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) がんそ [gáꜜǹsò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
IPA^(key): [ɡã̠ɰ̃so̞]

Noun

元(がん)祖(そ) • (ganso)

earliest ancestor; primogenitor; progenitor
originator; initiator; creator; founder

Antonyms

後継(こうけい) (kōkei)

References

^ 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