匕首

Chinese

		dagger; ladle; an ancient type of spoon	head; chief; first (occasion) head; chief; first (occasion); first (thing); measure word for poems
trad. (匕首)		匕	首
simp. ^#(匕首)		匕	首

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): bǐshǒu, bìshǒu

(Zhuyin): ㄅㄧˇ ㄕㄡˇ, ㄅㄧˋ ㄕㄡˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): bei⁶ sau²
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): pí-siú

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bǐshǒu [Phonetic: bíshǒu]
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄧˇ ㄕㄡˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: bǐshǒu
  - Wade–Giles: pi³-shou³
  - Yale: bǐ-shǒu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: biishoou
  - Palladius: бишоу (bišou)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pi²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bǐshǒur [Phonetic: bíshǒur]
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄧˇ ㄕㄡˇㄦ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: bǐshǒur
  - Wade–Giles: pi³-shou³-ʼrh
  - Yale: bǐ-shǒur
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: biishooul
  - Palladius: бишоур (bišour)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pi²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂɤʊ̯ɻʷ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese, common misreading)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bìshǒu
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄧˋ ㄕㄡˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: bìshǒu
  - Wade–Giles: pi⁴-shou³
  - Yale: bì-shǒu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bihshoou
  - Palladius: бишоу (bišou)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pi⁵¹ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: bei⁶ sau²
  - Yale: beih sáu
  - Cantonese Pinyin: bei⁶ sau²
  - Guangdong Romanization: béi⁶ seo²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pei̯²² sɐu̯³⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pí-siú
  - Tâi-lô: pí-siú
  - Phofsit Daibuun: pysiuo
  - IPA (Xiamen): /pi⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siu⁵³/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /pi⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ siu⁵⁵⁴/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /pi⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siu⁵³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /pi⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siu⁵³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /pi⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ siu⁴¹/

Middle Chinese: pjijX syuwX

Rime
Character	匕	首
Reading #	1/1	1/2
Initial (聲)	幫 (1)	書 (26)
Final (韻)	脂 (15)	尤 (136)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	卑履切	書九切
Baxter	pjijX	syuwX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/piɪ^X/	/ɕɨu^X/
Pan Wuyun	/pi^X/	/ɕiu^X/
Shao Rongfen	/pjɪ^X/	/ɕiəu^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/pi^X/	/ɕuw^X/
Li Rong	/pi^X/	/ɕiu^X/
Wang Li	/pi^X/	/ɕĭəu^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/pi^X/	/ɕi̯ə̯u^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	bǐ	shǒu
Expected Cantonese Reflex	bei²	sau²

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*pijʔ l̥uʔ/

(Zhengzhang): /*pilʔ hljuʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	匕	匕	首
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bǐ	bǐ	shǒu
Middle Chinese	‹ pjij^X ›	‹ pjij^X ›	‹ syuw^X ›
Old Chinese	/*pijʔ/	/*pijʔ/	/*l̥uʔ/
English	ladle, spoon	spoon	head
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	匕	首
Reading #	1/1	1/2
No.	484	11671
Phonetic component	匕	首
Rime group	脂	幽
Rime subdivision	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	匕	首
Old Chinese	/*pilʔ/	/*hljuʔ/

Noun

匕首

dagger (Classifier: 把 m)

Synonyms

(Cantonese) 劍仔／剑仔
(Hokkien) 匕鑽／匕钻

Derived terms

匕首投槍 / 匕首投枪
匕首槍 / 匕首枪
圖窮匕首見 / 图穷匕首见 (túqióngbǐshǒuxiàn)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (匕首):

→ Japanese: 匕(ひ)首(しゅ) (hishu)
→ Korean: 비수(匕首) (bisu)

Others (very likely false):^[1]

→? Cebuano: pisaw
→? Malay: pisau
- Indonesian: pisau
→? Tagalog: pisaw

References

^ Austronesian Comparative Dictionary - *pisaw

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
匕	首
ひ Hyōgai	しゅ Grade: 2
goon

From Chinese 匕首, possibly from Middle Chinese. Appears in texts from at least the 1300s.^[1]

The Chinese dagger was sometimes used for assassination, and had a spoon-shaped blade tip designed to inflict damage on the victim's neck. Hence the spelling, literally 匕 (bǐ, “spoon”) + 首 (shǒu, “neck”).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) ひしゅ [híꜜshù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2]
IPA^(key): [çiɕɨ]

Noun

匕(ひ)首(しゅ) • (hishu)

synonym of あいくち: aikuchi, a type of 短刀(たんとう) (tantō) dagger

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
匕	首
あいくち
Hyōgai	Grade: 2
jukujikun

The spelling is Jukujikun (熟字訓), based on a roughly similar kind of dagger used in China. That dagger was sometimes used for assassination, and had a spoon-shaped blade tip designed to inflict damage on the victim's neck. Hence the spelling, literally 匕 (bǐ, “spoon”) + 首 (shǒu, “neck”).

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

【あいくち】

[noun] 匕首, 合口, 合い口: a specific type of dagger with no crossguard, where the hilt fits directly against the opening of the scabbard, often kept concealed in one's clothing

Alternative spellings
合口, 合い口

(This term, 匕首, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

References

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1] Austronesian Comparative Dictionary - *pisaw

[KDJ-2] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-3] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1]

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