四不像

Chinese

		four	not; no	(look) like; similar (to); appearance (look) like; similar (to); appearance; to appear; to seem; image; portrait; resemble; seem
trad. (四不像)		四	不	像
simp. ^#(四不像)		四	不	像
Literally: “unlike any of the four”.

Etymology

"Père David's deer": Père David's deer are traditionally described as having "horse's face, cattle's hoof, deer's antler and donkey's tail".

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sìbùxiàng

(Zhuyin): ㄙˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄒㄧㄤˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): sei³ bat¹ zoeng⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sìbùxiàng [Phonetic: sìbúxiàng]
  - Zhuyin: ㄙˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄒㄧㄤˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sìhbùsiàng
  - Wade–Giles: ssŭ⁴-pu⁴-hsiang⁴
  - Yale: sz̀-bù-syàng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: syhbushianq
  - Palladius: сыбусян (sybusjan)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩⁵¹ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: sei³ bat¹ zoeng⁶
  - Yale: sei bāt jeuhng
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sei³ bat⁷ dzoeng⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: séi³ bed¹ zêng⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sei̯³³ pɐt̚⁵ t͡sœːŋ²²/

Noun

四不像

(informal) Père David's deer (Elaphurus davidianus)
(Northeastern Mandarin) moose (Alces alces)
(Northeastern Mandarin) reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)
(Southern China) serow (Capricornis sumatraensis)
something that resembles many other things partly, but none of them as a whole; mixture; neither fish nor fowl

Synonyms

(Père David's deer): 麋鹿 (mílù)
(moose): 駝鹿 / 驼鹿 (tuólù)
(reindeer): 馴鹿 / 驯鹿 (xùnlù)
(serow): 鬣羚 (lièlíng), 天馬 / 天马 (tiānmǎ)
(neither fish nor fowl): 不倫不類／不伦不类 (bùlúnbùlèi), 非驢非馬／非驴非马 (fēilǘfēimǎ), 不三不四 (bùsānbùsì), (Cantonese) 唔三唔四 (m⁴ saam¹ m⁴ sei³)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
四	不	像
し Grade: 1	ふ Grade: 4	ぞう Grade: 5
on'yomi

Noun

四(し)不(ふ)像(ぞう) or 四不像(シフゾウ) • (shifuzō)

Père David's deer

Korean

Hanja in this term
四	不	像

Noun

四不像 • (sabulsang) (hangeul 사불상)

hanja form^? of 사불상 (“Père David's deer”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
四	不	像

Noun

四不像

chữ Hán form of tứ bất tượng (“Père David's deer”)