四海

Chinese

		four	ocean; sea
simp. and trad. (四海)		四	海
Literally: “the four seas”.

Etymology

In Ancient China, it was thought that China was surrounded by ocean on all four sides. Eventually, this phrase came to mean "all four directions" or "everywhere."

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sìhǎi

(Zhuyin): ㄙˋ ㄏㄞˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): sei³ hoi²
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): si-hói
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): sìr-hái / sù-hái

(Teochew, Peng'im): si³ hai²
Wu (Suzhou, Wugniu): ¹sy₅-he₃

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sìhǎi
  - Zhuyin: ㄙˋ ㄏㄞˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sìhhǎi
  - Wade–Giles: ssŭ⁴-hai³
  - Yale: sz̀-hǎi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: syhhae
  - Palladius: сыхай (syxaj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩⁵¹ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: sei³ hoi²
  - Yale: sei hói
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sei³ hoi²
  - Guangdong Romanization: séi³ hoi²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sei̯³³ hɔːi̯³⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: si-hói
  - Hakka Romanization System: xi hoi^ˋ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: xi⁴ hoi³
  - Sinological IPA: /si⁵⁵ hoi̯³¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sìr-hái
  - Tâi-lô: sìr-hái
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /sɯ⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ hai⁵⁵⁴/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sù-hái
  - Tâi-lô: sù-hái
  - Phofsit Daibuun: suo'hae
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /su²¹⁻⁴¹ hai⁴¹/
  - IPA (Taipei): /su¹¹⁻⁵³ hai⁵³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /su²¹⁻⁵³ hai⁵³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: si³ hai²
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: sì hái
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /si²¹³⁻⁵⁵ hai⁵²⁻²¹/
Wu
- (Northern: Suzhou)
  - Wugniu: ¹sy₅-he₃
  - MiniDict: sy^去 he^上
  - Sinological IPA (Suzhou): /sz̩⁴⁴ he/