太古

Chinese

		too (much); very; extremely too (much); very; extremely; highest; greatest	ancient; old
simp. and trad. (太古)		太	古

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): tàigǔ

(Zhuyin): ㄊㄞˋ ㄍㄨˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): taai³ gu²
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): thài-kó͘
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁵tha-ku

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)
  - Hanyu Pinyin: tàigǔ
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄞˋ ㄍㄨˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: tàigǔ
  - Wade–Giles: tʻai⁴-ku³
  - Yale: tài-gǔ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tayguu
  - Palladius: тайгу (tajgu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰaɪ̯⁵¹ ku²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
  - Homophones:
    [Show/Hide]
    ^edit
    ^edit
    太古
    太鼓
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: taai³ gu²
  - Yale: taai gú
  - Cantonese Pinyin: taai³ gu²
  - Guangdong Romanization: tai³ gu²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰaːi̯³³ kuː³⁵/
  - Homophones:
    ^edit
    ^edit
    太古
    太鼓
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thài-kó͘
  - Tâi-lô: thài-kóo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: tae'kor
  - IPA (Xiamen): /tʰai²¹⁻⁵³ kɔ⁵³/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁵tha-ku
  - MiniDict: tha^去 ku
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²tha-ku
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /tʰa³³ ku⁴⁴/

Middle Chinese: thajH kuX

Rime
Character	太	古
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	透 (6)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	泰 (25)	模 (23)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	他蓋切	公戸切
Baxter	thajH	kuX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/tʰɑi^H/	/kuo^X/
Pan Wuyun	/tʰɑi^H/	/kuo^X/
Shao Rongfen	/tʰɑi^H/	/ko^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/tʰaj^H/	/kɔ^X/
Li Rong	/tʰɑi^H/	/ko^X/
Wang Li	/tʰɑi^H/	/ku^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/tʰɑi^H/	/kuo^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	tài	gǔ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	taai³	gu²

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*l̥ˤa[t]-s kˤaʔ/

(Zhengzhang): /*tʰaːds kaːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	太	古
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	tài	gǔ
Middle Chinese	‹ thaj^H ›	‹ ku^X ›
Old Chinese	/*l̥ˁa[t]-s/	/*kˁaʔ/
English	great	ancient
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	太	古
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	1937	4219
Phonetic component	大	古
Rime group	祭	魚
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	泰	古
Old Chinese	/*tʰaːds/	/*kaːʔ/

Noun

太古

(often attributive) remote antiquity; immemorial
- 太古薄葬，故不抇也；亂今厚葬，故抇也。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
  太古薄葬，故不抇也；乱今厚葬，故抇也。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
  From: Xunzi, c. 3^rd century BCE
  Tàigǔ bózàng, gù bù 抇 yě; luàn jīn hòuzàng, gù 抇 yě. [Pinyin]
  (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

上古 (shànggǔ)
元古 (yuángǔ)
先代 (xiāndài) (literary)
先古 (xiāngǔ) (literary)
古代 (gǔdài)
古早 (gǔzǎo) (chiefly Min)
古早時 / 古早时 (Hokkien)
古時 / 古时 (gǔshí)
古清朝代 (Puxian Min)
曠古 / 旷古 (kuànggǔ)
絕代 / 绝代 (juédài) (literary)
遠古 / 远古 (yuǎngǔ)
邃古 (suìgǔ)

Derived terms

太古代 (Tàigǔdài)
太古傳宗 / 太古传宗
太古界

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (太古):

→ Japanese: 太(たい)古(こ) (taiko)
→ Korean: 태고(太古) (taego)
→ Vietnamese: thái cổ (太古)

Proper noun

太古

Tai Koo (an area of Eastern district, Hong Kong)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
太	古
たい Grade: 2	こ Grade: 2
on'yomi

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) たいこ [táꜜìkò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
IPA^(key): [ta̠iko̞]

Noun

太(たい)古(こ) • (taiko)

ancient times ^[2]
太(たい)古(こ)の昔(むかし)
taiko no mukashi
ancient times
(literally, “ancient times of ancient times”)

References

^ Hirayama, Teruo, editor (1960), 全国アクセント辞典 (Zenkoku Akusento Jiten, “Nationwide Accent Dictionary”) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Tōkyōdō, →ISBN
^ Taishukan's Genius Japanese-English Dictionary, Tōkyō: Taishukan, 1998.