性命

Chinese

		sex; nature; suffix corresponding to ‑ness or ‑ity	life; fate
simp. and trad. (性命)		性	命

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xìngmìng

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄇㄧㄥˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): sing³ ming⁶
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): sin-miang

(Hailu, HRS): sin^ˇ miang^˖
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sìⁿ-miā / sèⁿ-miā / sì-miā / sèng-bēng
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹shin-min₆; ⁵shin-min₆

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xìngmìng → xìngming (toneless final syllable variant)
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄥˋ ㄇㄧㄥˋ → ㄒㄧㄥˋ ˙ㄇㄧㄥ (toneless final syllable variant)
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sìngmi̊ng
  - Wade–Giles: hsing⁴-ming⁵
  - Yale: syìng-ming
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shinq.minq
  - Palladius: синмин (sinmin)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕiŋ⁵¹⁻⁵³ miŋ⁵¹/ → /ɕiŋ⁵¹ miŋ¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: sing³ ming⁶
  - Yale: sing mihng
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sing³ ming⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: xing³ ming⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɪŋ³³ mɪŋ²²/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sin-miang
  - Hakka Romanization System: xin miang
  - Hagfa Pinyim: xin⁴ miang⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /sin⁵⁵ mi̯aŋ⁵⁵/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
  - Hakka Romanization System: sin^ˇ miang^˖
  - Sinological IPA: /sin¹¹ miaŋ³³/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taipei, Singapore)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sìⁿ-miā
  - Tâi-lô: sìnn-miā
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sviemia
  - IPA (Xiamen): /sĩ²¹⁻⁵³ miã²²/
  - IPA (Singapore): /sĩ²¹⁻⁴² mia²²/
  - IPA (Taipei): /sĩ¹¹⁻⁵³ miã³³/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /sĩ⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ miã⁴¹/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sèⁿ-miā
  - Tâi-lô: sènn-miā
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sveamia
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /sɛ̃²¹⁻⁵³ miã²²/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /sẽ²¹⁻⁴¹ miã³³/
- (Hokkien: Philippines)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sì-miā
  - Tâi-lô: sì-miā
  - Phofsit Daibuun: siemia
  - IPA (Philippines): /si⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ mia⁴¹/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sèng-bēng
  - Tâi-lô: sìng-bīng
  - Phofsit Daibuun: seangbeng
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /siɪŋ²¹⁻⁴¹ biɪŋ³³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /siɪŋ¹¹⁻⁵³ biɪŋ³³/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /siɪŋ⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ biɪŋ⁴¹/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /siɪŋ²¹⁻⁵³ biɪŋ²²/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ¹shin-min₆; ⁵shin-min₆
  - MiniDict: shin^平 min^去; shin^去 min^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹xin-min₃; ²xin-min₃
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ɕin⁵⁵ min²¹/, /ɕin³³ min⁴⁴/

Middle Chinese: sjengH mjaengH

Rime
Character	性	命
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	清 (121)	庚 (111)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	息正切	眉病切
Baxter	sjengH	mjaengH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/siᴇŋ^H/	/mˠiæŋ^H/
Pan Wuyun	/siɛŋ^H/	/mᵚiaŋ^H/
Shao Rongfen	/siæŋ^H/	/miaŋ^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/siajŋ^H/	/miajŋ^H/
Li Rong	/siɛŋ^H/	/miɐŋ^H/
Wang Li	/sĭɛŋ^H/	/mĭɐŋ^H/
Bernhard Karlgren	/si̯ɛŋ^H/	/mi̯ɐŋ^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xìng	mìng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sing³	ming⁶

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*seŋ-s m-riŋ-s/

(Zhengzhang): /*sleŋs mreŋs/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	性	命
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xìng	mìng
Middle Chinese	‹ sjeng^H ›	‹ mjæng^H ›
Old Chinese	/*seŋ-s/	/m-riŋ-s/ (dialect: m-r- > mr-, -iŋ> *-eŋ)
English	nature	command (n.)
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	性	命
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	11358	8275
Phonetic component	生	令
Rime group	耕	耕
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	性	命
Old Chinese	/*sleŋs/	/*mreŋs/
Notes		令轉註字

Noun

性命

life; survival
性命交關／性命交关 ― xìngmìng jiāoguān ― vitally important (lit. related to life)

性命圭旨 ― xìngmìng guīzhǐ ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

edit

一口氣 / 一口气 (yīkǒuqì) (figurative)
命仔 (meng⁶ zai²) (Cantonese)
活命 (huómìng)
生命 (shēngmìng)

Derived terms

丕性命
壞了性命 / 坏了性命
性命之交
性命之憂 / 性命之忧
性命交關 / 性命交关 (xìngmìngjiāoguān)
性命攸關 / 性命攸关 (xìngmìngyōuguān)
潑性命 / 泼性命
身家性命 (shēnjiā xìngmìng)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (性命):

→ Japanese: 性命(せいめい) (seimei)
→ Korean: 성명(性命) (seongmyeong)
→ Vietnamese: tính mạng (性命)

References

“性命”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.