敦煌

Chinese

	phonetic
trad. (敦煌)	敦	煌
simp. ^#(敦煌)	敦	煌
alternative forms	燉煌

Etymology

Likely from a historical Iranian language, with first known records in Chinese in the 2nd century BCE; likely cognate to the later Sogdian 𐼌𐼘𐼇𐼀𐼀𐼏 (δrwʾʾn /⁠*θurwān, θruwān⁠/) – name of Dunhuang known to the Sogdians – attested in the "Sogdian Ancient Letters" [early 4th century] (Gharib, 1995); possibly related to the Θροάνα (Throána) in Greek (Ptolemy, Geographia, Book VI, chap. 16) and Bactrian sources (Pulleyblank, 1962, 1966; Baxter and Sagart, 2014).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): Dūnhuáng

(Zhuyin): ㄉㄨㄣㄏㄨㄤˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): deon¹ wong⁴
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): Tun-hông

(Teochew, Peng'im): dung¹ huang⁵
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹ten-uaon

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: Dūnhuáng
  - Zhuyin: ㄉㄨㄣㄏㄨㄤˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: Dunhuáng
  - Wade–Giles: Tun¹-huang²
  - Yale: Dwūn-hwáng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Duenhwang
  - Palladius: Дуньхуан (Dunʹxuan)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tu̯ən⁵⁵ xu̯ɑŋ³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: deon¹ wong⁴
  - Yale: dēun wòhng
  - Cantonese Pinyin: doen¹ wong⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: dên¹ wong⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɵn⁵⁵ wɔːŋ²¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tun-hông
  - Tâi-lô: Tun-hông
  - Phofsit Daibuun: dunhoong
  - IPA (Xiamen): /tun⁴⁴⁻²² hɔŋ²⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /tun³³ hɔŋ²⁴/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /tun⁴⁴⁻²² hɔŋ¹³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /tun⁴⁴⁻³³ hɔŋ²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /tun⁴⁴⁻³³ hɔŋ²³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: dung¹ huang⁵
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tung huâng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tuŋ³³⁻²³ huaŋ⁵⁵/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ¹ten-uaon
  - MiniDict: ten^平 uaon
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹ten-uaan
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /tən⁵⁵ uɑ̃²¹/

Middle Chinese: twon hwang

Rime
Character	敦	煌
Reading #	2/4	1/1
Initial (聲)	端 (5)	匣 (33)
Final (韻)	魂 (55)	唐 (102)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Closed
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	都昆切	胡光切
Baxter	twon	hwang
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/tuən/	/ɦwɑŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/tuon/	/ɦʷɑŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/tuən/	/ɣuɑŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/twən/	/ɦwaŋ/
Li Rong	/tuən/	/ɣuɑŋ/
Wang Li	/tuən/	/ɣuɑŋ/
Bernhard Karlgren	/tuən/	/ɣwɑŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	dūn	huáng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	deon¹	wong⁴

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*tˤur [ɢ]ʷˤaŋ/

(Zhengzhang): /*doːn ɡʷaːŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	敦	煌
Reading #	3/3	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	dūn	huáng
Middle Chinese	‹ twon ›	‹ hwang ›
Old Chinese	/*tˁur/	/*[ɢ]ʷˁaŋ/
English	敦煌 ~ 燉煌 Dūnhuáng	敦煌 Dūnhuáng
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	敦	煌
Reading #	2/4	1/1
No.	2594	12700
Phonetic component	敦	王
Rime group	元	陽
Rime subdivision	3	0
Corresponding MC rime	團	黃
Old Chinese	/*doːn/	/*ɡʷaːŋ/

Proper noun

敦煌

(～市) Dunhuang (a county-level city of Jiuquan, Gansu, China)
(historical) (～郡) Dunhuang (an ancient commandery in modern Gansu, China)
(～縣) (historical) Dunhuang (a county of Jiuquan, Gansu, China)

Synonyms

沙州 (Shāzhōu)

Derived terms

敦煌學 / 敦煌学 (Dūnhuángxué)

Descendants

→ English: Dunhuang, Tun-huang, Tunhuang, Tunhwang