溝壑

See also: 沟壑

Chinese

		ditch; gutter	gully
trad. (溝壑)		溝	壑
simp. (沟壑)		沟	壑

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): gōuhè, gōuhuò

(Zhuyin): ㄍㄡㄏㄜˋ, ㄍㄡㄏㄨㄛˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): kau¹ kok³

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, Mainland)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: gōuhè
  - Zhuyin: ㄍㄡㄏㄜˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: gouhè
  - Wade–Giles: kou¹-ho⁴
  - Yale: gōu-hè
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gouheh
  - Palladius: гоухэ (gouxɛ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /koʊ̯⁵⁵ xɤ⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: gōuhuò
  - Zhuyin: ㄍㄡㄏㄨㄛˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: gouhuò
  - Wade–Giles: kou¹-huo⁴
  - Yale: gōu-hwò
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gouhuoh
  - Palladius: гоухо (gouxo)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /koʊ̯⁵⁵ xu̯ɔ⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: kau¹ kok³
  - Yale: kāu kok
  - Cantonese Pinyin: kau¹ kok⁸
  - Guangdong Romanization: keo¹ kog³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰɐu̯⁵⁵ kʰɔːk̚³/

Middle Chinese: kuw xak

Rime
Character	溝	壑
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)	曉 (32)
Final (韻)	侯 (137)	鐸 (103)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I
Fanqie	古侯切	呵各切
Baxter	kuw	xak
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kəu/	/hɑk̚/
Pan Wuyun	/kəu/	/hɑk̚/
Shao Rongfen	/kəu/	/xɑk̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kəw/	/hak̚/
Li Rong	/ku/	/xɑk̚/
Wang Li	/kəu/	/xɑk̚/
Bernhard Karlgren	/kə̯u/	/xɑk̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	gōu	he
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gau¹	hok³

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[k]ˤ(r)o qʰˤak/

(Zhengzhang): /*koː qʰaːɡ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	溝	壑
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	gōu	hè
Middle Chinese	‹ kuw ›	‹ xak ›
Old Chinese	/*[k]ˁ(r)o/	/*qʰˁak/
English	irrigation canal	moat; canal
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	溝	壑
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	4185	5616
Phonetic component	冓	壑
Rime group	侯	鐸
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	鉤	𦞦
Old Chinese	/*koː/	/*qʰaːɡ/

Noun

溝壑

ravine; gully
- 小人老而無子，知擠於溝壑矣。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
  小人老而无子，知挤于沟壑矣。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
  From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE
  Xiǎorén lǎo ér wú zǐ, zhī jǐ yú gōuhè yǐ. [Pinyin]
  (please add an English translation of this usage example)
(literary, figurative) predicament; straits; difficult situation
- 志士不忘在溝壑，勇士不忘喪其元。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
  志士不忘在沟壑，勇士不忘丧其元。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
  From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE
  Zhìshì bù wàng zài gōuhè, yǒngshì bù wàng sàng qí yuán. [Pinyin]
  (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

(ravine): 坑溝／坑沟 (Southern Min)
(predicament):

危境 (wēijìng)
厄 (literary, or in compounds)
困厄 (kùn'è) (literary)
困境 (kùnjìng)
地步 (dìbù)
時艱 / 时艰 (shíjiān) (difficult times at present)
畏景 (wèijǐng) (literary, figurative)
處境 / 处境 (chǔjìng)
逆境 (nìjìng)