牛頭馬面

See also: 牛头马面

Chinese

		oxhead; Daoist priest	Horse-Face, one of the two guardians of hell
trad. (牛頭馬面)		牛頭	馬面
simp. (牛头马面)		牛头	马面

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): niútóumǎmiàn

(Zhuyin): ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄇㄧㄢˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): ngau⁴ tau⁴ maa⁵ min⁶
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): ngiù-thèu-mâ-mien
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): gu² tao² bor³ ming⁴
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): gû-thâu-bé-bīn
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶gnieu-deu-mo-mi

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: niútóumǎmiàn
  - Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄇㄧㄢˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: nióutóumǎmiàn
  - Wade–Giles: niu²-tʻou²-ma³-mien⁴
  - Yale: nyóu-tóu-mǎ-myàn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: nioutourmaamiann
  - Palladius: нютоумамянь (njutoumamjanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ni̯oʊ̯³⁵ tʰoʊ̯³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ mi̯ɛn⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: ngau⁴ tau⁴ maa⁵ min⁶
  - Yale: ngàuh tàuh máh mihn
  - Cantonese Pinyin: ngau⁴ tau⁴ maa⁵ min⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: ngeo⁴ teo⁴ ma⁵ min⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋɐu̯²¹ tʰɐu̯²¹ maː¹³ miːn²²/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ngiù-thèu-mâ-mien
  - Hakka Romanization System: ngiu^ˇ teu^ˇ ma^ˊ mien
  - Hagfa Pinyim: ngiu² teu² ma¹ mian⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /ŋi̯u¹¹ tʰeu̯¹¹ ma²⁴⁻¹¹ mi̯en⁵⁵/
Puxian Min
- (Putian)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: gu² tao² bor³ ming⁴ [Phonetic: gu⁵ lao⁵ bor⁵ ming⁴]
  - Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: gú-táu-bô̤-mi̍ng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku¹³⁻¹¹ ^(tʰ-)lau¹³⁻¹¹ pɒ⁴⁵³⁻¹¹ miŋ⁴²/
- (Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: gu² tao² bor³ ming⁴ [Phonetic: gu⁵ lao⁵ bor⁵ ming⁴]
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku²⁴⁻²¹ ^(tʰ-)lau²⁴⁻²¹ pɒ³³²⁻²¹ miŋ⁴²/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese, Singapore)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gû-thâu-bé-bīn
  - Tâi-lô: gû-thâu-bé-bīn
  - Phofsit Daibuun: gu'tau'befbin
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɡu²³⁻³³ tʰau²³ be⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ bin³³/
  - IPA (Xiamen): /ɡu²⁴⁻²² tʰau²⁴ be⁵³⁻⁴⁴ bin²²/
  - IPA (Singapore): /ɡu²⁴⁻²¹ tʰau²⁴ be⁴²⁻²⁴ bin²²/
  - IPA (Taipei): /ɡu²⁴⁻¹¹ tʰau²⁴ be⁵³⁻⁴⁴ bin³³/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁶gnieu-deu-mo-mi
  - MiniDict: nyeu^去 deu mo mi
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³nyieu-deu-mo-mi
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /n̠ʲiɤ²² dɤ⁵⁵ mo³³ mi²¹/

Proper noun

牛頭馬面

(religion) Ox-Head and Horse-Face; guardians of the underworld in Chinese mythology

Idiom

牛頭馬面

ugly and wicked person
(Hakka) unacceptable; scandalous; outrageous

Descendants

→ Vietnamese: đầu trâu mặt ngựa (calque)

References

莆田市政协文化文史和学习委员会 [Culture, History and Learning Committee of Putian CPPCC], editor (2021), “牛头马面”, in 莆仙方言大词典 [Comprehensive Dictionary of Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 240.