獨燕不成夏

Chinese

		alone; independent; single alone; independent; single; sole; only	swallow (bird); surname; place name	to not form; to not constitute; unsuccessful	summer; Xia (proper name)
trad. (獨燕不成夏)		獨	燕	不成	夏
simp. (独燕不成夏)		独	燕	不成	夏

Etymology

Calque of English one swallow does not a summer make.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): dúyànbùchéngxià

(Zhuyin): ㄉㄨˊ ㄧㄢˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄚˋ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: dúyànbùchéngxià
  - Zhuyin: ㄉㄨˊ ㄧㄢˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄚˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: dúyànbùchéngsià
  - Wade–Giles: tu²-yen⁴-pu⁴-chʻêng²-hsia⁴
  - Yale: dú-yàn-bù-chéng-syà
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dwuyannbucherngshiah
  - Palladius: дуяньбучэнся (dujanʹbučɛnsja)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tu³⁵ jɛn⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵ ɕi̯ä⁵¹/

Idiom

獨燕不成夏

one swallow does not a summer make

Synonyms

一燕不成夏 (yīyànbùchéngxià)
孤燕不成夏 (gūyànbùchéngxià)