生理

Chinese

		to be born; to give birth; life to be born; to give birth; life; to grow; student; raw	to manage; to heed; to put in order to manage; to heed; to put in order; reason; logic; science; inner principle or structure
simp. and trad. (生理)		生	理
Literally: “laws of life”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): shēnglǐ

(Zhuyin): ㄕㄥㄌㄧˇ
Cantonese
(Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): sang¹ lei⁵

(Taishan, Wiktionary): sang¹ lei⁴
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): sên-lî

(Hailu, HRS): sen^ˋ li^ˋ

(Meixian, Guangdong): xiên¹ li¹
Eastern Min (BUC): sĕng-lī
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): seng¹ li³
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): seng-lí / sng-lí / sin-lí

(Teochew, Peng'im): sêng¹ li²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shēnglǐ
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄥㄌㄧˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shenglǐ
  - Wade–Giles: shêng¹-li³
  - Yale: shēng-lǐ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shenglii
  - Palladius: шэнли (šɛnli)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɤŋ⁵⁵ li²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
  - Homophones:
    [Show/Hide]
    ^edit
    ^edit
    牲禮 / 牲礼
    生理
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: sang¹ lei⁵
  - Yale: sāng léih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sang¹ lei⁵
  - Guangdong Romanization: seng¹ léi⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐŋ⁵⁵ lei̯¹³/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: sang¹ lei⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /saŋ³³ lei²¹/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sên-lî
  - Hakka Romanization System: sen^ˊ li^ˊ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: sen¹ li¹
  - Sinological IPA: /sen²⁴⁻¹¹ li²⁴/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
  - Hakka Romanization System: sen^ˋ li^ˋ
  - Sinological IPA: /sen⁵³ li⁵³/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: xiên¹ li¹
  - Sinological IPA: /ɕiɛn⁴⁴ li⁴⁴/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: sĕng-lī
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɛiŋ⁵⁵⁻⁵³ ^(l-)nˡi³³/
Puxian Min
- (Putian)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: seng¹ li³ [Phonetic: seng⁵ ni³]
  - Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: seng-lî
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬɛŋ⁵³³⁻¹¹ ^(l-)ni⁴⁵³/
- (Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: seng¹ li³ [Phonetic: seng⁵ ni³]
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬɛŋ⁵⁴⁴⁻²¹ ^(l-)ni³³²/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese, Philippines)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: seng-lí
  - Tâi-lô: sing-lí
  - Phofsit Daibuun: senglie
  - IPA (Philippines): /siɪŋ³³ li⁵⁵⁴/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻²² li⁵³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ li⁴¹/
  - IPA (Taipei): /siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ li⁵³/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Philippines)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sng-lí
  - Tâi-lô: sng-lí
  - Phofsit Daibuun: snglie
  - IPA (Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Philippines): /sŋ̍³³ li⁵⁵⁴/
- (Hokkien: Longyan)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sin-lí
  - Tâi-lô: sin-lí
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sinlie
  - IPA (Longyan): /sin³³⁴ li²¹/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: sêng¹ li²
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: seng lí
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /seŋ³³⁻²³ li⁵²/

Middle Chinese: sraeng|sraengH liX

Rime
Character	生	生	理
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	生 (21)	生 (21)	來 (37)
Final (韻)	庚 (109)	庚 (109)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	II	II	III
Fanqie	所庚切	所敬切	良士切
Baxter	sraeng	sraengH	liX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʃˠæŋ/	/ʃˠæŋ^H/	/lɨ^X/
Pan Wuyun	/ʃᵚaŋ/	/ʃᵚaŋ^H/	/lɨ^X/
Shao Rongfen	/ʃaŋ/	/ʃaŋ^H/	/lie^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʂaɨjŋ/	/ʂaɨjŋ^H/	/lɨ^X/
Li Rong	/ʃɐŋ/	/ʃɐŋ^H/	/liə^X/
Wang Li	/ʃɐŋ/	/ʃɐŋ^H/	/lĭə^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʂɐŋ/	/ʂɐŋ^H/	/li^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shēng	shèng	lǐ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sang¹	sang³	lei⁵

Noun

生理

physiology; normal functioning of living organisms and their parts
生理需要 ― shēnglǐ xūyào ― biological need
(literary) ways to maintain good health
(literary) science of growth and propagation (of plants)
(literary) rules of conduct
(literary) hope of surviving
(literary) life; living; livelihood
(literary) work; job; profession
(literary or Hakka, Eastern Min, Hokkien, Teochew) business; trade; buying and selling
阮阿舅佮阿妗咧做生理。 [Hokkien, trad. and simp.]
Goán a-kū kah a-kīm teh chò seng-lí. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
Our uncle and aunt are doing business.
(literary) property; wealth

Synonyms

(business):

edit

交易 (jiāoyì)
商務 / 商务 (shāngwù)
商業 / 商业 (shāngyè)
業務 / 业务 (yèwù)
生意
買賣 / 买卖 (mǎimài)

Dialectal synonyms of 生意 (“business; trade”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		生意, 買賣
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	買賣
	Taiwan	生意
	Harbin	買賣
	Malaysia	生意
	Singapore	生意
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	買兒賣兒, 買賣, 生意
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	買賣, 生意
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	買賣, 生意
	Wanrong	買賣, 生意
	Xi'an	買賣, 生意
	Xining	生意, 買賣
	Xuzhou	生意, 買賣
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	生意, 買賣
	Lanzhou	買賣, 生意
	Ürümqi	買賣, 生意
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	生意, 買賣
	Wuhan	生意買賣, 生意, 買賣
	Guiyang	生意, 買賣
	Kunming	生意
	Guilin	生意
	Liuzhou	生意, 買賣
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	生意
	Yangzhou	生意
	Hefei	生意
Cantonese	Guangzhou	生意
	Hong Kong	生意
	Macau	生意
	Dongguan	生意
	Yangjiang	生意
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	生意
	Singapore (Guangfu)	生意
Gan	Nanchang	生意
	Lichuan	生意
	Pingxiang	生意
Hakka	Meixian	生理
	Wuhua (Shuizhai)	生理
	Wuhua (Huacheng)	生理
	Wuhua (Changbu)	生理
	Wuhua (Mianyang)	生理
	Jiexi	生理
	Luhe	生理
	Yudu	生意
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	生理
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	生理
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	生理
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	生理
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	生理
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	生理
Huizhou	Jixi	生意
Jin	Taiyuan	生意, 買賣
Jin	Xinzhou	生意, 買賣
Northern Min	Jian'ou	生意
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	生意, 生理
Southern Min	Xiamen	生理
	Xiamen (Tong'an)	生理
	Quanzhou	生理
	Yongchun	生理
	Zhangzhou	生理
	Zhangzhou (Changtai)	生理
	Zhao'an	生理
	Dongshan	生理
	Taipei	生理, 買賣
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	生理, 買賣
	Kaohsiung	生理, 買賣
	Yilan	生理, 買賣
	Changhua (Lukang)	生理, 買賣
	Taichung	生理, 買賣
	Tainan	生理, 買賣
	Hsinchu	生理, 買賣
	Kinmen	生理, 買賣
	Penghu (Magong)	生理, 買賣
	Penang (Hokkien)	生理
	Singapore (Hokkien)	生理
	Manila (Hokkien)	生理
	Longyan	生理
	Chaozhou	生理
	Raoping	生理
	Shantou	生理
	Shantou (Chenghai)	生理
	Jieyang	生理
	Haifeng	生理
	Phnom Penh (Teochew)	生理
	Singapore (Teochew)	生理
	Leizhou	商意
	Wenchang	生意
	Haikou	生意
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	生意
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	生意, 買賣
Wu	Shanghai	生意, 買賣
	Shanghai (Chongming)	生意
	Suzhou	生意
	Danyang	生意
	Hangzhou	生意
	Ningbo	生意
	Wenzhou	生意
	Jinhua	生意
Xiang	Changsha	生意
	Loudi	生意, 買賣
	Shuangfeng	生意

Derived terms

了錢生理無人做，刣頭生理有人做 / 了钱生理无人做，刣头生理有人做
做生理
各安生理
生意佬
生理人
生理光學 / 生理光学
生理學 / 生理学 (shēnglǐxué)
生理年齡 / 生理年龄 (shēnglǐ niánlíng)
生理性別 / 生理性别 (shēnglǐ xìngbié)
生理時鐘 / 生理时钟
生理期 (shēnglǐqī)
生理節律 / 生理节律 (shēnglǐ jiélǜ)
生理聲學 / 生理声学
生理腳 / 生理脚
生理鹽水 / 生理盐水 (shēnglǐ yánshuǐ)
電生理學 / 电生理学 (diànshēnglǐxué)

References

“生理”, 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.
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), “生理”, 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 475.

Japanese

Kanji in this term
生	理
せい Grade: 1	り Grade: 2
on'yomi

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) せーり [séꜜèrì] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
IPA^(key): [se̞ːɾʲi]

Noun

生(せい)理(り) • (seiri)

short for 生理学 (seirigaku, “physiology”)
menstruation; period
Synonym: 月経 (gekkei)

前(まえ)の生(せい)理(り)はいつでしたか
Mae no seiri wa itsu deshita ka
When was your last period?

Derived terms

生理痛(せいりつう) (seiritsū)

References

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term
生	理

Noun

生理 • (saengni) (hangeul 생리)

hanja form^? of 생리 (“physiology”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
生	理

Noun

生理

chữ Hán form of sinh lí (“physiology”)

[DJR-1] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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