知音

Chinese

		to know; to be aware	sound; noise; news
simp. and trad. (知音)		知	音

Etymology

From the old Chinese story about the deep friendship between two men, Boya (a qin player) and Ziqi (a woodcutter). Despite Ziqi's humble background, upon hearing Boya play his qin he was surprisingly able to tell which subjects each of the pieces represented.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): zhīyīn

(Zhuyin): ㄓㄧㄣ
Cantonese (Jyutping): zi¹ jam¹
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): tî-yîm
Eastern Min (BUC): dĭ-ĭng
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): ti-im

(Teochew, Peng'im): zai¹ im¹
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹tsy-in

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: zhīyīn
  - Zhuyin: ㄓㄧㄣ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: jhihyin
  - Wade–Giles: chih¹-yin¹
  - Yale: jr̄-yīn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyin
  - Palladius: чжиинь (čžiinʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ in⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: zi¹ jam¹
  - Yale: jī yām
  - Cantonese Pinyin: dzi¹ jam¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: ji¹ yem¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː⁵⁵ jɐm⁵⁵/
Hakka
- (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: tî-yîm
  - Hakka Romanization System: di^ˊ im^ˊ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: di¹ yim¹
  - Sinological IPA: /ti²⁴⁻¹¹ im²⁴/
- (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: tî-yîm
  - Hakka Romanization System: di^ˊ (r)im^ˊ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: di¹ yim¹
  - Sinological IPA: /ti²⁴⁻¹¹ (j)im²⁴/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: dĭ-ĭng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ti⁵⁵ iŋ⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ti-im
  - Tâi-lô: ti-im
  - Phofsit Daibuun: di'ym
  - IPA (Xiamen): /ti⁴⁴⁻²² im⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /ti³³ im³³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /ti⁴⁴⁻²² im⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Taipei): /ti⁴⁴⁻³³ im⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /ti⁴⁴⁻³³ im⁴⁴/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: zai¹ im¹
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tsai im
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sai³³⁻²³ im³³/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ¹tsy-in
  - MiniDict: tsy^平 in
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹tsr-in
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡sz̩⁵⁵ in²¹/

Middle Chinese: trje 'im

Rime
Character	知	音
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	知 (9)	影 (34)
Final (韻)	支 (11)	侵 (140)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	陟移切	於金切
Baxter	trje	'im
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʈiᴇ/	/ʔˠiɪm/
Pan Wuyun	/ʈiɛ/	/ʔᵚim/
Shao Rongfen	/ȶjɛ/	/ʔiem/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʈiə̆/	/ʔjim/
Li Rong	/ȶie/	/ʔjəm/
Wang Li	/ȶǐe/	/ĭĕm/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ȶie̯/	/ʔi̯əm/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	zhī	yīn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	zi¹	jam¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*tre [q](r)əm/

(Zhengzhang): /*ʔl'e qrɯm/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	知	音
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	zhī	yīn
Middle Chinese	‹ trje ›	‹ ʔim ›
Old Chinese	/*tre/	/*[q](r)əm/
English	know	sound, tone
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	知	音
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	11495	15223
Phonetic component	矢	音
Rime group	支	侵
Rime subdivision	0	1
Corresponding MC rime		音
Old Chinese	/*ʔl'e/	/*qrɯm/
Notes	沈兼士依韻會所引說文從口矢聲

Noun

知音

friend keenly appreciative of one's talents; bosom friend; intimate friend; soul mate
覓知音／觅知音 ― mì zhīyīn ― to look for one's soulmate

知音難求／知音难求 ― zhīyīn nán qiú ― it's difficult to find one's soulmate

我終於遇到知音了。 [MSC, trad.]
我终于遇到知音了。 [MSC, simp.]
Wǒ zhōngyú yùdào zhīyīn le. [Pinyin]
I finally found someone who truly understands me.

Synonyms

edit

友好 (yǒuhǎo)
同袍 (tóngpáo) (literary)
執友 / 执友 (zhíyǒu) (literary)
好友 (hǎoyǒu)
相知 (xiāngzhī)
知交 (zhījiāo)
知友 (zhīyǒu)
知己 (zhījǐ)
知心 (zhīxīn)
知心朋友 (zhīxīn péngyou)
知言 (zhīyán) (literary)
知遇 (zhīyù) (literary)
良朋 (liángpéng) (literary)
良知 (liángzhī)
高朋 (gāopéng) (literary)
齒輪 / 齿轮 (ci³ nen²) (Sichuanese)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (知音):

→ Japanese: 知音(ちいん) (chiin)
→ Korean: 지음(知音) (jieum)
→ Vietnamese: tri âm (知音)

Verb

知音

(literary, literal) to have a thorough understanding of music; to be proficient in music