脆

脆	U+8106, 脆 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8106

← 脅
[U+8105]

CJK Unified Ideographs

脇 →
[U+8107]

Translingual

Han character

脆 (Kangxi radical 130, 肉+6, 10 strokes, cangjie input 月弓一山 (BNMU), four-corner 7721₂, composition ⿰⺼危)

Derived characters

𦟒

References

Kangxi Dictionary: page 982, character 3
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 29468
Dae Jaweon: page 1434, character 9
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2069, character 4
Unihan data for U+8106

Chinese

trad.		脆
simp. ^#		脆
alternative forms		脃膬脺毳

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (絕) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
蕝	ʔsods, ʔsod
脃	*sʰods
脆	*sʰods
絕	*zod

Originally 脃. Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *sʰods): semantic ⺼ (“meat”) + abbreviated phonetic 絕 (OC *zod).

“Threads”: Phono-semantic matching from English.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): cuì (cui⁴)

(Zhuyin): ㄘㄨㄟˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): ceoi³
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): chhe / chhoi

(Hailu, HRS): ce^ˇ / cioi^ˇ

(Meixian, Guangdong): coi⁴
Eastern Min (BUC): chuói
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): cui⁴ / coe⁴ / ce⁴
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chhùi / chhèr / chhè
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁵tshoe; ⁵tshe; ⁵tshue

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: cuì
  - Zhuyin: ㄘㄨㄟˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: cuèi
  - Wade–Giles: tsʻui⁴
  - Yale: tswèi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsuey
  - Palladius: цуй (cuj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰu̯eɪ̯⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: ceoi³
  - Yale: cheui
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tsoey³
  - Guangdong Romanization: cêu³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɵy̯³³/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chhe / chhoi
  - Hakka Romanization System: ce / coi
  - Hagfa Pinyim: ce⁴ / coi⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰe⁵⁵/, /t͡sʰoi̯⁵⁵/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
  - Hakka Romanization System: ce^ˇ / cioi^ˇ
  - Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰe¹¹/, /t͡sʰioi¹¹/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: coi⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰoɪ⁵³/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: chuói
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰui²¹³/
Puxian Min
- (Putian, Jiangkou, Nanri, Xianyou, Youyang, Fengting)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: cui⁴
  - Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: chu̍i
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰui⁴²/
- (Putian, Nanri, Xianyou, Youyang)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: coe⁴
  - Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: che̤̍
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰø⁴²/
- (Jiangkou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: coe⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰœ⁴²/
- (Fengting)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: ce⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰe⁴²/

Note:

cui4 - literary;
coe4/ce4 - vernacular.

Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhùi
  - Tâi-lô: tshuì
  - Phofsit Daibuun: zhuix
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰui⁴¹/
  - IPA (Taipei): /t͡sʰui¹¹/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung): /t͡sʰui²¹/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhèr
  - Tâi-lô: tshèr
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰə⁴¹/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Philippines)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhè
  - Tâi-lô: tshè
  - Phofsit Daibuun: zhex
  - IPA (Taipei): /t͡sʰe¹¹/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung, Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /t͡sʰe²¹/
  - IPA (Philippines): /t͡sʰe⁴¹/

Note:

chhùi - literary;
chhèr/chhè - vernacular.

Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁵tshoe; ⁵tshe; ⁵tshue
  - MiniDict: tshoe^去; tshe^去; tshue^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²tshoe; ²tshe; ²tshue
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡sʰø³⁴/, /t͡sʰe³⁴/, /t͡sʰue³⁴/

Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 脆
Mandarin	Beijing	/t͡sʰuei⁵¹/
	Harbin	/t͡sʰuei⁵³/
	Tianjin	/t͡sʰuei⁵³/
	Jinan	/t͡sʰuei²¹/
	Qingdao	/ʈ͡ʂʰue⁴²/
	Zhengzhou	/t͡sʰuei³¹²/
	Xi'an	/t͡sʰuei⁴⁴/
	Xining	/t͡sʰuɨ²¹³/
	Yinchuan	/t͡sʰuei⁵³/ 易折損 /t͡sʰuei¹³/ 清～
	Lanzhou	/t͡sʰuei¹³/
	Ürümqi	/t͡sʰuei²¹³/
	Wuhan	/t͡sʰei³⁵/
	Chengdu	/t͡sʰuei¹³/
	Guiyang	/t͡sʰuei²¹³/
	Kunming	/t͡sʰuei²¹²/
	Nanjing	/t͡sʰuəi⁴⁴/
	Hefei	/t͡sʰe⁵³/
Jin	Taiyuan	/t͡sʰuei⁴⁵/
	Pingyao	/t͡sʰuei³⁵/
	Hohhot	/t͡sʰuei⁵⁵/
Wu	Shanghai	/t͡sʰe³⁵/
	Suzhou	/t͡sʰe̞⁵¹³/
	Hangzhou	/t͡sʰz̩ʷei⁴⁴⁵/
	Wenzhou	/t͡sʰai³⁵/
Hui	Shexian	/t͡ɕʰye³²⁴/ /t͡ɕʰy³²⁴/
Hui	Tunxi	/t͡sʰe⁴²/
Xiang	Changsha	/t͡sʰei⁵⁵/
Xiang	Xiangtan	/t͡sʰəi⁵⁵/
Gan	Nanchang	/t͡sʰui²¹³/
Hakka	Meixian	/t͡sʰoi⁵³/
Hakka	Taoyuan
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/t͡sʰøy³³/
	Nanning	/t͡sʰui³³/
	Hong Kong	/t͡sʰøy³³/
Min	Xiamen (Hokkien)	/t͡sʰui²¹/ /t͡sʰe²¹/
	Fuzhou (Eastern Min)	/t͡sʰuɔi²¹²/
	Jian'ou (Northern Min)	/t͡sʰo³³/
	Shantou (Teochew)	/t͡sʰui⁵³/
	Haikou (Hainanese)	/sui³⁵/ /se³⁵/

Middle Chinese: tshjwejH

Rime
Character	脆
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	清 (14)
Final (韻)	祭 (36)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	此芮切
Baxter	tshjwejH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/t͡sʰiuᴇi^H/
Pan Wuyun	/t͡sʰʷiɛi^H/
Shao Rongfen	/t͡sʰiuæi^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/t͡sʰwiaj^H/
Li Rong	/t͡sʰiuɛi^H/
Wang Li	/t͡sʰĭwɛi^H/
Bernhard Karlgren	/t͡sʰi̯wɛi^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	cuì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	ceoi³

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[tsʰ]o[t]-s/

(Zhengzhang): /*sʰods/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	脆
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	cuì
Middle Chinese	‹ tshjwej^H ›
Old Chinese	/*[tsʰ]o[t]-s/
English	brittle
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	脆
Reading #	1/1
No.	7250
Phonetic component	絕
Rime group	祭
Rime subdivision	3
Corresponding MC rime	毳
Old Chinese	/*sʰods/
Notes	俗脃字見老子今本（範本作脃）

Definitions

脆

brittle; fragile
(of food) crisp; crispy
脆皮燒肉／脆皮烧肉 ― cuì pí shāoròu ― siu yuk with crispy skin
(of voices) clear; crisp
清脆 ― qīngcuì ― clear and crisp
(of speech or action) neat; quick; concise
(Taiwan, neologism, slang) Threads (a social media platform under Meta Platforms)

Synonyms

(crisp):

Dialectal synonyms of 脆 (“crispy”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		脆
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	脆
Northeastern Mandarin	Singapore	脆
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	脆, 酥
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	脆
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	脆, 酥
	Wanrong	脆, 酥
	Xi'an	脆, 酥
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	脆
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	酥
Cantonese	Guangzhou	脆, 酥, 爽, 爽脆
	Hong Kong	脆, 酥, 爽, 爽脆
	Hong Kong (San Tin; Weitou)	脆
	Hong Kong (Ting Kok)	脆
	Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)	脆
	Dongguan	爽
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	脆
Gan	Nanchang	脆, 酥
Gan	Pingxiang	酥
Hakka	Meixian	脆
	Hong Kong	酥
	Senai (Huiyang)	鬆, 酥
Huizhou	Jixi	酥
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	酥, 脆
Southern Min	Xiamen	酥
	Quanzhou	酥
	Zhangzhou	酥
	Taipei	酥 GT
	Singapore (Hokkien)	酥
	Manila (Hokkien)	脆, 酥
	Chaozhou	酥
	Shantou	酥, 脆
	Jieyang	酥
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	酥
	Haikou	酥
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	脆
Wu	Shanghai	脆
	Shanghai (Chongming)	脆
	Suzhou	脆
Note	GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

(clear):

edit

亮 (liàng)
亮堂 (liàngtáng)
嘹亮 (liáoliàng)
宏亮 (hóngliàng)
昂揚 / 昂扬 (ángyáng)
朗朗 (lǎnglǎng)
洪亮 (hóngliàng)
清亮
琅琅 (lángláng)
豁亮 (huòliàng)
響 / 响 (xiǎng)
響亮 / 响亮 (xiǎngliàng)
高亢 (gāokàng)
高昂 (gāo'áng)

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “fragile”): 韌／韧 (rèn)

Compounds

乾脆 / 干脆 (gāncuì)
乾脆爽快 / 干脆爽快
浮脆
清脆 (qīngcuì)
爽脆 (shuǎngcuì)
甘脆 (gāncuì)
脆促
脆弱 (cuìruò)
脆快
脆快了當 / 脆快了当
脆怯
脆性 (cuìxìng)
脆生 (cuìsheng)
脆薄
脆餅 / 脆饼
脆骨 (cuìgǔ)
薄脆
輕脆 / 轻脆
迸脆
香脆
鬆脆 / 松脆 (sōngcuì)

References

李如龙 [Li, Ru-long], 刘福铸 [Liu, Fu-zhu], 吴华英 [Wu, Hua-ying], 黄国城 [Huang, Guo-cheng] (2019) “脆”, in 莆仙方言调查报告 [Investigation Report on Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 157.