艱苦

See also: 艰苦

Chinese

		difficult; hard; hardship	bitter; intensely; miserable bitter; intensely; miserable; painful
trad. (艱苦)		艱	苦
simp. (艰苦)		艰	苦

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): jiānkǔ

(Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄢㄎㄨˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): gaan¹ fu²
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): kân-khú / kiên-khú / kiân-khú

(Hailu, HRS): gan^ˋ ku^ˊ
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): kan-khó͘ / kian-khó͘ / khan-khó͘

(Teochew, Peng'im): gang¹ kou²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: jiānkǔ
  - Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄢㄎㄨˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: jiankǔ
  - Wade–Giles: chien¹-kʻu³
  - Yale: jyān-kǔ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiankuu
  - Palladius: цзяньку (czjanʹku)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵ kʰu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: gaan¹ fu²
  - Yale: gāan fú
  - Cantonese Pinyin: gaan¹ fu²
  - Guangdong Romanization: gan¹ fu²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaːn⁵⁵ fuː³⁵/
Hakka
- (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kân-khú / kiên-khú
  - Hakka Romanization System: gan^ˊ ku^ˋ / gien^ˊ ku^ˋ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: gan¹ ku³ / gian¹ ku³
  - Sinological IPA: /kan²⁴ kʰu³¹/, /ki̯en²⁴ kʰu³¹/
- (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kân-khú / kiân-khú
  - Hakka Romanization System: gan^ˊ ku^ˋ / gian^ˊ ku^ˋ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: gan¹ ku³ / gian¹ ku³
  - Sinological IPA: /kan²⁴ kʰu³¹/, /ki̯an²⁴ kʰu³¹/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
  - Hakka Romanization System: gan^ˋ ku^ˊ
  - Sinological IPA: /kan⁵³ kʰu²⁴/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese, Philippines)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kan-khó͘
  - Tâi-lô: kan-khóo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: kanqor
  - IPA (Quanzhou, Philippines): /kan³³ kʰɔ⁵⁵⁴/
  - IPA (Taipei): /kan⁴⁴⁻³³ kʰɔ⁵³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /kan⁴⁴⁻³³ kʰɔ⁴¹/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /kan⁴⁴⁻²² kʰɔ⁵³/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kian-khó͘
  - Tâi-lô: kian-khóo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: kienqor
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /kiɛn⁴⁴⁻²² kʰɔ⁵³/
- (Hokkien: Penang, Philippines)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khan-khó͘
  - Tâi-lô: khan-khóo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: qanqor
  - IPA (Penang): /kʰan³³⁻²¹ kʰɔ⁴⁴⁵/
  - IPA (Philippines): /kʰan³³ kʰɔ⁵⁵⁴/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: gang¹ kou²
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: kang khóu
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kaŋ³³⁻²³ kʰou⁵²/

Adjective

艱苦

arduous; laborious
(Hokkien, Teochew) difficult; hard
(Hokkien, Teochew) agonizing; hard to bear; unwell
(Hokkien) poor; impoverished

Synonyms

(laborious):

edit

不容易 (bùróngyì)
勤 (qín) (literary, or in compounds)
困難 / 困难
疑難 / 疑难 (yínán)
硬斗 (Hokkien)
硬氣 / 硬气 (Quanzhou Hokkien, Xiamen Hokkien)
硬水 (Hokkien)
硬繚 / 硬缭 (Hokkien)
硬頭 / 硬头 (Xiamen Hokkien, Zhangzhou Hokkien)
良苦 (liángkǔ) (literary)
艱巨 / 艰巨 (jiānjù)
艱辛 / 艰辛 (jiānxīn)
艱難 / 艰难 (jiānnán)
苦難 / 苦难 (kǔnàn)
辛勞 / 辛劳 (xīnláo)
辛苦 (xīnkǔ)
難 / 难

Dialectal synonyms of 辛苦 (“laborious”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		辛苦, 累人, 吃重, 吃力
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	辛苦
	Taiwan	辛苦
	Malaysia	辛苦
	Singapore	辛苦
Cantonese	Guangzhou	辛苦
	Hong Kong	辛苦
	Taishan	辛苦
	Dongguan	辛苦
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	辛苦
	Singapore (Guangfu)	辛苦
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	辛苦
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	辛苦
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	辛苦
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	辛苦
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	辛苦
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	辛苦
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	辛苦
Eastern Min	Singapore (Fuqing)	辛苦
Southern Min	Xiamen	艱苦
	Quanzhou	艱苦
	Zhangzhou	艱苦
	Penang (Hokkien)	艱苦
	Singapore (Hokkien)	艱苦
	Manila (Hokkien)	艱苦
	Shantou	艱苦
	Shantou (Chenghai)	艱苦
	Jieyang	艱苦
	Singapore (Teochew)	艱苦
	Pontianak (Teochew)	艱苦
	Wenchang	艱苦
	Singapore (Hainanese)	艱苦
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	辛苦
Wu	Shanghai	辛苦, 衰瘏, 吃力
	Shanghai (Chongming)	辛
	Suzhou	辛苦
	Danyang	吃力
	Hangzhou	吃力
	Ningbo	𢜭力, 吃力
	Jinhua	著力, 吃力

Dialectal synonyms of 難 (“difficult”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		難, 困難, 艱難
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		難, 困難, 艱難
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	難
	Taiwan	難
	Singapore	難
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	難
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	難
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	難
	Wuhan	難
	Guilin	難
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	難
Jianghuai Mandarin	Hefei	難
Cantonese	Guangzhou	難, 惡 †
	Hong Kong	難, 惡 †
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	難
	Taishan	難, 惡 †
	Yangjiang	難, 惡 †
	Singapore (Guangfu)	難
Gan	Nanchang	難
Hakka	Meixian	難
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	難
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	難
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	難
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	難
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	難
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	難
Jin	Taiyuan	難
Northern Min	Jian'ou	難
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	艱難, 難
Southern Min	Xiamen	惡, 艱苦, 歹 †
	Quanzhou	惡
	Jinjiang	難
	Zhangzhou	惡
	Zhao'an	惡, 䆀 †
	Dongshan	惡
	Taipei	惡
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	惡
	Kaohsiung	惡
	Yilan	惡
	Changhua (Lukang)	惡
	Taichung	惡
	Tainan	惡, 歹 †
	Hsinchu	惡
	Kinmen	惡
	Penghu (Magong)	惡
	Penang (Hokkien)	艱苦, 歹 †
	Singapore (Hokkien)	惡, 艱苦, 歹 †
	Manila (Hokkien)	艱苦, 惡, 歹 †
	Chaozhou	惡
	Shantou	難, 惡
	Shantou (Chenghai)	惡
	Jieyang	惡, 艱苦
	Haifeng	惡
	Singapore (Teochew)	惡, 歹 †
	Leizhou	惡
	Wenchang	惡
	Haikou	惡
	Singapore (Hainanese)	惡
Puxian Min	Putian	惡
Puxian Min	Xianyou	惡
Wu	Shanghai	難
	Suzhou	難
	Wenzhou	難
Xiang	Changsha	難
Xiang	Shuangfeng	難
Note	† - only used with a verbal complement

(poor):

edit

厄 (literary, or in compounds)
困乏 (kùnfá) (formal)
困窘 (kùnjiǒng)
困窮 / 困穷 (kùnqióng)
困苦 (kùnkǔ)
困難 / 困难
困頓 / 困顿 (kùndùn)
宋凶 (Hokkien)
散 (Hokkien)
散凶 (Hokkien)
散赤 (Hokkien)
清苦 (qīngkǔ) (especially of scholars and intellectuals)
淡薄 (dànbó) (literary)
清貧 / 清贫 (qīngpín) (especially of scholars and intellectuals)
㾪赤 (Hokkien)
磽 / 硗 (Teochew)
䆀康 (Hokkien)
空乏 (kòngfá) (literary)
窄
窘促 (jiǒngcù) (literary)
窘困 (jiǒngkùn)
窘迫 (jiǒngpò)
窮 / 穷 (qióng)
窮乏 / 穷乏 (qióngfá) (literary)
窮困 / 穷困 (qióngkùn)
窮㾪 / 穷㾪 (Hokkien)
窮苦 / 穷苦 (qióngkǔ)
窮赤 / 穷赤 (Hokkien)
苦寒 (kǔhán)
貧乏 / 贫乏 (pínfá)
貧困 / 贫困 (pínkùn)
貧寒 / 贫寒 (pínhán)
貧瘠 / 贫瘠 (pínjí) (literary)
貧窮 / 贫穷 (pínqióng)
貧苦 / 贫苦 (pínkǔ)

Derived terms

備嘗艱苦 / 备尝艰苦
艱苦人 / 艰苦人
艱苦卓絕 / 艰苦卓绝 (jiānkǔzhuójué)
艱苦奮鬥 / 艰苦奋斗 (jiānkǔfèndòu)
艱苦心 / 艰苦心
艱苦錢 / 艰苦钱

Verb

艱苦

(Xiamen, Quanzhou and Taiwanese Hokkien) to fall ill; to be ill
我今仔日艱苦，無去上課。 [Hokkien, trad.]
我今仔日艰苦，无去上课。 [Hokkien, simp.]
Góa kin-á-ji̍t kan-khó͘, bô khì siōng-khò. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
I was sick today and I did not attend class.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 生病 (“to fall ill; to be ill”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		生病, 得病, 患, 患病, 害病, 染病, 發病, 病倒, 帶病, 抱病, 抱恙, 罹病, 罹患
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	病, 得病, 鬧病, 不舒服
	Taiwan	病, 生病, 不舒服
	Ulanhot	病
	Tongliao	病
	Chifeng	病
	Hulunbuir (Hailar)	病
	Harbin	病, 作病
	Malaysia	生病
	Singapore	生病
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	長病, 病, 不好, 不熨貼, 不舒坦, 不得勁兒, 鬧症候
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	得病, 病病兒, 不濟, 不熨貼
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	害病, 生病, 病, 有病兒, 不好, 不老兒好, 不美氣
	Wanrong	犯病, 難過
	Zhengzhou	病, 不得勁
	Xi'an	害病, 得病, 病, 不受活 of an adult, 不乖 of a child
	Xining	病下, 得病, 不爽快
	Xuzhou	得病, 害病, 病, 不舒坦, 不舒服, 不如適, 出故事 of a child, 出症兒 of a child, 出症 of a child
	Sokuluk (Gansu Dungan)	得病, 病下, 不行下, 不受活, 不乖 of a child
	Masanchin (Shaanxi Dungan)	得病, 害病, 不受活, 不乖 of a child
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	害病, 有病, 得病, 不好, 不清乾 Hui
	Bayanhot	害病, 病
	Lanzhou	病下, 不舒坦, 不爽快, 不輕身 of an adult, 不乖 of a child, 變狗 of a child
	Ürümqi	病下, 害病, 不舒服
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	害病, 得病, 病, 不好, 不安逸
	Wuhan	害病, 病, 有病, 不好, 不舒服, 不乖 of a child, 做狗狗 of a child
	Guiyang	痛病, 痛, 生病, 不好在, 不安逸, 逗狗 of a child
	Kunming	不好
	Guilin	病
	Liuzhou	病, 做狗崽 of a child, 做狗 of a child
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	生病, 害病, 不爽快, 不爽, 不舒服
	Yangzhou	害病, 不好過
	Nantong	不好過
	Hefei	害病, 病, 不伸坦
Cantonese	Guangzhou	病, 唔舒服, 唔精神, 唔自然
	Hong Kong	病, 唔舒服, 唔精神 dated, 唔自然 dated
	Hong Kong (San Tin; Weitou)	病
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin; Weitou)	病
	Hong Kong (Ting Kok)	有病
	Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)	有病
	Macau	病
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	病
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	唔精神
	Guangzhou (Conghua)	病
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	病, 唔精神
	Foshan	病
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	病
	Foshan (Shunde)	唔精神
	Foshan (Sanshui)	唔精神
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	病
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	病
	Zhuhai (Qianshan, Xiangzhou)	病
	Zhuhai (Shangheng, Doumen; Tanka)	病
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	病, 唔精神
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	病
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	病
	Taishan	病
	Kaiping (Chikan)	病, 唔精神
	Enping (Niujiang)	病, 唔舒服
	Heshan (Yayao)	病
	Dongguan	病, 唔精神
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	唔養得
	Yangjiang	病, 得病, 無自由
	Nanning	生病, 病
	Wuzhou	生病
	Yulin	生病
	Hepu (Lianzhou)	發病
	Danzhou	有病
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	病
	Singapore (Guangfu)	病
Gan	Nanchang	生病, 病, 不好過, 不舒服
	Lichuan	病
	Pingxiang	病, 不熨貼
Hakka	Meixian	發病, 起病, 唔自然, 唔舒服, 犯病
	Huizhou (Huicheng; Bendihua)	有病
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	唔做得
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	唔做得
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	病
	Guangzhou (Lütian, Conghua)	病
	Yudu	病
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	發病仔, 發病, 破病, 著病, 得病, 致病, 唔鬆爽, 唔自然
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	發病, 破病, 著病, 得病, 致病, 唔鬆爽, 唔自然
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	發病, 著病, 破病, 得病, 致病, 唔鬆爽, 唔自然
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	破病, 著病, 得病, 致病, 唔鬆爽, 唔快活, 唔自然
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	發病仔, 發病, 破病, 著病, 得病, 致病, 唔鬆爽, 唔自然
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	破病, 著病, 無快活, 無堵好
	Hong Kong	病
	Luchuan (Daqiao)	生病
	Senai (Huiyang)	病
Huizhou	Jixi	害病, 起病
Jin	Taiyuan	病, 害病, 鬧病, 難活
	Xinzhou	難過
	Taibus (Baochang)	病
	Linhe	病
	Jining	病
	Hohhot	難過
	Baotou	病
	Dongsheng	病
	Haibowan	難活
Northern Min	Jian'ou	病, 凊著, 伓鬆爽
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	破病, 病去, 𣍐爽快, 做犬 of a child
Southern Min	Xiamen	破病, 著病, 致病, 無爽, 無好勢, 艱苦
	Quanzhou	破病, 毋好, 著病, 致病, 艱苦
	Jinjiang	破病
	Yongchun	破病
	Zhangzhou	破病, 著病, 致病, 毋愛, 𣍐乖 of a child
	Taipei	破病
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	破病
	Kaohsiung	破病, 艱苦
	Yilan	破病, 艱苦
	Changhua (Lukang)	破病
	Taichung	破病, 艱苦
	Taichung (Wuqi)	破病
	Tainan	破病, 艱苦
	Taitung	破病
	Hsinchu	破病
	Kinmen	破病
	Penghu (Magong)	破病
	Penang (Hokkien)	破病
	Singapore (Hokkien)	破病
	Manila (Hokkien)	毋好, 破病
	Pingnan (Shangdu)	病
	Chaozhou	生病, 唔好, 無若好
	Shantou	破相, 儂孬
	Shantou (Chenghai)	破相, 儂孬
	Jieyang	著病, 破病, 生毛
	Bangkok (Teochew)	唔寬活, 儂孬
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	破病
	Singapore (Teochew)	破病
	Leizhou	惡抵
	Wenchang	惡耐, 生病
	Haikou	病, 病痛, 惡抵, 惡耐
	Qionghai	病, 惡耐
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	唔精神
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	病
Northern Pinghua	Guilin (Dahe)	病
Wu	Shanghai	生病, 生毛病, 有毛病, 勿適意, 勿舒服
	Shanghai (Xinzhuang, Minhang)	吃勿住, 上勿上
	Shanghai (Songjiang)	難過, 勿舒齊, 勿受用
	Shanghai (Fengxian)	難過
	Shanghai (Jiading)	勿受用
	Shanghai (Yuepu, Baoshan)	難過
	Shanghai (Chongming)	無得力氣
	Suzhou	生病, 生毛病, 勿適意, 勿鬆 suburbs
	Wuxi	生病
	Danyang	生病, 害病, 弗好過, 無本事
	Hangzhou	生毛病, 不舒服
	Wenzhou	生病, 病, 否好過
	Jinhua	生病, 弗好過
Xiang	Changsha	得病, 病, 不好過
	Loudi	病
	Shuangfeng	病, 不好過
	Quanzhou	生病

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (艱苦):

→ Vietnamese: gian khổ (艱苦)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
艱	苦

Adjective

艱苦

chữ Hán form of gian khổ (“hard; difficult; arduous”)