首先

Chinese

		head; chief; first (occasion) head; chief; first (occasion); first (thing); measure word for poems	early; prior; former early; prior; former; in advance; first
simp. and trad. (首先)		首	先

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): shǒuxiān

(Zhuyin): ㄕㄡˇ ㄒㄧㄢ
Cantonese (Jyutping): sau² sin¹
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): sú-siên

(Hailu, HRS): shiu^ˊ sien^ˋ
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): siu³ seng¹
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): siú-sian

(Teochew, Peng'im): siu² soin¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shǒuxiān
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄡˇ ㄒㄧㄢ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shǒusian
  - Wade–Giles: shou³-hsien¹
  - Yale: shǒu-syān
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shooushian
  - Palladius: шоусянь (šousjanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: sau² sin¹
  - Yale: sáu sīn
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sau² sin¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: seo² xin¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐu̯³⁵ siːn⁵⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sú-siên
  - Hakka Romanization System: su^ˋ xien^ˊ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: su³ xian¹
  - Sinological IPA: /su³¹ si̯en²⁴/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
  - Hakka Romanization System: shiu^ˊ sien^ˋ
  - Sinological IPA: /ʃiu²⁴⁻³³ sien⁵³/
Puxian Min
- (Putian)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: siu³ seng¹ [Phonetic: siu⁵ seng¹]
  - Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: siû-seng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬiu⁴⁵³⁻¹¹ ɬɛŋ⁵³³/
- (Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: siu³ seng¹ [Phonetic: siu⁵ seng¹]
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬiu³³²⁻²¹ ɬɛŋ⁵⁴⁴/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siú-sian
  - Tâi-lô: siú-sian
  - Phofsit Daibuun: siwsiefn
  - IPA (Xiamen): /siu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siɛn⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /siu⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ siɛn³³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /siu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siɛn⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Taipei): /siu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siɛn⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /siu⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ siɛn⁴⁴/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: siu² soin¹
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: siú soiⁿ
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /siu⁵²⁻³⁵ sõĩ³³/

Adverb

首先

first of all; first; firstly
首先看到的是泰晤士河的出海口。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]
Shǒuxiān kàndào de shì Tàiwùshì Hé de chūhǎikǒu. [Pinyin]
The first thing (I/we) saw was the estuary of Thames.
primarily

Synonyms

(Xiang) 先不先 (xiānbùxiān)