鮮卑

See also: 鲜卑

Chinese

		phonetic
trad. (鮮卑)		鮮	卑
simp. (鲜卑)		鲜	卑

Etymology

"Xianbei"

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Paul Pelliot (1928:141, 142) suggested this was borrowed from Xianbei *serbi ~ *särbi.^[1]

"belt hook": Thought to be related to the Xianbei sense. Compare similar forms such as 犀比, 犀毗, 師比／师比 (shīpí), 胥紕／胥纰.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): Xiānbēi

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄢㄅㄟ
Cantonese (Jyutping): sin¹ bei¹
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): Siên-pî
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): Sian-pi

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: Xiānbēi
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄢㄅㄟ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: Sianbei
  - Wade–Giles: Hsien¹-pei¹
  - Yale: Syān-bēi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Shianbei
  - Palladius: Сяньбэй (Sjanʹbɛj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵ peɪ̯⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: sin¹ bei¹
  - Yale: sīn bēi
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sin¹ bei¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: xin¹ béi¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːn⁵⁵ pei̯⁵⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Siên-pî
  - Hakka Romanization System: xien^ˊ bi^ˊ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: xian¹ bi¹
  - Sinological IPA: /si̯en²⁴⁻¹¹ pi²⁴/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sian-pi
  - Tâi-lô: Sian-pi
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sienpy
  - IPA (Xiamen): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻²² pi⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /siɛn³³ pi³³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻²² pi⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Taipei): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ pi⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ pi⁴⁴/

Middle Chinese: sjen pjie

Rime
Character	鮮	卑
Reading #	1/3	1/1
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	幫 (1)
Final (韻)	仙 (77)	支 (11)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	相然切	府移切
Baxter	sjen	pjie
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/siᴇn/	/piᴇ/
Pan Wuyun	/siɛn/	/piɛ/
Shao Rongfen	/sjæn/	/pjɛ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/sian/	/piə̆/
Li Rong	/siɛn/	/pie/
Wang Li	/sĭɛn/	/pǐe/
Bernhard Karlgren	/si̯ɛn/	/pie̯/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xiān	bī
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sin¹	bei¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*s[a]r pe/

(Zhengzhang): /*sen pe/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	鮮	卑
Reading #	2/3	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xiān	bēi
Middle Chinese	‹ sjen ›	‹ pjie ›
Old Chinese	/*s[a]r/	/*pe/
English	鮮卑 *s[a]r.pe Xiānbēi	鮮卑 *s[a]r.pe Xiānbēi
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	鮮	卑
Reading #	1/3	1/1
No.	13490	368
Phonetic component	鮮	卑
Rime group	元	支
Rime subdivision	2	0
Corresponding MC rime	仙	卑
Old Chinese	/*sen/	/*pe/
Notes	說文羴省聲

Proper noun

鮮卑

(historical) Xianbei (group of northern nomadic peoples)
- 烏丸、鮮卑即古所謂東胡也。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
  乌丸、鲜卑即古所谓东胡也。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
  From: Chen Shou, Records of the Three Kingdoms, circa 3^rd century CE
  Wūwán, Xiānbēi jí gǔ suǒwèi Dōnghú yě. [Pinyin]
  The Wuhuan and Xianbei are the so-called Eastern Hu of yore.
a surname

Synonyms

白賊／白贼 (báizéi) (offensive, derogatory)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (鮮卑):

→ Japanese: 鮮(せん)卑(ぴ) (senpi)
→ Korean: 선비(鮮卑) (seonbi)
→ Vietnamese: Tiên Ti (鮮卑)

Others:

→ English: Xianbei
→ French: Xianbei
→ German: Xianbei
→ Portuguese: xianbei
→ Russian: сяньби́ (sjanʹbí), сяньбэ́й (sjanʹbɛ́j)
→ Spanish: xianbei
→ Ukrainian: сяньбі́ (sjanʹbí)

Noun

鮮卑

(obsolete) belt hook of northern non-Chinese peoples
- 小腰秀頸，若鮮卑只。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
  小腰秀颈，若鲜卑只。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
  From: The Verses of Chu, 4^th century BCE – 2^nd century CE
  Xiǎo yāo xiù jǐng, ruò xiānbēi zhǐ. [Pinyin]
  (please add an English translation of this usage example)

References

^ Pelliot, Paul (1928) “L’édition collective des œuvres de Wang Kouo-wei”, in T’oung Pao‎^[1], volume 26, number 2/3, pages 113-182

Japanese

Kanji in this term
鮮	卑
せん Grade: S	ひ > ぴ Grade: S
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
(kyūjitai)

Proper noun

鮮(せん)卑(ぴ) • (Senpi)

Xianbei (group of northern nomadic peoples)

Korean

Hanja in this term
鮮	卑

Proper noun

鮮卑 • (Seonbi) (hangeul 선비)

hanja form^? of 선비 (“Xianbei (group of northern nomadic peoples)”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
鮮	卑

Proper noun

鮮卑

chữ Hán form of Tiên Ti (“Xianbei (group of northern nomadic peoples)”)