不可知

Chinese

		not; no	to be able to be known; to be able to deduce that; to be knowable
simp. and trad. (不可知)		不	可知

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bùkězhī

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄎㄜˇ ㄓ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ ho² zi¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùkězhī
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄎㄜˇ ㄓ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùkějhih
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-kʻo³-chih¹
    • Yale: bù-kě-jr̄
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bukeejy
    • Palladius: букэчжи (bukɛčži)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ ho² zi¹
    • Yale: bāt hó jī
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ ho² dzi¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ ho² ji¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ hɔː³⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: pjuw|pjuwX|pjut khaX trje

Rime
Character	不	不	不	可	知
Reading #	1/3	2/3	3/3	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	幫 (1)	幫 (1)	幫 (1)	溪 (29)	知 (9)
Final (韻)	尤 (136)	尤 (136)	文 (60)	歌 (94)	支 (11)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)	Checked (Ø)	Rising (X)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Closed	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III	III	I	III
Fanqie	甫鳩切	方久切	分勿切	枯我切	陟移切
Baxter	pjuw	pjuwX	pjut	khaX	trje
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/pɨu/	/pɨuX/	/pɨut̚/	/kʰɑX/	/ʈiᴇ/
Pan Wuyun	/piu/	/piuX/	/piut̚/	/kʰɑX/	/ʈiɛ/
Shao Rongfen	/piəu/	/piəuX/	/piuət̚/	/kʰɑX/	/ȶjɛ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/puw/	/puwX/	/put̚/	/kʰaX/	/ʈiə̆/
Li Rong	/piu/	/piuX/	/piuət̚/	/kʰɑX/	/ȶie/
Wang Li	/pĭəu/	/pĭəuX/	/pĭuət̚/	/kʰɑX/	/ȶǐe/
Bernard Karlgren	/pi̯ə̯u/	/pi̯ə̯uX/	/pi̯uət̚/	/kʰɑX/	/ȶie̯/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	fōu	fǒu	fu	kě	zhī
Expected Cantonese Reflex	fau1	fau2	fat1	ho2	zi1

Adjective

不可知

1. unknowable; inscrutable; inconceivable

   • 惟麟也不可知。不可知，則其謂之不祥也亦宜。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     惟麟也不可知。不可知，则其谓之不祥也亦宜。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: c. 812, Han Yu (韓愈), On the Appearance of the Lin (《獲麟解》)

     Wéi lín yě bùkězhī. Bùkězhī, zé qí wèi zhī bùxiáng yě yì yí. [Pinyin]

     As for the lin, there is nothing by which one may know its identity. Being unknowable, the lin may be properly said to be a creature of ill fortune.

2. agnostic

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “unknowable”): 可知 (kězhī)

Derived terms

• 不可知論／不可知论 (bùkězhīlùn)

 

Japanese

Kanji in this term
不	可	知
ふ Grade: 4	か Grade: 5	ち Grade: 2
on’yomi

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ふか​ち [fùkáꜜchì] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [ɸɯ̟ᵝka̠t͡ɕi]

Noun

不(ふ)可(か)知(ち) • (fukachi) 

1. unknowable