善男信女

Chinese

		a pious man	female Buddhist devotee
trad. (善男信女)		善男	信女
simp. #(善男信女)		善男	信女
Literally: “virtuous men and faithful women”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shànnán xìnnǚ

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄢˋ ㄋㄢˊ ㄒㄧㄣˋ ㄋㄩˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sin⁶ naam⁴ seon³ neoi^5-2, sin⁶ naam⁴ seon³ neoi⁵
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): siān-lâm-sìn-lú / siān-lâm-sìn-lír / siān-lâm-sìn-lí

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shànnán xìnnǚ
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄢˋ ㄋㄢˊ ㄒㄧㄣˋ ㄋㄩˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shànnán sìnnyǔ
    • Wade–Giles: shan⁴-nan² hsin⁴-nü³
    • Yale: shàn-nán syìn-nyǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shannnan shinnneu
    • Palladius: шаньнань синьнюй (šanʹnanʹ sinʹnjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂän⁵¹ nän³⁵ ɕin⁵¹ ny²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sin⁶ naam⁴ seon³ neoi^5-2, sin⁶ naam⁴ seon³ neoi⁵
    • Yale: sihn nàahm seun néui, sihn nàahm seun néuih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sin⁶ naam⁴ soen³ noey^5-2, sin⁶ naam⁴ soen³ noey⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: xin⁶ nam⁴ sên³ nêu^5-2, xin⁶ nam⁴ sên³ nêu⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːn²² naːm²¹ sɵn³³ nɵy̯¹³⁻³⁵/, /siːn²² naːm²¹ sɵn³³ nɵy̯¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siān-lâm-sìn-lú
    • Tâi-lô: siān-lâm-sìn-lú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: siexnlamsienluo
    • IPA (Taipei): /siɛn³³⁻¹¹ lam²⁴⁻¹¹ sin¹¹⁻⁵³ lu⁵³/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /siɛn²²⁻²¹ lam²⁴⁻²² sin²¹⁻⁵³ lu⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /siɛn³³⁻²¹ lam²³⁻³³ sin²¹⁻⁴¹ lu⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siān-lâm-sìn-lír
    • Tâi-lô: siān-lâm-sìn-lír
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /siɛn⁴¹⁻²² lam²⁴⁻²² sin⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ lɯ⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siān-lâm-sìn-lí
    • Tâi-lô: siān-lâm-sìn-lí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: siexnlamsienlie
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /siɛn²²⁻²¹ lam¹³⁻²² sin²¹⁻⁵³ li⁵³/

Noun

善男信女

1. devotees or followers of Buddhism, later extended to Taoism and other Chinese traditions

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (善男信女):

• → Vietnamese: thiện nam tín nữ (善男信女)

References

• “Entry #8220”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
善	男	信	女

Noun

善男信女

1. chữ Hán form of thiện nam tín nữ (“Buddhists as a whole”).