朽木

Chinese

		rotten	tree; wood
simp. and trad. (朽木)		朽	木

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiǔmù

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄡˇ ㄇㄨˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): nau² muk⁶
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): hiú-bo̍k

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiǔmù
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄡˇ ㄇㄨˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siǒumù
    • Wade–Giles: hsiu³-mu⁴
    • Yale: syǒu-mù
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheoumuh
    • Palladius: сюму (sjumu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ mu⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: nau² muk⁶
    • Yale: náu muhk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: nau² muk⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: neo² mug⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /nɐu̯³⁵ mʊk̚²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hiú-bo̍k
    • Tâi-lô: hiú-bo̍k
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hiw'bok
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /hiu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ bɔk̚¹²¹/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /hiu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ bɔk̚⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /hiu⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ bɔk̚²⁴/

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• Middle Chinese: xjuwX muwk

Rime
Character	朽	木
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	曉 (32)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	尤 (136)	東 (3)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	許久切	莫卜切
Baxter	xjuwX	muwk
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/hɨuX/	/muk̚/
Pan Wuyun	/hiuX/	/muk̚/
Shao Rongfen	/xiəuX/	/muk̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/huwX/	/məwk̚/
Li Rong	/xiuX/	/muk̚/
Wang Li	/xĭəuX/	/muk̚/
Bernard Karlgren	/xi̯ə̯uX/	/muk̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xiǔ	mù
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jau2	muk6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*qʰ(r)uʔ  C.mˤok/

  (Zhengzhang): /*qʰluʔ  moːɡ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	朽	木
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xiǔ	mù
Middle Chinese	‹ xjuwX ›	‹ muwk ›
Old Chinese	/*qʰ(r)uʔ/	/*C.mˁok/
English	rot, decay	tree, wood
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	朽	木
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	7412	9327
Phonetic component	丂	木
Rime group	幽	屋
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	朽	木
Old Chinese	/*qʰluʔ/	/*moːɡ/

Noun

朽木

1. rotten wood

   • 朽木不可雕也，糞土之牆不可杇也！于予與何誅？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     朽木不可雕也，粪土之墙不可杇也！于予与何诛？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Xiǔmù bùkě diāo yě, fèntǔ zhī qiáng bùkě wū yě! Yú Yǔ yǔ hé zhū? [Pinyin]

     Rotten wood cannot be carved; a wall of dirty earth will not receive the trowel. This Yu! - what is the use of my reproving him?

2. (figurative) hopeless case; good-for-nothing

Synonyms

• (rotten wood): (Hokkien) 痡柴, 臭柴, 漚柴／沤柴

Derived terms

• 朽木不可雕 (xiǔmù bùkě diāo)

 

Japanese

Kanji in this term
朽	木
くち Grade: S	き Grade: 1

Proper noun

朽(くち)木(き) • (Kuchiki) 

1. a surname