染指

Chinese

		to catch (a disease); dye	finger; to point; to direct finger; to point; to direct; to indicate
trad. (染指)		染	指
simp. #(染指)		染	指

Etymology

楚人獻黿於鄭靈公。公子宋與子家將見，子公之食指動，以示子家，曰：‘他日我如此，必嘗異味。’……及食大夫黿，召子公而弗與也。子公怒，染指於鼎，嘗之而出。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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楚人献鼋于郑灵公。公子宋与子家将见，子公之食指动，以示子家，曰：‘他日我如此，必尝异味。’……及食大夫鼋，召子公而弗与也。子公怒，染指于鼎，尝之而出。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

Chǔ rén xiàn yuán yú Zhènglínggōng. Gōngzǐ Sòng yǔ Zǐjiā jiāng jiàn, Zǐgōng zhī shízhǐ dòng, yǐ shì Zǐjiā, yuē: ‘Tārì wǒ rúcǐ, bì cháng yìwèi.’...... Jí shí dàfū yuán, zhào Zǐgōng ér fú yǔ yě. Zǐgōng nù, rǎn zhǐ yúdǐng, cháng zhī ér chū. [Pinyin]

People from Chu presented a large turtle to Lord Ling of Zheng. Gongzi Song and Gongzi Guisheng were about to have an audience with the lord. Gongzi Song’s index finger moved involuntarily. He showed it to Gongzi Guisheng and said, “On other days when my finger did this, I always without fail got to taste something extraordinary.” ......When the lord had the high officers partake of the turtle, he called Gongzi Song forward but did not give him any. Furious, Gongzi Song dipped his finger into the cauldron, tasted the turtle, and left.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): rǎnzhǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄖㄢˇ ㄓˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jim⁵ zi²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): jiám-cháiⁿ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: rǎnzhǐ [Phonetic: ránzhǐ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄖㄢˇ ㄓˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: rǎnjhǐh
    • Wade–Giles: jan³-chih³
    • Yale: rǎn-jř
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: raanjyy
    • Palladius: жаньчжи (žanʹčži)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐän²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jim⁵ zi²
    • Yale: yíhm jí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jim⁵ dzi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: yim⁵ ji²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiːm¹³ t͡siː³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: jiám-cháiⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: jiám-tsáinn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: jiafmzvae
    • IPA (Xiamen): /d͡ziam⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sãi⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /d͡ziam⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ t͡sãi⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /d͡ziam⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sãi⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /d͡ziam⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sãi⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ziam⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ t͡sãi⁴¹/

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• Middle Chinese: nyemX|nyemH tsyijX

Rime
Character	染	染	指
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	日 (38)	日 (38)	章 (23)
Final (韻)	鹽 (153)	鹽 (153)	脂 (17)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Departing (H)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III	III
Fanqie	而琰切	而豔切	職雉切
Baxter	nyemX	nyemH	tsyijX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ȵiᴇmX/	/ȵiᴇmH/	/t͡ɕˠiɪX/
Pan Wuyun	/ȵiɛmX/	/ȵiɛmH/	/t͡ɕᵚiX/
Shao Rongfen	/ȵʑjæmX/	/ȵʑjæmH/	/t͡ɕiɪX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ȵiamX/	/ȵiamH/	/cjiX/
Li Rong	/ȵiɛmX/	/ȵiɛmH/	/t͡ɕjiX/
Wang Li	/ȵʑĭɛmX/	/ȵʑĭɛmH/	/t͡ɕiX/
Bernard Karlgren	/ȵʑi̯ɛmX/	/ȵʑi̯ɛmH/	/t͡ɕiX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	rǎn	ràn	zhǐ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jim5	jim6	zi2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*C.n[a]mʔ  mə.kijʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*njomʔ|njoms  kjiʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	染	指
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	rǎn	zhǐ
Middle Chinese	‹ nyemX ›	‹ tsyijX ›
Old Chinese	/*C.n[a]mʔ/	/*mə.kijʔ/
English	to dye	finger; point
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	染	染	指
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1
No.	10790	10791	17325
Phonetic component	染	染	旨
Rime group	談	談	脂
Rime subdivision	3	3	2
Corresponding MC rime	冉	染	旨
Old Chinese	/*njomʔ/	/*njoms/	/*kjiʔ/

Verb

染指

1. (literally) to dip a finger
2. to encroach on; to have a hand in
3. to meddle in; to interfere in