清音

Chinese

		clear; distinct; complete clear; distinct; complete; pure	sound; noise; news
trad. (清音)		清	音
simp. #(清音)		清	音

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qīngyīn

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧㄥ ㄧㄣ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cing¹ jam¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qīngyīn
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄥ ㄧㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cingyin
    • Wade–Giles: chʻing¹-yin¹
    • Yale: chīng-yīn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chingin
    • Palladius: цинъинь (cinʺinʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰiŋ⁵⁵ in⁵⁵/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 清音 輕音／轻音

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: cing¹ jam¹
    • Yale: chīng yām
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsing¹ jam¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: qing¹ yem¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɪŋ⁵⁵ jɐm⁵⁵/

Noun

清音

1. (phonetics) voiceless sound
2. clear tone, crystalline sound

Antonyms

• 濁音／浊音 (zhuóyīn)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
清	音
せい Grade: 4	おん Grade: 1
kan’on	goon

Alternative spelling
淸音 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Literary Chinese 清音 (qīngyīn, literally “clear sound”)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) せ​ーおん [séꜜèòǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• (Tokyo) せーおん [sèéóń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [se̞ːõ̞ɴ]

Noun

清(せい)音(おん) • (seion) 

1. (traditional Chinese phonology) a voiceless and unaspirated onset obstruent, including the glottal stop
2. (traditional Japanese phonology) any mora listed on the 五十音図 (gojūonzu, literally “chart of the fifty sounds”), without a voiced onset obstruent or /p/

   Hyponyms: 子音, 母音, 半母音

   • 1897 March, “〇濁音 [〇Muddy Sounds]”, in 日本文典 [A Japanese Grammar], 中等學科敎授法硏究會:

     五十音中、加・佐・多・波の四行に、濁れる音あり。淸音文字の肩に、゛點を附して、その標とせり。

     Gojūonchū, ka sa ta ha no shigyō ni, nigoreru on ari. Seion moji no kata ni, ゛ ten o fushite, sono shirushi to seri.

     Among the fifty sounds, those of the ka, sa, ta and ha-rows can be muddied up. They are written by attaching the dots ゛ on the shoulders of the letters for the clear sounds.

   • 1897 March, “〇半濁音 [〇Semi-Muddy Sounds]”, in 日本文典 [A Japanese Grammar], 中等學科敎授法硏究會:

     五十音中、波行に、半濁の音あり。淸音文字の肩に゜點を附して、その標とせり。

     Gojūonchū, hagyō ni, handaku no on ari. Seion moji no kata ni, ゜ ten o fushite, sono shirushi to seri.

     Among the fifty sounds, those of the ha-row can be partially muddied up. They are written by attaching the dot ゜ on the shoulders of the letters for the clear sounds.

   • 1902, Hirano, Hidekichi, “第十九章　　淸音濁音半濁音 [Chapter 19: Clear Sounds, Muddy Sounds and Semi-Muddy Sounds]”, in 國語聲音學 [The Phonetics of the National Language], 國光社, page 152:

     濁音がある故に、之に對して淸音をも作らねばならず、半濁音（次淸音）と云ふものもあることになる。
     ぱ　ぴ　ぷ　ぺ　ぽ
     の一行五音の半濁音（一名次淸音）として、アカサタナハマヤラワ十行五十音が淸音と云はれて居る。

     Dakuon ga aru yue ni, kore ni taishite seion o mo tsukarane ba narazu, handakuon (jiseion) to iu mono mo aru koto ni naru.
     pa pi pu pe po
     no ichigyō goon no handakuon (ichimei jiseion) to shite, a ka sa ta na ha ma ya ra wa jūgyō gojūon ga seion to iwarete iru.

     Since there are muddy sounds, it follows that there must also be the opposite, ‘clear sounds’, and additionally what are known as ‘semi-muddy sounds’ (‘quasi-clear sounds’). These five sounds, arranged in one row, are known as ‘semi-muddy sounds’ (i.e. ‘quasi-clear sounds’):
     pa pi pu pe po
     Then, the fifty sounds arranged in ten rows, a, ka, sa, ta, na, ha, ma, ya, ra and wa, are called ‘clear sounds’.

Table of unvoiced hiragana

あ	い	う	え	お
あ	い	う	え	お
か	き	く	け	こ
さ	し	す	せ	そ
た	ち	つ	て	と
な	に	ぬ	ね	の
は	ひ	ふ	へ	ほ
ま	み	む	め	も
や		ゆ		よ
ら	り	る	れ	ろ
わ	ゐ		ゑ	を

Usage notes

• 清音 (seion) include the five 母音 (boon) of the あ行 (agyō, “a-row”) and the forty-three 子音 (shion) of the other rows, but not 濁音 (dakuon) or 半濁音 (handakuon).
• 熟音 (jukuon) include the forty-three 子音 (shion), 濁音 (dakuon) and 半濁音 (handakuon), but not 母音 (boon).

See also

• 濁(だく)音(おん) (dakuon)
• 半(はん)濁(だく)音(おん) (handakuon)