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先生

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Chinese

[edit]
early; prior; former
early; prior; former; in advance; first
 
to be born; to give birth; life
to be born; to give birth; life; to grow; student; raw
 
simp. and trad.
(先生)
先 生
Literally: “one who was born earlier”.
Wikipedia has articles on:

Etymology

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Attested in 詩經・大雅・生民之什・生民.

Pronunciation

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Note: When following a surname, it is read in the neutral tone.
    • (Teochew)
      • Peng'im: sing1 sên1 / sêng1 sên1
      • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: sing seⁿ / seng seⁿ
      • Sinological IPA (key): /siŋ³³⁻²³ sẽ³³/, /seŋ³³⁻²³ sẽ³³/
Note: sêng1 sên1 - Jieyang.

Rime
Character 先 生
Reading # 1/2 1/2
Initial (聲) 心 (16) 生 (21)
Final (韻) 先 (85) 庚 (109)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division (等) IV II
Fanqie 蘇前切 所庚切
Baxter sen sraeng
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/sen/ /ʃˠæŋ/
Pan
Wuyun
/sen/ /ʃᵚaŋ/
Shao
Rongfen
/sɛn/ /ʃaŋ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/sɛn/ /ʂaɨjŋ/
Li
Rong
/sen/ /ʃɐŋ/
Wang
Li
/sien/ /ʃɐŋ/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/sien/ /ʂɐŋ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
xiān shēng
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
sin1 sang1
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 先 生 生
Reading # 1/2 1/3 3/3
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
xiān shēng shēng
Middle
Chinese
‹ sen › ‹ sræng › ‹ srjæng ›
Old
Chinese
/*sˁər/ /*sreŋ/ (MC srj- > sr-; or *s.reŋ ?) /*sreŋ/ (or *s.reŋ ?)
English first bear, be born; live bear, be born; live

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 先 生
Reading # 1/2 1/2
No. 13458 11312
Phonetic
component
先 生
Rime
group
文 耕
Rime
subdivision
1 0
Corresponding
MC rime
先 生
Old
Chinese
/*sɯːn/ /*sʰleːŋ/

Noun

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先生

  1. mister; sir; gentleman
    王先生來了。/王先生来了。 [Taiwanese Mandarin]  ―  Wáng xiānshēng lái le. [Pinyin]  ―  Mr. Wang has come.
    王先生來矣。 [Hokkien, trad.]
    王先生来矣。 [Hokkien, simp.]
    Ông--sian-seⁿ lâi--ah. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
    Mr. Ong has come.
    陳先生被原單位派遣到連鎖公司工作。 [MSC, trad.]
    陈先生被原单位派遣到连锁公司工作。 [MSC, simp.]
    Chén xiānsheng bèi yuándānwèi pàiqiǎn dào liánsuǒ gōngsī gōngzuò. [Pinyin]
    Mr. Chen was sent by his former organization to work at a chain company.
  2. husband
    你先生在家嗎?/你先生在家吗?  ―  Nǐ xiānsheng zài jiā ma?  ―  Is your husband at home?
  3. An honorific for a person of virtue, learning, or ability (usually conferred on males).
    孫中山先生/孙中山先生  ―  Sūn zhōng shān xiānshēng  ―  Mr. Sun Yat-sen
    宋慶齡先生/宋庆龄先生  ―  Sòng qìng líng xiānshēng  ―  Madame Soong Ching-ling
  4. (honorific in Mandarin, Jin; common in Cantonese, Gan, Hakka, Min) teacher
    先生講,學生恬恬聽。 [Hokkien, trad.]
    先生讲,学生恬恬听。 [Hokkien, simp.]
    Sian-siⁿ kóng, ha̍k-seng tiām-tiām thiaⁿ. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
    The teacher speaks, and the students silently listen.
  5. (dated) Usually placed after a profession of fortune-telling, storytelling, face reading, feng shui, or something similar.
    算命先生  ―  suànmìngxiānsheng  ―  fortune-teller
  6. (dated) bookkeeper
    賬房先生/账房先生  ―  zhàngfángxiānsheng  ―  bookkeeper
    他想在商號當先生 [MSC, trad.]
    他想在商号当先生 [MSC, simp.]
    tā xiǎng zài shānghào dāng xiānsheng [Pinyin]
    He wants to be a bookkeeper in the shop.
  7. (Gan, Hakka, Min, dated in Mandarin and Jin) doctor
    1. (dialectal) traditional Chinese medicine physician
  8. (literary) scholar; intellectual; man of letters
  9. (literary) Taoist priest
  10. (literary) senior family member, especially one's father or elder brother
  11. (obsolete or Wu) female prostitute
  12. (literal, Classical) one who was born earlier

Usage notes

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Some females are also referred with the term 先生, however, this term is reserved for senior and highly respected ones, and almost for specific persons only, e.g. Soong Ching-ling, He Xiangning and Yang Jiang. For most instances 女士 (nǚshì, “Ms.”) is used. Whether this term can be used for females is still a topic being debated. Some feminists criticize such sense to be sexist[1].

Synonyms

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  • (husband):
  • (teacher):
  • (doctor):
  • (scholar):
  • (Taoist priest):
  • (female prostitute):

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Sino-Xenic (先生):

Others:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 狄雨霏 (29 August 2013), “該不該尊稱女性為「先生」?”, in New York Times‎[1]

Japanese

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Etymology 1

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Kanji in this term
先 生
せん
Grade: 1
せい
Grade: 1
kan'on
Alternative spellings
せんせー
センセー

From Middle Chinese 先生 (MC sen sraeng, literally “born earlier”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [sẽ̞ɰ̃se̞ː]
  • Audio:(file)
  • (Tokyo) せんせー [sèńséꜜè] (Nakadaka – [3])[1]

Noun

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先(せん)生(せい) • (sensei) 

  1. an elder
  2. a scholar
  3. a teacher or a professor
    • 1984 February 20 [1983 June 15], Motoka Murakami, “多(た)感(かん)な季(と)節(き)の巻(まき) [A Season Full of Emotions]”, in 六(ム)三(サ)四(シ)の剣(けん) [Musashi’s Sword], 4th edition, volume 10 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, pages 161–162:
      学(がっ)校(こう)のみんなも先(せん)生(せい)のことさ好(す)いてる……母(か)っちゃすきか⁉
      Gakkō no minna mo Sensei no koto sa suiteru…… Katcha suki ka⁉
      Everybody at school likes Sensei…… Ya like him, Ma⁉
      もちろん好(す)きよ‼ほんとにいい先(せん)生(せい)ですもの…
      Mochiron suki yo‼ Honto ni ii sensei desu mono…
      Of course‼ He’s a very good teacher…
      オラもすきだあ。んでも、先(せん)生(せい)は先(せん)生(せい)だあ…オラの父(と)っちゃにはなれねえ!
      Ora mo suki dā. N demo, Sensei wa Sensei dā… Ora no totcha ni wa narenē!
      Ah like him, too. But Sensei’s only Sensei… He could never be mah pa!
      え…⁉それ…ひょっとして、私(わたくし)と八(や)重(え)樫(がし)先(せん)生(せい)が結(けっ)婚(こん)するってこと……⁉
      E…⁉ Sore… hyotto shite, watakushi to Yaegashi Sensei ga kekkon suru tte koto……⁉
      What…⁉ Wait… You think I’m gonna marry Yaegashi-sensei……⁉
  4. sensei (Japanese martial arts teacher)
  5. sir, a polite form of address to teachers, doctors, etc.
Usage notes
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  • This is a term of respect, reserved only for speaking about others, and considered somewhat impolite (immodest) to use when referring to oneself. Instead, the term 教師 (kyōshi, “teacher”, literally “teaching + teacher”) is considered more socially appropriate when referring to oneself.
  • May be written in katakana to impart an informal tone, as センセー (sensē).
Derived terms
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Descendants
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Suffix

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先(せん)生(せい) • (-sensei) 

  1. a title used after the name of teachers, doctors, lawyers, or certain other professionals

See also

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Etymology 2

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Kanji in this term
先 生
しぇん
Grade: 1
しぇい
Grade: 1
irregular

Noun

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先(しぇん)生(しぇい) • (shenshei) 

  1. (Hakata) teacher, professor

References

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  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

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Hanja in this term
先生

Noun

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先生 • (seonsaeng) (hangeul 선생)

  1. hanja form? of 선생 (“teacher”)

Okinawan

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Kanji in this term
先 生
しん
Grade: 1
しー
Grade: 1
on'yomi

Etymology

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From Middle Chinese 先生 (MC sen|senH sraeng|sraengH). Cognate with Japanese 先生 (sensei), Korean 선생 (seonsaeng), Jeju 선싕 (seonsuing).

Noun

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先(しん)生(しー) (shinshī) 

  1. teacher

Vietnamese

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chữ Hán Nôm in this term
先生

Noun

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先生

  1. chữ Hán form of tiên sinh (“(Chinese fiction) you, a senior or knowledgeable person”)