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Definition 2025
蝴蝶
蝴蝶
Chinese
| butterfly | butterfly | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
simp. and trad. (蝴蝶) |
蝴 | 蝶 | |
| alt. forms |
胡蝶 obsolete 蝴蜨 |
||
Outside Sino-Tibetan, compare Middle Korean
- 나븨 (napuy, “butterfly”, modern 나비 (nabi))
- 닢 (nip, “leaf”, modern 잎 (ip))
- 넙치 (neopchi, “flatfish”),
similarly derived from a similar-shaped adjective root 넙다 (nep-, “to be wide, flat”, modern 넓다 (neol(p)-)).
Noun
蝴蝶
Synonyms
| Dialectal synonyms of 蝴蝶 (“butterfly”) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Variety | Location | Words |
| Classical Chinese | 蝴蝶 | |
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 蝴蝶 | |
| Mandarin | Beijing | 蝴蝶兒 |
| Taiwan | 蝴蝶 | |
| Jinan | 蝴蝶 | |
| Xi'an | 蝴蝶兒、蟬兒 | |
| Wuhan | 蝴蝶 | |
| Chengdu | 蝴蝶、飛蛾兒 | |
| Yangzhou | 蝴蝶子、蝴葉蝶子 | |
| Hefei | 蝴蝶 | |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | 蝴蝶、崩沙 |
| Hong Kong | 蝴蝶 | |
| Yangjiang | 蝴蝶、崩沙 | |
| Gan | Nanchang | 蝴蝶 |
| Hakka | Meixian | 蝴蝶、揚蝶仔 |
| Miaoli (N. Sixian) | 揚蝶仔 | |
| Liudui (S. Sixian) | 揚蝶仔 | |
| Hsinchu (Hailu) | 蝶仔 | |
| Dongshi (Dabu) | 蝶 | |
| Zhuolan (Raoping) | 蝶仔 | |
| Yunlin (Zhao'an) | 蝶、蝴蝶 | |
| Jin | Taiyuan | 蝴蝶、蝴蝶兒 |
| Min Bei | Jian'ou | 蝴蝶 |
| Min Dong | Fuzhou | 蝴蝶 |
| Min Nan | Quanzhou | 尾蝶、蝴蝶、蝶仔 |
| Xiamen | 尾蝶、蝴蝶、蝶仔 | |
| Zhangzhou | 尾蝶、蝴蝶、蝶仔 | |
| Taipei | 蝶仔、蝴蝶 | |
| Kaohsiung | 蝶仔、蝴蝶 | |
| Tainan | 尾蝶仔 | |
| Taichung | 蝶仔 | |
| Yilan | 蝶仔、蝴蝶 | |
| Lukang | 蝶仔 | |
| Sanxia | 蝶仔 | |
| Kinmen | 尾蝶 | |
| Magong | 蝶婆 | |
| Hsinchu | 蝶仔、蝴蝶 | |
| Malaysia | 尾蝶 | |
| Chaozhou | 尾蝶 | |
| Wu | Suzhou | 蝴蝶 |
| Wenzhou | 蝴蝶 | |
| Xiang | Changsha | 蝴蝶、蝴蝶子 |
| Shuangfeng | 飛摸子、蝴蝶子 | |
See also
Etymology
From Middle Chinese *ɣo dep (first syllable unstressed), from Old Chinese *ɡa-lep, derived from a proto-form of *kʰleːp ~ *ɦleːp, a prefixed form of the root *lep ("wide, flat", represented by the phonetic element 枼 (OC *leb)).
Variants: 蝶 (OC *l̥ʰeːb, *l'eːb), 蛺蝶 (OC *kep l’ep), 蛺蜨 (OC *kep sep), representing different developments from the proto-form, including disyllabification, fricativisation of the voiceless initial, etc.
Cognates from the same word family:
- 葉 (OC *hljeb, *leb, “leaf”)
- 鰈 (OC *l̥ʰaːb, *l'eːb, “flatfish, plaice”)
- 楪 (OC *leb) > 碟 (OC *l'eːb, “plate”)
- 牒 (OC *l'eːb, “official document < plank”).
This word in Chinese descends from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *lep (“butterfly”), also the source of
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- Cantonese (Jyutping): wu4 dip6, wu4 dip6-2
- Gan (Wiktionary): fu4 tiet
- Jin (Wiktionary): hu1 dieh5
- Min Dong (BUC): hù-diĕk
- Min Nan (POJ): ô͘-tia̍p / hô͘-tia̍p
- Wu (Wiktionary): hhu diq (T3)
- Xiang (Wiktionary): fu2 tie6
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, Beijing)+
- Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄏㄨˊ ㄉㄧㄝˊ
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: hwudye
- IPA (key): /xu³⁵ ti̯ɛ³⁵/
-
- (Standard Chinese, Beijing, erhua-ed)+
- Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄏㄨˊ ㄉㄧㄝˊㄦ
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: hwudyel
- IPA (key): /xu³⁵ tjɛɻ³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese, Beijing)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)+
- Jyutping: wu4 dip6, wu4 dip6-2
- Yale: wùh dihp, wùh díp
- Cantonese Pinyin: wu4 dip9, wu4 dip9-2
- IPA (key): /wuː²¹ tiːp̚²/, /wuː²¹ tiːp̚²⁻³⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)+
- Gan
- Jin
- Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
- Bàng-uâ-cê: hù-diĕk
- IPA (key): /hu⁵³⁻⁵⁵ (t-)lieʔ⁵⁵/
- (Fuzhou)
- Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Yilan, Hsinchu)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ô͘-tia̍p
- Tâi-lô: ôo-tia̍p
- Phofsit Daibuun: o'diap
- IPA (Xiamen): /ɔ²⁴⁻²² tiap̚⁴/
- IPA (Quanzhou): /ɔ²⁴⁻²² tiap̚²⁴/
- IPA (Zhangzhou): /ɔ¹³⁻²² tiap̚¹²¹/
- IPA (Taipei): /ɔ²⁴⁻¹¹ tiap̚⁴/
- IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɔ²³⁻³³ tiap̚⁴/
- (Hokkien: variant in Taiwan)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hô͘-tia̍p
- Tâi-lô: hôo-tia̍p
- Phofsit Daibuun: ho'diap
- IPA (Taipei): /hɔ²⁴⁻¹¹ tiap̚⁴/
- IPA (Kaohsiung): /hɔ²³⁻³³ tiap̚⁴/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Yilan, Hsinchu)
- Wu
- (Shanghainese)
- Wiktionary: hhu diq (T3)
- IPA (key): /ɦv̩ʷ²² d̻i̯ɪʔ⁴⁴/
- (Shanghainese)
- Xiang
| Rime | ||
|---|---|---|
| Character | 蝴 | 蝶 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 2/2 |
| Initial (聲) | 匣 (33) | 定 (7) |
| Final (韻) | 模 (23) | 怗 (158) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) | Checked (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | I | IV |
| Fanqie | 戸吳切 | 徒協切 |
| Reconstructions | ||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang |
/ɦuo/ | /dep̚/ |
| Pan Wuyun |
/ɦuo/ | /dep̚/ |
| Shao Rongfen |
/ɣo/ | /dɛp̚/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank |
/ɦɔ/ | /dɛp̚/ |
| Li Rong |
/ɣo/ | /dep̚/ |
| Wang Li |
/ɣu/ | /diep̚/ |
| Bernard Karlgren |
/ɣuo/ | /dʱiep̚/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex |
hú | dié |
| Zhengzhang system (2003) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Character | 蝴 | 蝶 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 2/2 |
| No. | 4254 | 11580 |
| Phonetic component |
古 | 世 |
| Rime group |
魚 | 盍 |
| Rime subdivision |
0 | 2 |
| Corresponding MC rime |
胡 | 牒 |
| Old Chinese |
/*ɡaː/ | /*l'eːb/ |
| Notes | 胡後起分化字 | 見漢詩 |