爪牙

Chinese

		claw	tooth; ivory
trad. (爪牙)		爪	牙
simp. #(爪牙)		爪	牙

Pronunciation

Rime
Character	爪	牙
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	莊 (18)	疑 (31)
Final (韻)	肴 (90)	麻 (98)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	II	II
Fanqie	側絞切	五加切
Baxter	tsraewX	ngae
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/t͡ʃˠauX/	/ŋˠa/
Pan Wuyun	/ʈ͡ʂᵚauX/	/ŋᵚa/
Shao Rongfen	/t͡ʃauX/	/ŋa/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʈ͡ʂaɨwX/	/ŋaɨ/
Li Rong	/t͡ʃauX/	/ŋa/
Wang Li	/t͡ʃauX/	/ŋa/
Bernard Karlgren	/ʈ͡ʂauX/	/ŋa/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	zhǎo	yá
Expected Cantonese Reflex	zaau2	ngaa4

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	爪	牙
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	zhǎo	yá
Middle Chinese	‹ tsræwX ›	‹ ngæ ›
Old Chinese	/*[ts]ˁ<r>uʔ/	/*m-ɢˁ<r>a/
English	claw	tooth
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	爪	牙
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	17658	14177
Phonetic component	爪	牙
Rime group	幽	魚
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	爪	牙
Old Chinese	/*ʔsruːʔ/	/*ŋraː/

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zhǎoyá

  (Zhuyin): ㄓㄠˇ ㄧㄚˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zaau² ngaa⁴
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): jiáu-gê / liáu-gâ / niáu-gê / niáu-gâ / jiáu-gêe
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁵tsau-nga

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhǎoyá
    • Zhuyin: ㄓㄠˇ ㄧㄚˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhǎoyá
    • Wade–Giles: chao³-ya²
    • Yale: jǎu-yá
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jaoya
    • Palladius: чжаоя (čžaoja)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ jä³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zaau² ngaa⁴
    • Yale: jáau ngàh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzaau² ngaa⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: zao² nga⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡saːu̯³⁵ ŋaː²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Kaohsiung)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: jiáu-gê
    • Tâi-lô: jiáu-gê
    • Phofsit Daibuun: jiaw'gee
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ziau⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ ɡe²³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: liáu-gâ
    • Tâi-lô: liáu-gâ
    • Phofsit Daibuun: liaw'gaa
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /liau⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ ɡa²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Taipei)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: niáu-gê
    • Tâi-lô: niáu-gê
    • Phofsit Daibuun: niaw'gee
    • IPA (Taipei): /niãu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ɡe²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: niáu-gâ
    • Tâi-lô: niáu-gâ
    • Phofsit Daibuun: niaw'gaa
    • IPA (Xiamen): /niãu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ɡa²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: jiáu-gêe
    • Tâi-lô: jiáu-gêe
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /d͡ziau⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ɡɛ¹³/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁵tsau-nga
    • MiniDict: tsau^去 nga
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²tsau-nga
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡sɔ³³ ŋa⁴⁴/

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• Middle Chinese: tsraewX ngae

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[ts]ˤ<r>uʔ  m-ɢˤ<r>a/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ʔsruːʔ  ŋraː/

Noun

爪牙

1. (literally) claws and fangs of animals

   • 螾無爪牙之利，筋骨之强，上食埃土，下飲黃泉，用心一也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     螾无爪牙之利，筋骨之强，上食埃土，下饮黄泉，用心一也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Xunzi, c. 3^rd century BCE

     Yǐn wú zhǎoyá zhī lì, jīngǔ zhī qiáng, shàng shí āitǔ, xià yǐn huángquán, yòngxīn yī yě. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 凡人之性，爪牙不足以自守衛，肌膚不足以扞寒暑，筋骨不足以從利辟害，勇敢不足以卻猛禁悍。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     凡人之性，爪牙不足以自守卫，肌肤不足以扞寒暑，筋骨不足以从利辟害，勇敢不足以却猛禁悍。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Lü Buwei, Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, 239 BCE

     Fán rén zhī xìng, zhǎoyá bù zúyǐ zì shǒuwèi, jīfū bù zúyǐ hàn hánshǔ, jīngǔ bù zúyǐ cóng lì bì hài, yǒnggǎn bù zúyǐ què měng jìn hàn. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. (figurative, derogatory) lackey; underling; henchman
3. (figurative, literary) warrior

   • 祈父、予王之爪牙。胡轉予于恤、靡所止居。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     祈父、予王之爪牙。胡转予于恤、靡所止居。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Qí fù, yǔ wáng zhī zhǎoyá. Hú zhuǎn yǔ yú xù, mǐ suǒ zhǐjū. [Pinyin]

     Minister of war, we are the claws and teeth of the king. Why have you rolled us into this sorrow, so that we have no abiding place?

Synonyms

• (lackey):

edit

• 共犯 (gòngfàn)
• 共謀／共谋 (gòngmóu)
• 同夥／同伙 (tónghuǒ)
• 同案犯 (tóng'ànfàn)
• 同犯 (tóngfàn)
• 同謀／同谋 (tóngmóu)
• 同謀犯／同谋犯 (tóngmóufàn)
• 同黨／同党 (tóngdǎng)
• 幫兇／帮凶 (bāngxiōng)
• 狗腿 (gǒutuǐ) (figurative, derogatory)
• 狗腿子 (gǒutuǐzi) (figurative, derogatory)
• 走卒 (zǒuzú)
• 走狗 (zǒugǒu) (figurative, derogatory)
• 鷹犬／鹰犬 (yīngquǎn) (figurative)

 

Derived terms

• 心膂爪牙
• 爪牙之士
• 爪牙之將／爪牙之将
• 爪牙吏
• 爪牙官

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (爪牙):

• → Japanese: 爪(そう)牙(が) (sōga)
• → Korean: 조아(爪牙) (joa)
• → Vietnamese: trảo nha (爪牙)