西方

Chinese

		west	square; quadrilateral; place square; quadrilateral; place; region; direction; side; method; way; prescription; power; upright; just
simp. and trad. (西方)		西	方

Pronunciation

Rime
Character	西	方
Reading #	1/1	2/2
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	幫 (1)
Final (韻)	齊 (39)	陽 (106)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	IV	III
Fanqie	先稽切	府良切
Baxter	sej	pjang
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/sei/	/pʉɐŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/sei/	/pʷiɐŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/sɛi/	/piuɑŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/sɛj/	/puaŋ/
Li Rong	/sei/	/piuaŋ/
Wang Li	/siei/	/pĭwaŋ/
Bernhard Karlgren	/siei/	/piwaŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xī	fāng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sai1	fong1

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	西	方
Reading #	1/1	1/3
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xī	fāng
Middle Chinese	‹ sej ›	‹ pjang ›
Old Chinese	/*s-nˁər/	/*C-paŋ/
English	west	square
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	西	方
Reading #	1/1	1/2
No.	13236	3023
Phonetic component	西	方
Rime group	微	陽
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	西	方
Old Chinese	/*sɯːl/	/*paŋ/
Notes		甲金文象槳即榜初文， 下初爲單筆，猶旂左初亦作單杆

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): xīfāng

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧ ㄈㄤ

  (Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): xi¹ fang¹

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): щифон (xifon, I-I)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sai¹ fong¹
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sî-fông
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): se-hong / se-hng

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xīfāng
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧ ㄈㄤ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sifang
    • Wade–Giles: hsi¹-fang¹
    • Yale: syī-fāng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shifang
    • Palladius: сифан (sifan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi⁵⁵ fɑŋ⁵⁵/
  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: xi¹ fang¹
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: xifang
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi⁵⁵ faŋ⁵⁵/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: щифон (xifon, I-I)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi²⁴ fɑŋ²⁴/

    (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sai¹ fong¹
    • Yale: sāi fōng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sai¹ fong¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: sei¹ fong¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐi̯⁵⁵ fɔːŋ⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sî-fông
    • Hakka Romanization System: xi^ˊ fong^ˊ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: xi¹ fong¹
    • Sinological IPA: /si²⁴⁻¹¹ foŋ²⁴/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: se-hong
    • Tâi-lô: se-hong
    • Phofsit Daibuun: se'hofng
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /se⁴⁴⁻³³ hɔŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /se³³ hɔŋ³³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /se⁴⁴⁻²² hɔŋ⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: se-hng
    • Tâi-lô: se-hng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: se'hngf
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /se³³ hŋ̍³³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /se⁴⁴⁻²² hŋ̍⁴⁴/

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• Middle Chinese: sej pjang

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*s-nˤər  C-paŋ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*sɯːl  paŋ/

Noun

西方

1. west
2. (Buddhism) Alternative name for 西天 (xītiān, “Western Paradise”).

Proper noun

西方

1. the Western world; the West

Usage notes

The Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian (Standard Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese) defines 西方 (xīfāng) in the modern sense as being made up of the various developed capitalist countries, which includes Japan. However, Japan is generally not considered a Western country by the average native speaker of Chinese. Eastern European countries like Russia, Belarus, Georgia and Armenia may or may not be considered Western, depending on context, but their cuisines are often included under "Western food", while Japanese cuisine is not.

Synonyms

• 西洋 (Xīyáng)

Derived terms

• 西方三聖 / 西方三圣 (Xīfāng Sānshèng)
• 西方中心主義 / 西方中心主义 (xīfāngzhōngxīnzhǔyì)
• 西方人 (xīfāngrén)
• 西方化 (xīfānghuà)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (西方):

• → Japanese: 西方(せいほう) (seihō)
• → Korean: 서방(西方) (seobang)
• → Vietnamese: tây phương (西方)