幽默

Chinese

		quiet; secluded	silent; write from memory
trad. (幽默)		幽	默
simp. #(幽默)		幽	默

Pronunciation

Rime
Character	幽	默
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	影 (34)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	幽 (138)	德 (131)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	於虯切	莫北切
Baxter	'jiw	mok
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʔiɪu/	/mək̚/
Pan Wuyun	/ʔɨu/	/mək̚/
Shao Rongfen	/ʔieu/	/mək̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʔjiw/	/mək̚/
Li Rong	/ʔiĕu/	/mək̚/
Wang Li	/iəu/	/mək̚/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʔieu/	/mək̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yōu	mò
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jau1	mak6

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	幽
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yōu
Middle Chinese	‹ ʔjiw ›
Old Chinese	/*[ʔ](r)iw/
English	dark; secluded
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	幽	默
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	14620	5107
Phonetic component	幽	黑
Rime group	幽	職
Rime subdivision	2	0
Corresponding MC rime	幽	墨
Old Chinese	/*qɯw/	/*mlɯːɡ/
Notes	甲金文從火從二幺會意火微

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yōumò

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄡ ㄇㄛˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jau¹ mak⁶
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): yû-me̍t
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): iu-bia̍k / iu-be̍k

  (Teochew, Peng'im): hiun¹ mig⁸

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹ieu-meq

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yōumò
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄡ ㄇㄛˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: youmò
    • Wade–Giles: yu¹-mo⁴
    • Yale: yōu-mwò
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ioumoh
    • Palladius: юмо (jumo)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /joʊ̯⁵⁵ mu̯ɔ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jau¹ mak⁶
    • Yale: yāu mahk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jau¹ mak⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yeo¹ meg⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐu̯⁵⁵ mɐk̚²/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yû-me̍t
    • Hakka Romanization System: iu^ˊ med
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yiu¹ med⁶
    • Sinological IPA: /i̯u²⁴⁻¹¹ met̚⁵/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yû-me̍t
    • Hakka Romanization System: (r)iu^ˊ med
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yiu¹ med⁶
    • Sinological IPA: /(j)i̯u²⁴⁻¹¹ met̚⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: iu-bia̍k
    • Tâi-lô: iu-bia̍k
    • Phofsit Daibuun: iu'biak
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /iu³³ biak̚²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: iu-be̍k
    • Tâi-lô: iu-bi̍k
    • Phofsit Daibuun: iu'bek
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /iu⁴⁴⁻²² biɪk̚¹²¹/
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /iu⁴⁴⁻³³ biɪk̚⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /iu⁴⁴⁻²² biɪk̚⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: hiun¹ mig⁸
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: hiuⁿ mi̍k
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hĩũ³³⁻²³ mik̚⁴/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ¹ieu-meq
    • MiniDict: ieu^平 meh
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹ieu-meq
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /iɤ⁵⁵ məʔ²¹/

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• Middle Chinese: 'jiw mok

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*qɯw  mlɯːɡ/

Etymology 1

Of native origin, as the combination of 幽 (yōu, “dark”) and 默 (mò, “quiet”); attested in the Chu Ci (《楚辭·九章·懷沙》).

眴兮杳杳，孔靜幽默。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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眴兮杳杳，孔静幽默。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Verses of Chu, 4^th century BCE – 2^nd century CE

Xuàn xī yǎoyǎo, kǒng jìng yōumò. [Pinyin]

Wherever I see, it is dark and empty, amid total silence.

Adjective

幽默

1. (archaic) quiet; tranquil

Etymology 2

Phono-semantic matching of English humor, by linguist Lin Yutang in 1924.

Adjective

幽默

1. humorous

Synonyms

edit

• 古味 (Hakka)
• 古怪 (Hakka)
• 可笑 (kěxiào)
• 好笑 (hǎoxiào)
• 搞笑 (gǎoxiào)
• 滑稽
• 詼諧 / 诙谐 (huīxié)
• 風趣 / 风趣 (fēngqù)

Noun

幽默

1. humor; hilarity

Derived terms

• 幽默感 (yōumògǎn)
• 黑色幽默 (hēisè yōumò)