形單影隻
Chinese
to appear; to look; form to appear; to look; form; shape |
bill; list; form bill; list; form; single; only; sole; surname; chieftain |
picture; image; reflection picture; image; reflection; shadow |
(a measure word, for birds and some animals, for one of a pair); single | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (形單影隻) | 形 | 單 | 影 | 隻 | |
| simp. (形单影只) | 形 | 单 | 影 | 只 | |
| anagram | 形隻影單／形只影单 | ||||
Etymology
Coined by Han Yu in 803 in a funeral oration to his nephew:
- 吾上有三兄，皆不幸早世。承先人後者，在孫惟汝，在子惟吾。兩世一身，形單影隻。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
- From: 803, 韓愈,《祭十二郎文》, transl. Herbert Giles
- Wú shàng yǒu sān xiōng, jiē bùxìng zǎoshì. Chéng xiānrén hòu zhě, zài sūn wéi rǔ, zài zǐ wéi wú. Liǎng shì yī shēn, xíng dān yǐng zhī. [Pinyin]
- My three brothers all early died, leaving only us, a grandson and a son, to carry on the ancestral line. We were two generations, with but one body, one form, one shadow.
吾上有三兄，皆不幸早世。承先人后者，在孙惟汝，在子惟吾。两世一身，形单影只。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: xíngdānyǐngzhī
- Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄉㄢ ㄧㄥˇ ㄓ
- Tongyong Pinyin: síngdanyǐngjhih
- Wade–Giles: hsing2-tan1-ying3-chih1
- Yale: syíng-dān-yǐng-jr̄
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyngdanyiingjy
- Palladius: синданьинчжи (sindanʹinčži)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ɕiŋ³⁵ tän⁵⁵ iŋ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)+
- Jyutping: jing4 daan1 jing2 zek3
- Yale: yìhng dāan yíng jek
- Cantonese Pinyin: jing4 daan1 jing2 dzek8
- Guangdong Romanization: ying4 dan1 ying2 zég3
- Sinological IPA (key): /jɪŋ²¹ taːn⁵⁵ jɪŋ³⁵ t͡sɛːk̚³/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)+
- Middle Chinese: heng tan 'jaengX tsyek
Idiom
形單影隻