參差

Chinese

	ginseng; take part in; participate ginseng; take part in; participate; join; attend; to join; unequal; varied; irregular; to counsel; uneven; not uniform	differ from; short of; to lack differ from; short of; to lack; poor; send; a messenger; a mission; to commission; uneven; difference; discrepancy; to differ; error; to err; to make a mistake
trad. (參差)	參	差
simp. (参差)	参	差
alternative forms	嵾嵳／㟥嵳嵾嵯／㟥嵯

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): cēncī

(Zhuyin): ㄘㄣㄘ
Cantonese (Jyutping): caam¹ ci¹ / cam¹ ci¹
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chhim-chhu / chherm-chhir / chhim-chhi / chham-chha / chham-chhu / chham-chhi / chhim-chhe / chham-chhe

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)
  - Hanyu Pinyin: cēncī
  - Zhuyin: ㄘㄣㄘ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: cencih
  - Wade–Giles: tsʻên¹-tzʻŭ¹
  - Yale: tsēn-tsz̄
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsentsy
  - Palladius: цэньцы (cɛnʹcy)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰən⁵⁵ t͡sʰz̩⁵⁵/
  - Homophones:
    [Show/Hide]
    ^edit
    ^edit
    參差／参差
    嵾嵳／㟥嵳
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: caam¹ ci¹ / cam¹ ci¹
  - Yale: chāam chī / chām chī
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tsaam¹ tsi¹ / tsam¹ tsi¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: cam¹ qi¹ / cem¹ qi¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰaːm⁵⁵ t͡sʰiː⁵⁵/, /t͡sʰɐm⁵⁵ t͡sʰiː⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhim-chhu
  - Tâi-lô: tshim-tshu
  - Phofsit Daibuun: chimzhw
  - IPA (Xiamen): /t͡sʰim⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sʰu⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chherm-chhir
  - Tâi-lô: tsherm-tshir
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰəm³³ t͡sʰɯ³³/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhim-chhi
  - Tâi-lô: tshim-tshi
  - Phofsit Daibuun: chimchy
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡sʰim⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sʰi⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chham-chha
  - Tâi-lô: tsham-tsha
  - Phofsit Daibuun: zhamzhaf
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰam³³ t͡sʰa³³/
- (Hokkien: Taipei)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chham-chhu
  - Tâi-lô: tsham-tshu
  - Phofsit Daibuun: zhamzhw
  - IPA (Taipei): /t͡sʰam⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡sʰu⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien: Kaohsiung)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chham-chhi
  - Tâi-lô: tsham-tshi
  - Phofsit Daibuun: zhamchy
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sʰam⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡sʰi⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhim-chhe
  - Tâi-lô: tshim-tshe
  - Phofsit Daibuun: chimzhef
  - IPA (Xiamen): /t͡sʰim⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sʰe⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chham-chhe
  - Tâi-lô: tsham-tshe
  - Phofsit Daibuun: zhamzhef
  - IPA (Xiamen): /t͡sʰam⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sʰe⁴⁴/

Middle Chinese: tsrhim tsrhje

Rime
Character	參	差
Reading #	2/5	1/5
Initial (聲)	初 (19)	初 (19)
Final (韻)	侵 (140)	支 (13)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	楚簪切	楚宜切
Baxter	tsrhim	tsrhje
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/t͡ʃʰˠiɪm/	/t͡ʃʰˠiᴇ/
Pan Wuyun	/ʈ͡ʂʰᵚim/	/ʈ͡ʂʰᵚiɛ/
Shao Rongfen	/t͡ʃʰiem/	/t͡ʃʰiɛ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʈ͡ʂʰjim/	/ʈ͡ʂʰjiə̆/
Li Rong	/t͡ʃʰjəm/	/t͡ʃʰje/
Wang Li	/t͡ʃʰĭĕm/	/t͡ʃʰǐe/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʈ͡ʂʰi̯əm/	/ʈ͡ʂʰie̯/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	chēn	chī
Expected Cantonese Reflex	cam¹	ci¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[tsʰr][u]m tsʰraj/

(Zhengzhang): /*sʰrum sʰral/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	參	差
Reading #	2/4	4/5
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	cēn	cī
Middle Chinese	‹ tsrhim ›	‹ tsrhje ›
Old Chinese	/*[tsʰr][u]m/	/*tsʰraj/
English	參差 tsrhim.tsrhje uneven	參差 uneven
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	參	差
Reading #	4/5	6/6
No.	1103	18042
Phonetic component	參	左
Rime group	侵	歌
Rime subdivision	3	1
Corresponding MC rime	嵾	差
Old Chinese	/*sʰrum/	/*sʰral/
Notes	同嵾	見孟子

Adjective

參差

(ideophonic) irregular; uneven; jagged
- 參差荇菜，左右流之 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
  参差荇菜，左右流之 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
  Cēncī xìngcài, zuǒyòu liú zhī [Pinyin]
  Here long, there short, is the duckweed, To the left, to the right, borne about by the current.

Synonyms

嵾嵳／㟥嵳 (cēncī)

Adverb

參差

(literary) approximately; about; or so; or thereabouts

Synonyms

edit

上下 (shàngxià)
光景 (guāngjǐng)
前後／前后 (qiánhòu) (of a point in or period of time)
大抵 (dàdǐ)
大概 (dàgài)
大率 (dàshuài) (literary)
大約／大约 (dàyuē)
大約摸／大约摸 (dàyuēmō) (colloquial)
大約摸捉／大约摸捉 (Shanghainese)
大致 (dàzhì)
左右 (zuǒyòu)
模樣／模样
無慮／无虑 (wúlǜ) (literary)
約摸／约摸 (yuēmo)
約略／约略 (yuēlüè)

Verb

參差

(literary) to miss (a train, opportunity, etc.); to miss out; to let something slip by

Synonyms

edit

丟掉／丢掉 (diūdiào)
失掉 (shīdiào)
放過／放过 (fàngguò)
錯失／错失 (cuòshī)
錯過／错过 (cuòguò)

Derived terms

Korean

Hanja in this term
參	差

Root

參差 • (chamchi) (hangeul 참치)

hanja form^? of 참치