媒

Translingual

Han character

媒 (Kangxi radical 38, 女+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 女廿一木 (VTMD), four-corner 4449₄, composition ⿰女某)

Derived characters

𠿃, 𬄪, 𬲞, 𥴘

References

Kangxi Dictionary: page 266, character 37
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6498
Dae Jaweon: page 533, character 38
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1063, character 13
Unihan data for U+5A92

Chinese

trad.		媒
simp. ^#		媒

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 媒
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Characters in the same phonetic series (某) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
某	*mɯʔ
謀	*mɯ
媒	*mɯː
煤	*mɯː
腜	*mɯː
禖	*mɯː

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *mɯː) : semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 某 (OC *mɯʔ).

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): méi (mei²)

(Zhuyin): ㄇㄟˊ

(Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): мый (mɨy, I)
Cantonese (Jyutping): mui⁴ / mui^4-2
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): mòi
Jin (Wiktionary): mei¹
Northern Min (KCR): mô / mû
Eastern Min (BUC): muòi
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): bue²
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): hm̂ / m̂ / bûn / môe / moâi / hûn / mûi / bôe

(Teochew, Peng'im): bhuê⁵
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶me

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: méi
  - Zhuyin: ㄇㄟˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: méi
  - Wade–Giles: mei²
  - Yale: méi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mei
  - Palladius: мэй (mɛj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /meɪ̯³⁵/
- (Dungan)
  - Cyrillic and Wiktionary: мый (mɨy, I)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mei²⁴/
  (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: mui⁴ / mui^4-2
  - Yale: mùih / múi
  - Cantonese Pinyin: mui⁴ / mui^4-2
  - Guangdong Romanization: mui⁴ / mui^4-2
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /muːi̯²¹/, /muːi̯²¹⁻³⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mòi
  - Hakka Romanization System: moi^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: moi²
  - Sinological IPA: /moi̯¹¹/
Jin
- (Taiyuan)⁺
  - Wiktionary: mei¹
  - Sinological IPA (old-style): /mei¹¹/
Northern Min
- (Jian'ou)
  - Kienning Colloquial Romanized: mô / mû
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mo³³/, /mu³³/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: muòi
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mui⁵³/
Puxian Min
- (Putian, Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: bue²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /puei¹³/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Tainan, Hsinchu, Lukang, Sanxia, Kinmen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hm̂
  - Tâi-lô: hm̂
  - Phofsit Daibuun: hmm
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /hm̩²³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Taipei, Tainan, Lukang, Kinmen): /hm̩²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: m̂
  - Tâi-lô: m̂
  - Phofsit Daibuun: mm
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /m̩²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bûn
  - Tâi-lô: bûn
  - Phofsit Daibuun: buun
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /bun¹³/
- (Hokkien: Kaohsiung, Taichung, Yilan)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: môe
  - Tâi-lô: muê
  - Phofsit Daibuun: moee
  - IPA (Yilan): /muẽ²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /muẽ²³/
- (Hokkien: Kaohsiung, Tainan)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: moâi
  - Tâi-lô: muâi
  - Phofsit Daibuun: moaai
  - IPA (Tainan): /muãi²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /muãi²³/
- (Hokkien: Magong)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hûn
  - Tâi-lô: hûn
  - Phofsit Daibuun: huun
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: mûi
  - Tâi-lô: muî
  - Phofsit Daibuun: muii
  - IPA (Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taipei): /muĩ²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /muĩ²³/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bôe
  - Tâi-lô: buê
  - Phofsit Daibuun: boee
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /bue¹³/

Note:

hm̂/m̂/bûn/môe/moâi/hûn - vernacular;
mûi/bôe - literary.

(Teochew)
- Peng'im: bhuê⁵
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: buê
- Sinological IPA ^(key): /bue⁵⁵/

Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁶me
  - MiniDict: me^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³me
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /me²³/

Middle Chinese: mwoj

Rime
Character	媒
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	灰 (42)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	莫杯切
Baxter	mwoj
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/muʌi/
Pan Wuyun	/muoi/
Shao Rongfen	/muɒi/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/mwəj/
Li Rong	/muᴀi/
Wang Li	/muɒi/
Bernhard Karlgren	/muɑ̆i/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	méi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	mui⁴

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*C.mˤə/

(Zhengzhang): /*mɯː/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	媒
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	méi
Middle Chinese	‹ mwoj ›
Old Chinese	/*C.mˁə/
English	match-maker, go-between
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	媒
Reading #	1/1
No.	9277
Phonetic component	某
Rime group	之
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	枚
Old Chinese	/*mɯː/

Definitions

媒

go-between; matchmaker
medium; intermediary
Short for 媒體／媒体 (méitǐ); media; press
紙媒／纸媒 ― zhǐméi ― print media
to introduce; to recommend
(Cantonese) plant (person placed amongst an audience) with the role of promoting sales by making fake purchases
(obsolete, literary) yeast
- 今舉事一不當，而全軀保妻子之臣，隨而媒糱其短 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  今举事一不当，而全躯保妻子之臣，随而媒糱其短 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: Sima Qian, Letter to Ren An (1st century BCE, translated by Burton Watson)
  jīn jǔ shì yī bù dàng, ér quán qū bǎo qī zǐ zhī chén, suí ér méi niè qí duǎn [Pinyin]
  Now he has committed one act that was not right, and the officials who think only of saving themselves and protecting their wives and children vie with each other in magnifying his shortcomings. (lit. "to ferment upon his shortcomings as if by yeast")

Compounds

Descendants

→ Vietnamese: mai (“matchmaker”)

Pronunciation 2

Mandarin
(Pinyin): mèi (mei⁴)

(Zhuyin): ㄇㄟˋ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: mèi
  - Zhuyin: ㄇㄟˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: mèi
  - Wade–Giles: mei⁴
  - Yale: mèi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mey
  - Palladius: мэй (mɛj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /meɪ̯⁵¹/

Definitions

媒

Only used in 媒媒.

References

“媒”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Kanji

媒

(Jōyō kanji)

mediator

Readings

Go-on: まい (mai)
Kan-on: ばい (bai, Jōyō)
On: ぼう (bō)
Kun: なこうど (nakōdo, 媒)、なかだち (nakadachi, 媒)

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 媒 (MC mwoj). Recorded as Middle Korean ᄆᆡ (moy) (Yale: moy) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

媒

Wikisource

媒 (eumhun 중매 매 (jungmae mae))

hanja form^? of 매 (“medium”)

Compounds

매체 (媒體, maeche)
매개 (媒介, maegae)
촉매 (觸媒, chongmae)
중매 (仲媒/中媒, jungmae)
매질 (媒質, maejil)
용매 (溶媒, yongmae)
냉매 (冷媒, naengmae)
영매 (靈媒, yeongmae)

References

국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

Vietnamese

Han character

媒: Hán Nôm readings: môi, mối, mai

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