traditional method for indicating the pronunciation of Chinese characters
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesnoun
a traditional method for indicating the pronunciation of Chinese characters
formalThe method uses two characters to indicate the pronunciation of a third. The initial consonant (声母) is taken from the first character (反切上字), and the final and tone (韵母和声调) are taken from the second character (反切下字). For example, to indicate the pronunciation of '塑', the example '桑故切' is used, where '桑' (sāng) provides the initial 's' and '故' (gù) provides the final 'u' and the departing tone.
When studying Classical Chinese, we need to understand the principles of the fanqie phonetic notation system.
"Dōng, dé hóng qiè" is a classic example of fanqie.
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Ancient dictionaries and rhyme books extensively used the fanqie method.
Mastering fanqie helps in reading ancient texts accurately.