唄

See also: 呗

唄 U+5504, 唄 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5504 ← 唃 [U+5503] CJK Unified Ideographs 唅 → [U+5505]

Translingual

Han character

唄 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+7, 10 strokes, cangjie input 口月山金 (RBUC) or 難口月山金 (XRBUC), four-corner 6608₀, composition ⿰口貝)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 191, character 29
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3694
• Dae Jaweon: page 411, character 5
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 628, character 5
• Unihan data for U+5504

Chinese

trad.		唄
simp.		呗

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “related to 吧?”)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bei (bei⁵／bei⁰)

  (Zhuyin): ˙ㄅㄟ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bui⁶ / baa⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bei
    • Zhuyin: ˙ㄅㄟ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: be̊i
    • Wade–Giles: pei⁵
    • Yale: bei
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: .bei
    • Palladius: бэй (bɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /b̥eɪ̯/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)
    • Jyutping: bui⁶ / baa⁶
    • Yale: buih / bah
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bui⁶ / baa⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: bui⁶ / ba⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /puːi̯²²/, /paː²²/

Definitions

唄

1. (colloquial) Particle indicating obviousness or grudging agreement.

   甲：為啥你穿校服？
   乙：去上課唄。 [MSC, trad.]
   甲：为啥你穿校服？
   乙：去上课呗。 [MSC, simp.]

   Jiǎ: Wèishá nǐ chuān xiàofú?
   Yǐ: Qù shàngkè bei. [Pinyin]

   A: Why are you wearing school uniform?
   B: Err, I'm off to school... (duh!)

Etymology 2

Likely from Sanskrit or via Middle Indo-Aryan. The Yiqiejing Yinyi lists the form 唄匿 (MC baejH nrik), likely related Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit भाणक (bhāṇaka, “chanter; speaker”), from Sanskrit भणति (bhaṇati) and cognate with Pali bhāṇaka (“reciter of the scriptures”); and also the more "orthodox" 婆師 (MC ba srij), likely from भाषते (bhāṣate, “to speak”), compare Gandhari 𐨧𐨮𐨡𐨁 (bhaṣadi, “speaks; to speak”), Sanskrit भाषा (bhāṣā, “speech”). In the Pali parallels, the verb for chanting or reciting a verse (gāthā) is often the cognate bhāsati.

Some older works suggest derivation from Sanskrit पाठ (pāṭha) (e.g. Soothill & Hodous, 1937), but with semantic and phonological difficulties.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bài (bai⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄞˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): baai⁶

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bài
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄞˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bài
    • Wade–Giles: pai⁴
    • Yale: bài
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bay
    • Palladius: бай (baj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)
    • Jyutping: baai⁶
    • Yale: baaih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: baai⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: bai⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paːi̯²²/

---

• Middle Chinese: baejH

Rime
Character	唄
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	並 (3)
Final (韻)	夬 (29)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	II
Fanqie	薄邁切
Baxter	baejH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/bˠaiH/
Pan Wuyun	/bᵚaiH/
Shao Rongfen	/baiH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/baɨjsH/
Li Rong	/baiH/
Wang Li	/bæiH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/bʱaiH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	bài
Expected Cantonese Reflex	baai6

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*braːds/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	唄
Reading #	1/1
No.	423
Phonetic component	貝
Rime group	祭
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	敗
Old Chinese	/*braːds/
Notes	省譯pāthaka

Definitions

唄

1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese, Buddhism) chanting; sound of chanting
2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese, Buddhism) to chant

Compounds

• 唄唱 / 呗唱
• 唄讚 / 呗赞
• 梵唄 / 梵呗 (fànbài)
• 讚唄 / 赞呗

Japanese

Kanji

See also:

Category:Japanese terms spelled with 唄

唄

(Jōyō kanji)

1. song (especially when played with a shamisen)

Readings

• Go-on: べ (be)
• Kan-on: はい (hai)
• Kan’yō-on: ばい (bai)
• Kun: うた (uta, 唄, Jōyō ^†)、うたう (utau, 唄う)^{←うたふ (utafu, 唄ふ, historical)}

Definitions

Kanji in this term
唄
うた Grade: S
kun'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 唄 – see the following entry.

【歌うた】2 [noun] (music) a song [noun] (poetry) poetry Alternative spellings 詩, 謳

(This term, 唄, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

References

• “唄”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎ (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025

Korean

Hanja

唄 • (pae) (hangeul 패, revised pae, McCune–Reischauer p'ae)

1. (Buddhism) The sound of reciting the Buddhist scriptures

Vietnamese

Han character

唄: Hán Nôm readings: bái

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.