夭夭

Chinese

		tender; gentle; to die prematurely	tender; gentle; to die prematurely
simp. and trad. (夭夭)		夭	夭

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yāoyāo

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄠ ㄧㄠ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yāoyāo
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄠ ㄧㄠ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yaoyao
    • Wade–Giles: yao¹-yao¹
    • Yale: yāu-yāu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: iauiau
    • Palladius: яояо (jaojao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɑʊ̯⁵⁵ jɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

Adjective

夭夭 (literary)

1. young and elegant

   • 桃之夭夭，灼灼其華。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     桃之夭夭，灼灼其华。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Táo zhī yāoyāo, zhuózhuó qí huá. [Pinyin]

     The peach tree is young and elegant; Brilliant are its flowers.

   • 夭夭桃李花，灼灼有輝光。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     夭夭桃李花，灼灼有辉光。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: Wen Xuan, 6^th century CE

     Yāoyāo táolǐ huā, zhuózhuó yǒu huīguāng. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. pleased; amiable; cheerful

   • 子之燕居，申申如也，夭夭如也。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad. and simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE

     Zǐ zhī yànjū, shēnshēn rú yě, yāoyāo rú yě. [Pinyin]

     When the Master was unoccupied with business, his manner was easy, and he looked pleased.

Derived terms

• 逃之夭夭 (táozhīyāoyāo)

References

• “夭夭”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 [Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.