如臨深淵

Chinese

		as (if); such as	to face; to overlook; to arrive to face; to overlook; to arrive; to be (just) about to; just before	abyss; abyss; catastrophic situation
trad. (如臨深淵)		如	臨	深淵
simp. (如临深渊)		如	临	深渊
Literally: “like on the edge of an abyss”.

Etymology

See 戰戰兢兢／战战兢兢 (zhànzhànjīngjīng).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): rúlínshēnyuān

  (Zhuyin): ㄖㄨˊ ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄕㄣ ㄩㄢ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyu² lam⁴ sam¹ jyun¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: rúlínshēnyuān
    • Zhuyin: ㄖㄨˊ ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄕㄣ ㄩㄢ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: rúlínshenyuan
    • Wade–Giles: ju²-lin²-shên¹-yüan¹
    • Yale: rú-lín-shēn-ywān
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: rulinsheniuan
    • Palladius: жулиньшэньюань (žulinʹšɛnʹjuanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐu³⁵ lin³⁵ ʂən⁵⁵ ɥɛn⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)⁺
    • Jyutping: jyu² lam⁴ sam¹ jyun¹
    • Yale: yú làhm sām yūn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jy² lam⁴ sam¹ jyn¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yu² lem⁴ sem¹ yun¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyː³⁵ lɐm²¹ sɐm⁵⁵ jyːn⁵⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: nyo lim syim 'wen

Rime
Character	如	臨	深	淵
Reading #	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	日 (38)	來 (37)	書 (26)	影 (34)
Final (韻)	魚 (22)	侵 (139)	侵 (139)	先 (86)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open	Closed
Division (等)	III	III	III	IV
Fanqie	人諸切	力尋切	式針切	烏玄切
Baxter	nyo	lim	syim	'wen
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ȵɨʌ/	/liɪm/	/ɕiɪm/	/ʔwen/
Pan Wuyun	/ȵiɔ/	/lim/	/ɕim/	/ʔʷen/
Shao Rongfen	/ȵʑiɔ/	/ljem/	/ɕjem/	/ʔuɛn/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ȵɨə̆/	/lim/	/ɕim/	/ʔwɛn/
Li Rong	/ȵiɔ/	/liəm/	/ɕiəm/	/ʔuen/
Wang Li	/ȵʑĭo/	/lĭĕm/	/ɕĭĕm/	/iwen/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ȵʑi̯wo/	/li̯əm/	/ɕi̯əm/	/ʔiwen/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	rú	lín	shēn	yuān
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jyu4	lam4	sam1	jyun1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*na  (p.)rum  [l̥][ə]m  [ʔ]ʷˤi[ŋ]/

  (Zhengzhang): /*nja  b·rɯm  hljum  qʷiːn/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	如	臨	深	淵
Reading #	2/2	1/1	1/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	rú	lín	shēn	yuān
Middle Chinese	‹ nyo ›	‹ lim ›	‹ syim ›	‹ ʔwen ›
Old Chinese	/*na/	/*(p.)rum/	/*[l̥][ə]m/	/*[ʔ]ʷˁi[ŋ]/
English	as, like, if	look down at	deep	abyss
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	如	臨	深	淵
Reading #	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/1
No.	9623	9801	11255	16099
Phonetic component	女	品	罙	淵
Rime group	魚	侵	侵	眞
Rime subdivision	0	1	3	1
Corresponding MC rime	如	林	深	淵
Old Chinese	/*nja/	/*b·rɯm/	/*hljum/	/*qʷiːn/

Idiom

如臨深淵

1. (figurative) to be extremely cautious