臊

臊 U+81CA, 臊 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-81CA ← 臉 [U+81C9] CJK Unified Ideographs 臋 → [U+81CB]

Translingual

Han character

臊 (Kangxi radical 130, 肉+13, 17 strokes, cangjie input 月口口木 (BRRD), four-corner 7629₄, composition ⿰⺼喿)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 996, character 18
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 29955
• Dae Jaweon: page 1447, character 20
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2116, character 10
• Unihan data for U+81CA

Chinese

trad.		臊
simp. #		臊
alternative forms		𦞣

Glyph origin

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

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

	Old Chinese
藻	*ʔsaːwʔ
澡	*ʔslaːwʔ
璪	*ʔsaːwʔ
繰	*ʔsaːwʔ, *saːw, *sʰaw
躁	*ʔsaːws
趮	*ʔsaːws
操	*sʰaːw, *sʰaːws
幧	*sʰaːw, *sʰaw
懆	*sʰaːwʔ
鄵	*sʰaːws
鐰	*zaːw, *sʰaw
臊	*saːw, *saːws
鱢	*saːw
燥	*saːwʔ, *saːws
噪	*saːws
髞	*saːws
喿	*saːws
譟	*saːws
劋	*ʔsawʔ, *ʔseːwʔ
橾	*soːwʔ, *srow

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *saːw, *saːws): semantic 肉 (“meat; flesh”) + phonetic 喿 (OC *saːws)

Pronunciation 1

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sāo (sao¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄠ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sou¹
• Gan (Wiktionary): sau¹
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): so / so͘ / chho

  (Teochew, Peng'im): cao³ / co¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sāo
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄠ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sao
    • Wade–Giles: sao¹
    • Yale: sāu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sau
    • Palladius: сао (sao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɑʊ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)
    • Jyutping: sou¹
    • Yale: sōu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sou¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: sou¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sou̯⁵⁵/
• Gan
  • (Nanchang)
    • Wiktionary: sau¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sau⁴²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: so
    • Tâi-lô: so
    • Phofsit Daibuun: soy
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /so³³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /so⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: so͘
    • Tâi-lô: soo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sof
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /sɔ³³/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chho
    • Tâi-lô: tsho
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zhoy
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰo³³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sʰɤ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei): /t͡sʰo⁴⁴/

Note:

• so/so͘ - literary;
• chho - vernacular.

• • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: cao³ / co¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tshàu / tsho
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰau²¹³/, /t͡sʰo³³/
Note:
• cao3 - literary;
• co1 - vernacular.

---

• Middle Chinese: saw

Rime
Character	臊
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	豪 (89)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	蘇遭切
Baxter	saw
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/sɑu/
Pan Wuyun	/sɑu/
Shao Rongfen	/sɑu/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/saw/
Li Rong	/sɑu/
Wang Li	/sɑu/
Bernhard Karlgren	/sɑu/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	sāo
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sou1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[m.s]ˤaw/

  (Zhengzhang): /*saːw/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	臊
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	sāo
Middle Chinese	‹ saw ›
Old Chinese	/*[m.s]ˁaw/
English	fat of swine or dog
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	臊
Reading #	1/2
No.	16577
Phonetic component	喿
Rime group	宵
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	騷
Old Chinese	/*saːw/
Notes	後通作騷

Definitions

臊

1. (having) the smell like one of urine

   alt. forms: 騷 / 骚

2. (having) the rank taste and smell of meat, especially mutton

   alt. forms: 騷 / 骚

   • 16th century, chapter 53, in Journey to the West:

     八戒道：「若這等，我決無傷。他們都是香噴噴的，好做香袋；我是個臊豬，就割了肉去，也是臊的，故此可以無傷。」 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     八戒道：「若这等，我决无伤。他们都是香喷喷的，好做香袋；我是个臊猪，就割了肉去，也是臊的，故此可以无伤。」 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     Bājiè dào: “Ruò zhè děng, wǒ jué wú shāng. Tāmen dōu shì xiāngpēnpēn de, hǎo zuò xiāngdài; wǒ shì ge sāozhū, jiù gē le ròu qù, yě shì sāo de, gùcǐ kěyǐ wú shāng.” [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1947, 魯迅, “上海所感”, in 集外集拾遺, page 307:

     幼小時候，洋紙一到手，便覺得羊臊氣撲鼻 [MSC, trad.]
     幼小时候，洋纸一到手，便觉得羊臊气扑鼻 [MSC, simp.]

     yòuxiǎo shíhòu, yángzhǐ yī dàoshǒu, biàn jué dé yángsāoqì pūbí [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (Cantonese, dated in Hong Kong) to give birth
4. (Southern Min) fishy
5. (Southern Min) meat or fish dishes (as opposed to vegetarian dishes)

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sào (sao⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄠˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sou³

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sào
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄠˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sào
    • Wade–Giles: sao⁴
    • Yale: sàu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: saw
    • Palladius: сао (sao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɑʊ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)
    • Jyutping: sou³
    • Yale: sou
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sou³
    • Guangdong Romanization: sou³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sou̯³³/

Definitions

臊

1. used in 臊子 (“minced meat”)
2. embarrassed
3. to embarrass

Compounds

• 不怕臊
• 不臊
• 害臊 (hàisào)
• 怕臊 (pàsào)
• 扯臊 (chěsào)
• 放屁辣臊 (fàngpìlàsāo)
• 沒羞沒臊 / 没羞没臊
• 狐臊 (húsāo)
• 瞎扯臊
• 老臊胡
• 腥臊 (xīngsāo)
• 腥臊味
• 臊味
• 臊子
• 臊子麵 / 臊子面 (sàozimiàn)
• 臊根
• 臊氣 / 臊气 (sāoqì)
• 臊皮
• 臊羯奴
• 臊聲 / 臊声
• 臭短臊長 / 臭短臊长

References

• “臊”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• “臊”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.

Japanese

Kanji

臊

(Hyōgai kanji)

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

Readings

• On (unclassified): そう (sō)
• Kun: あぶら (abura)

Korean

Hanja

臊 • (jo) (hangeul 조, revised jo, McCune–Reischauer cho, Yale co)

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