賢者

See also: 贤者

Chinese

		worthy (person)	‑ist, ‑er (person); person (who does something)
trad. (賢者)		賢	者
simp. (贤者)		贤	者

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiánzhě

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄢˊ ㄓㄜˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jin⁴ ze²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): hiân-chiá

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiánzhě
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄢˊ ㄓㄜˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siánjhě
    • Wade–Giles: hsien²-chê³
    • Yale: syán-jě
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyanjee
    • Palladius: сяньчжэ (sjanʹčžɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɛn³⁵ ʈ͡ʂɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)⁺
    • Jyutping: jin⁴ ze²
    • Yale: yìhn jé
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jin⁴ dze²
    • Guangdong Romanization: yin⁴ zé²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiːn²¹ t͡sɛː³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hiân-chiá
    • Tâi-lô: hiân-tsiá
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hienciar
    • IPA (Xiamen): /hiɛn²⁴⁻²² t͡sia⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /hiɛn²⁴⁻²² t͡sia⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /hiɛn¹³⁻²² t͡sia⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /hiɛn²⁴⁻¹¹ t͡sia⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /hiɛn²³⁻³³ t͡sia⁴¹/

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• Middle Chinese: hen tsyaeX

Rime
Character	賢	者
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	匣 (33)	章 (23)
Final (韻)	先 (85)	麻 (100)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	IV	III
Fanqie	胡田切	章也切
Baxter	hen	tsyaeX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɦen/	/t͡ɕiaX/
Pan Wuyun	/ɦen/	/t͡ɕiaX/
Shao Rongfen	/ɣɛn/	/t͡ɕiaX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɦɛn/	/ciaX/
Li Rong	/ɣen/	/t͡ɕiaX/
Wang Li	/ɣien/	/t͡ɕĭaX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ɣien/	/t͡ɕi̯aX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xián	zhě
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jin4	ze2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[g]ˤi[n]  tAʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɡiːn  tjaːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	賢	者
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xián	zhě
Middle Chinese	‹ hen ›	‹ tsyæX ›
Old Chinese	/*[g]ˁi[n]/	/*tAʔ/
English	worthy	(nominalizing particle)
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	賢	者
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	1337	16960
Phonetic component	臣	者
Rime group	眞	魚
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	賢	者
Old Chinese	/*ɡiːn/	/*tjaːʔ/
Notes		說文古旅聲。甲金文象足印小坎積水， 爲瀦初文，用詹鄞鑫說

Noun

賢者

1. (literary) a person of high moral character; a person of talent; a worthy

   • 勿耨茶在海中。作石磚高房，城郭堅美。其國無君主而國治，每年大家眾人選賢者管事，事畢則為平人。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     勿耨茶在海中。作石砖高房，城郭坚美。其国无君主而国治，每年大家众人选贤者管事，事毕则为平人。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 《方輿勝略》, 1610

     Wùnòuchá zài hǎizhōng. Zuò shí zhuān gāo fáng, chéngguō jiān měi. Qí guó wú jūnzhǔ ér guó zhì, měinián dàjiā zhòngrén xuǎn xiánzhě guǎnshì, shì bì zé wèi píngrén. [Pinyin]

     Venice is in the middle of the sea. It has tall buildings of stone brick, and its fortifications are sturdy and beautiful. The country has no monarch, but is yet at peace; every year, the great families and common people choose a wise person to be in charge, and once his work is finished he returns to being a commoner.

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (賢者):

• → Japanese: 賢者(けんじゃ) (kenja)
• → Korean: 현자(賢者) (hyeonja)
• → Vietnamese: hiền giả (賢者)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
賢	者
けん Grade: S	しゃ > じゃ Grade: 3
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
賢者 (kyūjitai)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) けんじゃ [kéꜜǹjà] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [kẽ̞ɲ̟d͡ʑa̠]

Noun

賢(けん)者(じゃ) • (kenja) 

1. a wise man; a sage

Derived terms

• 賢者(けんじゃ)の石(いし) (kenja no ishi)
• 賢者(けんじゃ)タイム (kenja taimu)

References

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

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
賢	者

Noun

賢者

1. chữ Hán form of hiền giả