荏苒

Chinese

		Perilla ocimoides; soft	luxuriant growth; passing (of time)
simp. and trad. (荏苒)		荏	苒
anagram		苒荏

Etymology

A reduplicative, ideophonic compound in Late Old Chinese. Compare:

荏 (OC *njɯmʔ, “soft”),
苒苒 (OC *njamʔ njamʔ, “tender; gradual”),
冉冉 (OC *njamʔ njamʔ, “slowly passing or moving; hanging down gently”), and
荏染 (OC *njɯmʔ njomʔ, “soft; tender”) (Shijing).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): rěnrǎn

(Zhuyin): ㄖㄣˇ ㄖㄢˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): jam⁵ jim⁵
Min Nan (POJ): lím-liám

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: rěnrǎn [Phonetic: rénrǎn]
  - Zhuyin: ㄖㄣˇ ㄖㄢˇ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: reenraan
  - IPA ^(key): /ʐən²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʐa̠n²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: jam⁵ jim⁵
  - Yale: yáhm yíhm
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jam⁵ jim⁵
  - Guangdong Romanization: yem⁵ yim⁵
  - IPA ^(key): /jɐm¹³ jiːm¹³/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lím-liám
  - Tâi-lô: lím-liám
  - Phofsit Daibuun: lymliarm
  - IPA (Xiamen): /lim⁵³⁻⁴⁴ liam⁵³/

Middle Chinese: /ȵiɪm^X ȵiᴇm^X/▼

Rime
Character	荏	苒
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	日 (38)	日 (38)
Final (韻)	侵 (139)	鹽 (153)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	如甚切	而琰切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ȵiɪm^X/	/ȵiᴇm^X/
Pan Wuyun	/ȵim^X/	/ȵiɛm^X/
Shao Rongfen	/ȵʑjem^X/	/ȵʑjæm^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ȵim^X/	/ȵiam^X/
Li Rong	/ȵiəm^X/	/ȵiɛm^X/
Wang Li	/ȵʑĭĕm^X/	/ȵʑĭɛm^X/
Bernard Karlgren	/ȵʑi̯əm^X/	/ȵʑi̯ɛm^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	rěn	rǎn

Old Chinese▼
(Zhengzhang): /*njɯmʔ njamʔ/

Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	荏
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	rěn
Middle Chinese	‹ nyim^X ›
Old Chinese	/n[ə]mʔ/ (< num?)
English	a kind of big beans
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	荏	苒
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	10814	10785
Phonetic component	壬	冉
Rime group	侵	談
Rime subdivision	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	荏	冉
Old Chinese	/*njɯmʔ/	/*njamʔ/

Verb

荏苒

(literary, of time) to pass gradually; to elapse; to slip by quickly or imperceptibly
- 玄德回新野之後，光陰荏苒，又早新春。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  玄德回新野之后，光阴荏苒，又早新春。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, circa 14^th century CE
  Xuándé huí Xīnyě zhīhòu, guāngyīn rěnrǎn, yòu zǎo xīnchūn. [Pinyin]
  After Xuande returned to Xinye, the time slipped away till spring was near.
- 荏苒三年，陞了御史，欽點廣東學道。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
  荏苒三年，升了御史，钦点广东学道。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]
  From: Wu Jingzi, The Scholars, 1750 CE
  Rěnrǎn sān nián, shēng le yùshǐ, qīndiǎn Guǎngdōng xuédào. [Pinyin]
  In three years' time, he rose to the rank of censor and was appointed commissioner of education for Guangdong Province.
(literary) to waste (time); to play for time
(literary) to pass through many places; to move about

Derived terms

光陰荏苒／光阴荏苒 (guāngyīnrěnrǎn)
光陰荏苒，日月如梭／光阴荏苒，日月如梭
光陰荏苒，日月如流／光阴荏苒，日月如流
星霜荏苒

荏苒代謝／荏苒代谢
荏苒日月
韶光荏苒
風塵荏苒／风尘荏苒

Adjective

荏苒

(literary, ideophonic, of worry, sadness, etc.) incessant; never-ending; continual
(literary, ideophonic) Alternative form of 荏染 (“weak; delicate”).

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