冥冥

Chinese

		dark; deep	dark; deep
simp. and trad. (冥冥)		冥	冥

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): míngmíng

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄇㄧㄥˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ming⁵ ming⁵ / ming⁴ ming⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: míngmíng
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄇㄧㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: míngmíng
    • Wade–Giles: ming²-ming²
    • Yale: míng-míng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mingming
    • Palladius: минмин (minmin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /miŋ³⁵ miŋ³⁵/
    • Homophones:

      edit edit 明明 溟溟

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ming⁵ ming⁵ / ming⁴ ming⁴
    • Yale: míhng míhng / mìhng mìhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ming⁵ ming⁵ / ming⁴ ming⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: ming⁵ ming⁵ / ming⁴ ming⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɪŋ¹³ mɪŋ¹³/, /mɪŋ²¹ mɪŋ²¹/

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• Middle Chinese: meng meng

Rime
Character	冥
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	青 (125)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	IV
Fanqie	莫經切
Baxter	meng
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/meŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/meŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/mɛŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/mɛjŋ/
Li Rong	/meŋ/
Wang Li	/mieŋ/
Bernhard Karlgren	/mieŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	míng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	ming4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*mˤeŋ  mˤeŋ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*meːŋ  meːŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	冥
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	míng
Middle Chinese	‹ meng ›
Old Chinese	/*mˁeŋ/
English	dark
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	冥
Reading #	1/1
No.	9197
Phonetic component	冥
Rime group	耕
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	冥
Old Chinese	/*meːŋ/

Adjective

冥冥

1. (literary, ideophonic) dusky; dark and gloomy

   • 冥冥子規叫，微徑不敢取。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     冥冥子规叫，微径不敢取。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 759 CE, Du Fu, At Dharma Mirror Temple (《法鏡寺》)

     Míngmíng zǐguī jiào, wēijìng bùgǎn qǔ. [Pinyin]

     Dark in the distance the cuckoo crows Go Go,
     The narrow path to the temple I dare not seek.

   • 1046 October 17, 范仲淹 (Fan Zhongyan), 岳陽樓記:

     薄暮冥冥，虎嘯猿啼。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     薄暮冥冥，虎啸猿啼。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     Bómù míngmíng, hǔxiào yuántí. [Pinyin]

     At twilight it becomes dark and gloomy; the tigers roar and the apes call.

Synonyms

edit

• 慘 / 惨 (cǎn) (literary, or in compounds)
• 慘淡 / 惨淡 (cǎndàn)
• 慘白 / 惨白 (cǎnbái)
• 昏暗 (hūn'àn)
• 昏沉 (hūnchén)
• 昏黑 (hūnhēi)
• 晦冥 (huìmíng) (literary, used both literally and figuratively)
• 晦暗 (huì'àn) (literary)
• 暗淡 (àndàn) (used both literally and figuratively)
• 烏暗 / 乌暗 (Hokkien, Teochew)
• 瞀 (obsolete or Eastern Min)
• 陰幽 / 阴幽 (yīnyōu) (literary)
• 黑暗 (hēi'àn)

Derived terms

• 俏冥冥
• 冥冥中
• 冥冥之中
• 冥冥之志
• 悄冥冥
• 悄悄冥冥
• 愁緒冥冥 / 愁绪冥冥
• 渺渺冥冥
• 窈窈冥冥
• 窈窕冥冥
• 薄暮冥冥
• 邈冥冥
• 飛鴻冥冥 / 飞鸿冥冥
• 鴻飛冥冥 / 鸿飞冥冥
• 鴻飛冥冥，弋人何慕 / 鸿飞冥冥，弋人何慕

Japanese

Kanji in this term
冥	冥
めい Grade: S	めい Grade: S
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
冥々

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) めーめー [mèéméé] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [me̞ːme̞ː]

Adjective

冥(めい)冥(めい) • (meimei) ^†-tari (adnominal 冥(めい)冥(めい)とした (meimei to shita) or 冥(めい)冥(めい)たる (meimei taru), adverbial 冥(めい)冥(めい)と (meimei to) or 冥(めい)冥(めい)として (meimei to shite))

1. dark, dim
2. unclear (situation, prospects)

Conjugation

Classical conjugation of "冥冥たり" (タリ活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	冥冥たら	めいめいたら	meimeitara
Continuative (連用形)	冥冥と[1] 冥冥たり[2]	めいめいと めいめいたり	meimeito meimeitari
Terminal (終止形)	冥冥たり	めいめいたり	meimeitari
Attributive (連体形)	冥冥たる	めいめいたる	meimeitaru
Realis (已然形)	冥冥たれ	めいめいたれ	meimeitare
Imperative (命令形)	冥冥たれ	めいめいたれ	meimeitare
Key constructions
Negative	冥冥たらず	めいめいたらず	meimeitarazu
Contrasting conjunction	冥冥たれど	めいめいたれど	meimeitaredo
Causal conjunction	冥冥たれば	めいめいたれば	meimeitareba
Conditional conjunction	冥冥たらば	めいめいたらば	meimeitaraba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	冥冥たりき	めいめいたりき	meimeitariki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	冥冥たりけり	めいめいたりけり	meimeitarikeri
Adverbial	冥冥と	めいめいと	meimeito

^[1]Without auxiliary verb.
^[2]With auxiliary verb.

References

• “冥冥”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026