一言以蔽之

Chinese

		one sentence; something to say; brief remark	to use; according to; so as to to use; according to; so as to; in order to; by; with; because; Israel (abbrev.)	to cover; to shield; to screen to cover; to shield; to screen; to conceal	's; him/her/it; this
trad. (一言以蔽之)		一言	以	蔽	之
simp. #(一言以蔽之)		一言	以	蔽	之

Etymology

From the Analects, Book 2 (《論語·爲政》):

子曰：「詩三百，一言以蔽之，曰『思無邪』。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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子曰：「诗三百，一言以蔽之，曰『思无邪』。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Zǐyuē: “Shī sānbǎi, yīyán yǐ bì zhī, yuē ‘sīwúxié’.” [Pinyin]

The Master said, "In the Book of Poetry are three hundred pieces, but the design of them all may be embraced in one sentence — 'Having no depraved thoughts.'"

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yīyán yǐ bì zhī

  (Zhuyin): ㄧ ㄧㄢˊ ㄧˇ ㄅㄧˋ ㄓ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jat¹ jin⁴ ji⁵ bai³ zi¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yīyán yǐ bì zhī [Phonetic: yìyán yǐ bì zhī]
    • Zhuyin: ㄧ ㄧㄢˊ ㄧˇ ㄅㄧˋ ㄓ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yiyán yǐ bì jhih
    • Wade–Giles: i¹-yen² i³ pi⁴ chih¹
    • Yale: yī-yán yǐ bì jr̄
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: iyan yii bih jy
    • Palladius: иянь и би чжи (ijanʹ i bi čži)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ jɛn³⁵ i²¹⁴⁻²¹ pi⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jat¹ jin⁴ ji⁵ bai³ zi¹
    • Yale: yāt yìhn yíh bai jī
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jat⁷ jin⁴ ji⁵ bai³ dzi¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yed¹ yin⁴ yi⁵ bei³ ji¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐt̚⁵ jiːn²¹ jiː¹³ pɐi̯³³ t͡siː⁵⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: 'jit ngjon yiX pjiejH tsyi

Rime
Character	一	言	以	蔽	之
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	影 (34)	疑 (31)	以 (36)	幫 (1)	章 (23)
Final (韻)	質 (48)	元 (65)	之 (19)	祭 (35)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III	III	III	III
Fanqie	於悉切	語軒切	羊己切	必袂切	止而切
Baxter	'jit	ngjon	yiX	pjiejH	tsyi
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʔiɪt̚/	/ŋɨɐn/	/jɨX/	/piᴇiH/	/t͡ɕɨ/
Pan Wuyun	/ʔit̚/	/ŋiɐn/	/jɨX/	/piɛiH/	/t͡ɕɨ/
Shao Rongfen	/ʔjet̚/	/ŋiɐn/	/ieX/	/pjæiH/	/t͡ɕie/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʔit̚/	/ŋɨan/	/jɨX/	/piajH/	/cɨ/
Li Rong	/ʔiĕt̚/	/ŋiɐn/	/iəX/	/piɛiH/	/t͡ɕiə/
Wang Li	/ĭĕt̚/	/ŋĭɐn/	/jĭəX/	/pĭɛiH/	/t͡ɕĭə/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʔi̯ĕt̚/	/ŋɨ̯ɐn/	/iX/	/pi̯ɛiH/	/t͡ɕi/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yi	yán	yǐ	bì	zhī
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jat1	jin4	ji5	bai3	zi1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*ʔi[t]  ŋa[n]  ləʔ  pe[t]-s  tə/

  (Zhengzhang): /*qliɡ  ŋan  lɯʔ  peds  tjɯ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	一	言	以	蔽	之
Reading #	1/1	3/4	1/1	1/1	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yī	yán	yǐ	bì	zhī
Middle Chinese	‹ ʔjit ›	‹ ngjon ›	‹ yiX ›	‹ pjiejH ›	‹ tsyi ›
Old Chinese	/*ʔi[t]/	/*ŋa[n]/	/*ləʔ/	/*pe[t]-s/	/*tə/
English	one	speak; speech	take, use	cover (v.)	(3p object pronoun; attributive 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	一	言	以	蔽	之
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1
No.	14833	14271	14929	627	17188
Phonetic component	一	言	以	敝	之
Rime group	質	元	之	祭	之
Rime subdivision	2	1	0	2	0
Corresponding MC rime	一	言	以	蔽	之
Old Chinese	/*qliɡ/	/*ŋan/	/*lɯʔ/	/*peds/	/*tjɯ/

Idiom

一言以蔽之

1. to summarize in a word; in a nutshell

Synonyms

• 一言蔽之 (yīyánbìzhī)

Descendants

• → Japanese: 一言以って之を蔽う (ichigen motte kore o ōu) (calque)