二八

Chinese

	two	eight
trad. (二八)	二	八
simp. ^#(二八)	二	八
Literally: “two eights”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): èrbā

(Zhuyin): ㄦˋ ㄅㄚ
Cantonese (Jyutping): ji⁶ baat³

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: èrbā
  - Zhuyin: ㄦˋ ㄅㄚ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: èrba
  - Wade–Giles: êrh⁴-pa¹
  - Yale: èr-bā
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ellba
  - Palladius: эрба (erba)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀɤɻ⁵¹ pä⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: ji⁶ baat³
  - Yale: yih baat
  - Cantonese Pinyin: ji⁶ baat⁸
  - Guangdong Romanization: yi⁶ bad³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiː²² paːt̚³/

Middle Chinese: nyijH peat

Rime
Character	二	八
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	日 (38)	幫 (1)
Final (韻)	脂 (15)	鎋 (75)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	II
Fanqie	而至切	博拔切
Baxter	nyijH	peat
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ȵiɪ^H/	/pˠɛt̚/
Pan Wuyun	/ȵi^H/	/pᵚæt̚/
Shao Rongfen	/ȵʑjɪ^H/	/pæt̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ȵi^H/	/pəɨt̚/
Li Rong	/ȵi^H/	/pɛt̚/
Wang Li	/ȵʑi^H/	/pæt̚/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ȵʑi^H/	/pat̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	èr	ba
Expected Cantonese Reflex	ji⁶	baat³

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*ni[j]-s pˤret/

(Zhengzhang): /*njis preːd/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	二	八
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	èr	bā
Middle Chinese	‹ nyij^H ›	‹ pɛt ›
Old Chinese	/*ni[j]-s/	/*pˁret/
English	two	eight
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	二	八
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	2824	89
Phonetic component	二	八
Rime group	脂	月
Rime subdivision	2	2
Corresponding MC rime	二	八
Old Chinese	/*njis/	/*preːd/

Numeral

二八

(literary) sixteen
- 有神人二八，連臂，為帝司夜於此野。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  有神人二八，连臂，为帝司夜于此野。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Classic of Mountains and Seas
  Yǒu shénrén èrbā, lián bì, wèi Dì sīyè yú cǐ yě. [Pinyin]
  There are sixteen gods, arm to arm, who guard the night in this field for [the deity] Di.
- 二八齊容，起鄭舞些。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  二八齐容，起郑舞些。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Verses of Chu, 4^th century BCE – 2^nd century CE
  Èrbā qí róng, qǐ Zhèng wǔ xiē. [Pinyin]
  Sixteen women dressed alike rise to dance to the music of Zheng.
- 且以色論之，良家子女二八靑春有之，綢縷捲簾之間娼妓少婦有之，靑山白水寡婦之類有之，何必奪有夫之女乎？ [Korean Literary Sinitic, trad.]
  From: 《義興人失其妻於本郡冊方爲定訴於本君》("A man of Uiheung, having lost his wife to a clerk of his county, raises complaint to the county") by Kim Byeong'yeon (金炳淵), 1800s
  Cha i saeng non ji, yangga janyeo ipal cheongchun yu ji, ju ru gwol lyeom ji gan changgi sobu yu ji, cheongsan baeksu gwabu ji ryu yu ji, hapil tal yu bu ji nyeo ho? [Sino-Korean]
  Moreover, if we are to speak of sex, there are sixteen-year-old maidens among the children of good families; there are young prostitutes rolling up screens of silken thread; there are widows living by green hills and clear waters; why should he have had to seize a married woman?

Synonyms

十六 (shíliù)

Derived terms

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (二八):

→ Japanese: 二八(にはち) (nihachi)
→ Korean: 이팔(二八) (ipal)