使者

Chinese

		to make; to cause; to enable to make; to cause; to enable; to use; to employ; messenger	‑ist, ‑er (person); person (who does something)
simp. and trad. (使者)		使	者

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): shǐzhě

(Zhuyin): ㄕˇ ㄓㄜˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): si³ ze² / si⁵ ze²
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sṳ́-chá
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sù-chiá

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shǐzhě [Phonetic: shízhě]
  - Zhuyin: ㄕˇ ㄓㄜˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shǐhjhě
  - Wade–Giles: shih³-chê³
  - Yale: shř-jě
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyyjee
  - Palladius: шичжэ (šičžɛ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: si³ ze² / si⁵ ze²
  - Yale: si jé / síh jé
  - Cantonese Pinyin: si³ dze² / si⁵ dze²
  - Guangdong Romanization: xi³ zé² / xi⁵ zé²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /siː³³ t͡sɛː³⁵/, /siː¹³ t͡sɛː³⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sṳ́-chá
  - Hakka Romanization System: sii^ˋ za^ˋ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: si³ za³
  - Sinological IPA: /sɨ³¹ t͡sa³¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sù-chiá
  - Tâi-lô: sù-tsiá
  - Phofsit Daibuun: suociar
  - IPA (Taipei): /su¹¹⁻⁵³ t͡sia⁵³/
  - IPA (Xiamen): /su²¹⁻⁵³ t͡sia⁵³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /su²¹⁻⁴¹ t͡sia⁴¹/

Middle Chinese: sriH tsyaeX

Rime
Character	使	者
Reading #	2/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	生 (21)	章 (23)
Final (韻)	之 (19)	麻 (100)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	踈吏切	章也切
Baxter	sriH	tsyaeX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʃɨ^H/	/t͡ɕia^X/
Pan Wuyun	/ʃɨ^H/	/t͡ɕia^X/
Shao Rongfen	/ʃie^H/	/t͡ɕia^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʂɨ^H/	/cia^X/
Li Rong	/ʃiə^H/	/t͡ɕia^X/
Wang Li	/ʃĭə^H/	/t͡ɕĭa^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʂi^H/	/t͡ɕi̯a^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shì	zhě
Expected Cantonese Reflex	si³	ze²

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*s-rəʔ-s tAʔ/

(Zhengzhang): /*srɯs tjaːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	使	者
Reading #	2/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	shǐ	zhě
Middle Chinese	‹ sri^H ›	‹ tsyæ^X ›
Old Chinese	/*s-rəʔ-s/	/*tAʔ/
English	envoy	(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	使	者
Reading #	2/2	1/1
No.	11491	16960
Phonetic component	史	者
Rime group	之	魚
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	𩢲	者
Old Chinese	/*srɯs/	/*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

使者

herald; messenger; emissary; envoy (Classifier: 位)
派使者 ― pài shǐzhě ― to dispatch an envoy

Derived terms

和平使者 (hépíng shǐzhě)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (使者):

→ Japanese: 使(し)者(しゃ) (shisha)
→ Korean: 사자(使者) (saja)
→ Vietnamese: sứ giả (使者)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
使	者
し Grade: 3	しゃ Grade: 3
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
(kyūjitai)

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 使者 (MC sriH tsyaeX).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) ししゃ [shíꜜshà] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]^[2]^[3]
IPA^(key): [ɕiɕa̠]

Noun

使(し)者(しゃ) • (shisha)

herald, messenger
emissary, envoy

Synonyms

布告者(ふこくしゃ) (fukokusha): herald (a person)
前触(まえぶ)れ (maebure): herald (figurative)
伝令官(でんれいかん) (denreikan)

References

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term
使	者

Noun

使者 • (saja) (hangeul 사자)

hanja form^? of 사자 (“envoy; emissary; messenger”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
使	者

Noun

使者

chữ Hán form of sứ giả (“envoy; emissary”)