參商

Chinese

		ginseng; take part in; participate ginseng; take part in; participate; join; attend; to join; unequal; varied; irregular; to counsel; uneven; not uniform	commerce; consult
trad. (參商)		參	商
simp. (参商)		参	商

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): shēnshāng

(Zhuyin): ㄕㄣㄕㄤ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shēnshāng
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄣㄕㄤ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shenshang
  - Wade–Giles: shên¹-shang¹
  - Yale: shēn-shāng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shenshang
  - Palladius: шэньшан (šɛnʹšan)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂən⁵⁵ ʂɑŋ⁵⁵/

Middle Chinese: srim syang

Rime
Character	參	商
Reading #	1/5	1/1
Initial (聲)	生 (21)	書 (26)
Final (韻)	侵 (140)	陽 (105)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	所今切	式羊切
Baxter	srim	syang
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʃˠiɪm/	/ɕɨɐŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/ʃᵚim/	/ɕiɐŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/ʃiem/	/ɕiɑŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʂjim/	/ɕɨaŋ/
Li Rong	/ʃjəm/	/ɕiaŋ/
Wang Li	/ʃĭĕm/	/ɕĭaŋ/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʂi̯əm/	/ɕi̯aŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shēn	shāng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sam¹	soeng¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*srum s-taŋ/

(Zhengzhang): /*srum hljaŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	參	商	商	商
Reading #	4/4	1/3	2/3	3/3
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	shēn	shāng	shāng	shāng
Middle Chinese	‹ srim ›	‹ syang ›	‹ syang ›	‹ syang ›
Old Chinese	/srum/ (should be s.rum)	/*s-taŋ/	/*s-taŋ/	/*s-taŋ/
English	the constellation Orion’ (named for the three stars in Orion’s belt)	musical note	(place name)	estimate; business; trader
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	參	商
Reading #	5/5	1/1
No.	1108	11097
Phonetic component	參	商
Rime group	侵	陽
Rime subdivision	3	0
Corresponding MC rime	森	商
Old Chinese	/*srum/	/*hljaŋ/

Noun

參商

(figurative) the condition of not meeting
- 相去三千里，參商書信難。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
  相去三千里，参商书信难。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
  From: 5–6th century, 吳均, 閨怨
  Xiāngqù sān qiān lǐ, shēnshāng shūxìn nán. [Pinyin]
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 人生不相見，動如參與商。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
  人生不相见，动如参与商。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
  From: 8th century, 杜甫, 贈衛八處士
  Rénshēng bù xiāngjiàn, dòng rú shēn yǔ shāng. [Pinyin]
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Synonyms

商參 / 商参

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (參商):

→ Korean: 삼상(參商) (samsang)