善男信女

Chinese

	a pious man	female Buddhist devotee
trad. (善男信女)	善男	信女
simp. ^#(善男信女)	善男	信女
Literally: “virtuous men and faithful women”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): shànnán xìnnǚ

(Zhuyin): ㄕㄢˋ ㄋㄢˊ ㄒㄧㄣˋ ㄋㄩˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): sin⁶ naam⁴ seon³ neoi^5-2 / sin⁶ naam⁴ seon³ neoi⁵
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): siān-lâm-sìn-lú / siān-lâm-sìn-lír / siān-lâm-sìn-lí

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shànnán xìnnǚ
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄢˋ ㄋㄢˊ ㄒㄧㄣˋ ㄋㄩˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shànnán sìnnyǔ
  - Wade–Giles: shan⁴-nan² hsin⁴-nü³
  - Yale: shàn-nán syìn-nyǔ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shannnan shinnneu
  - Palladius: шаньнань синьнюй (šanʹnanʹ sinʹnjuj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂän⁵¹ nän³⁵ ɕin⁵¹ ny²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: sin⁶ naam⁴ seon³ neoi^5-2 / sin⁶ naam⁴ seon³ neoi⁵
  - Yale: sihn nàahm seun néui / sihn nàahm seun néuih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sin⁶ naam⁴ soen³ noey^5-2 / sin⁶ naam⁴ soen³ noey⁵
  - Guangdong Romanization: xin⁶ nam⁴ sên³ nêu^5-2 / xin⁶ nam⁴ sên³ nêu⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːn²² naːm²¹ sɵn³³ nɵy̯¹³⁻³⁵/, /siːn²² naːm²¹ sɵn³³ nɵy̯¹³/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siān-lâm-sìn-lú
  - Tâi-lô: siān-lâm-sìn-lú
  - Phofsit Daibuun: siexnlamsienluo
  - IPA (Taipei): /siɛn³³⁻¹¹ lam²⁴⁻¹¹ sin¹¹⁻⁵³ lu⁵³/
  - IPA (Xiamen): /siɛn²²⁻²¹ lam²⁴⁻²² sin²¹⁻⁵³ lu⁵³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /siɛn³³⁻²¹ lam²³⁻³³ sin²¹⁻⁴¹ lu⁴¹/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siān-lâm-sìn-lír
  - Tâi-lô: siān-lâm-sìn-lír
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /siɛn⁴¹⁻²² lam²⁴⁻²² sin⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ lɯ⁵⁵⁴/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siān-lâm-sìn-lí
  - Tâi-lô: siān-lâm-sìn-lí
  - Phofsit Daibuun: siexnlamsienlie
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /siɛn²²⁻²¹ lam¹³⁻²² sin²¹⁻⁵³ li⁵³/

Noun

善男信女

devotees or followers of Buddhism, later extended to Taoism and other Chinese traditions

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (善男信女):

→ Vietnamese: thiện nam tín nữ (善男信女)

References

“善男信女”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
善	男	信	女

Noun

善男信女

chữ Hán form of thiện nam tín nữ (“Buddhists as a whole”)