染指

Chinese

to catch (a disease); dye
 
finger; to point; to direct
finger; to point; to direct; to indicate
trad. (染指) 染 指
simp. #(染指) 染 指

Etymology

楚人獻黿於鄭靈公。公子宋與子家將見,子公之食指動,以示子家,曰:‘他日我如此,必嘗異味。’……及食大夫黿,召子公而弗與也。子公怒,染指於鼎,嘗之而出。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
楚人献鼋于郑灵公。公子宋与子家将见,子公之食指动,以示子家,曰:‘他日我如此,必尝异味。’……及食大夫鼋,召子公而弗与也。子公怒,染指于鼎,尝之而出。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4th century BCE
Chǔ rén xiàn yuán yú Zhènglínggōng. Gōngzǐ Sòng yǔ Zǐjiā jiāng jiàn, Zǐgōng zhī shízhǐ dòng, yǐ shì Zǐjiā, yuē: ‘Tārì wǒ rúcǐ, bì cháng yìwèi.’...... Jí shí dàfū yuán, zhào Zǐgōng ér fú yǔ yě. Zǐgōng nù, rǎn zhǐ yúdǐng, cháng zhī ér chū. [Pinyin]
People from Chu presented a large turtle to Lord Ling of Zheng. Gongzi Song and Gongzi Guisheng were about to have an audience with the lord. Gongzi Song’s index finger moved involuntarily. He showed it to Gongzi Guisheng and said, “On other days when my finger did this, I always without fail got to taste something extraordinary.” ......When the lord had the high officers partake of the turtle, he called Gongzi Song forward but did not give him any. Furious, Gongzi Song dipped his finger into the cauldron, tasted the turtle, and left.

Pronunciation



Rime
Character 染 染 指
Reading # 1/2 2/2 1/1
Initial (聲) 日 (38) 日 (38) 章 (23)
Final (韻) 鹽 (153) 鹽 (153) 脂 (17)
Tone (調) Rising (X) Departing (H) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open Open Open
Division (等) III III III
Fanqie 而琰切 而豔切 職雉切
Baxter nyemX nyemH tsyijX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ȵiᴇmX/ /ȵiᴇmH/ /t͡ɕˠiɪX/
Pan
Wuyun
/ȵiɛmX/ /ȵiɛmH/ /t͡ɕᵚiX/
Shao
Rongfen
/ȵʑjæmX/ /ȵʑjæmH/ /t͡ɕiɪX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ȵiamX/ /ȵiamH/ /cjiX/
Li
Rong
/ȵiɛmX/ /ȵiɛmH/ /t͡ɕjiX/
Wang
Li
/ȵʑĭɛmX/ /ȵʑĭɛmH/ /t͡ɕiX/
Bernard
Karlgren
/ȵʑi̯ɛmX/ /ȵʑi̯ɛmH/ /t͡ɕiX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
rǎn ràn zhǐ
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
jim5 jim6 zi2
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 染 指
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
rǎn zhǐ
Middle
Chinese
‹ nyemX › ‹ tsyijX ›
Old
Chinese
/*C.n[a]mʔ/ /*mə.kijʔ/
English to dye finger; point

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 染 染 指
Reading # 1/2 2/2 1/1
No. 10790 10791 17325
Phonetic
component
染 染 旨
Rime
group
談 談 脂
Rime
subdivision
3 3 2
Corresponding
MC rime
冉 染 旨
Old
Chinese
/*njomʔ/ /*njoms/ /*kjiʔ/

Verb

染指

  1. (literally) to dip a finger
  2. to encroach on; to have a hand in
  3. to meddle in; to interfere in
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