萬歲

See also: 万歳 and 万岁

Chinese

Chinese phrasebook

This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness.

		ten thousand; a great number; surname	year; years old; (a measure word)
trad. (萬歲)		萬	歲
simp. (万岁)		万	岁
alternative forms		万歲
Literally: “ten thousand years”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wànsuì

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄢˋ ㄙㄨㄟˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): maan⁶ seoi³
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): van-soi / van-sui
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): bān-sòe

  (Teochew, Peng'im): bhuêng⁷ suê³

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶ve-soe

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wànsuì
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄢˋ ㄙㄨㄟˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wànsuèi
    • Wade–Giles: wan⁴-sui⁴
    • Yale: wàn-swèi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wannsuey
    • Palladius: ваньсуй (vanʹsuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wän⁵¹⁻⁵³ su̯eɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: maan⁶ seoi³
    • Yale: maahn seui
    • Cantonese Pinyin: maan⁶ soey³
    • Guangdong Romanization: man⁶ sêu³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /maːn²² sɵy̯³³/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: van-soi
    • Hakka Romanization System: van soi
    • Hagfa Pinyim: van⁴ soi⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /van⁵⁵ soi̯⁵⁵/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: van-sui
    • Hakka Romanization System: van sui
    • Hagfa Pinyim: van⁴ sui⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /van⁵⁵ su̯i⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bān-sòe
    • Tâi-lô: bān-suè
    • Phofsit Daibuun: baxnsoex
    • IPA (Xiamen): /ban²²⁻²¹ sue²¹/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ban⁴¹⁻²² sue⁴¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /ban²²⁻²¹ sue²¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /ban³³⁻¹¹ sue¹¹/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ban³³⁻²¹ sue²¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: bhuêng⁷ suê³
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: buēng suè
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /bueŋ¹¹ sue²¹³/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁶ve-soe
    • MiniDict: ve^去 soe
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³ve-soe
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ve²² sø⁴⁴/

---

• Middle Chinese: mjonH sjwejH

Rime
Character	萬	歲
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	明 (4)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	元 (66)	祭 (36)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Closed
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	無販切	相銳切
Baxter	mjonH	sjwejH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/mʉɐnH/	/siuᴇiH/
Pan Wuyun	/mʷiɐnH/	/sʷiɛiH/
Shao Rongfen	/miuɐnH/	/siuæiH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/muanH/	/swiajH/
Li Rong	/miuɐnH/	/siuɛiH/
Wang Li	/mĭwɐnH/	/sĭwɛiH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/mi̯wɐnH/	/si̯wɛiH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	wàn	suì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	maan6	seoi3

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*C.ma[n]-s  s-qʷʰat-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*mlans  sqʰʷads|sqʰʷad/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	萬	歲
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	wàn	suì
Middle Chinese	‹ mjonH ›	‹ sjwejH ›
Old Chinese	/*C.ma[n]-s/	/*s-qʷʰat-s/
English	10000	year
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	萬	歲	歲
Reading #	1/1	1/2	2/2
No.	12633	12165	12175
Phonetic component	萬	歲	歲
Rime group	元	祭	月
Rime subdivision	1	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	万		雪
Old Chinese	/*mlans/	/*sqʰʷads/	/*sqʰʷad/
Notes		甲金文戉分化字， 說文戌聲非

Verb

萬歲

1. to long live (in exclamations); may ... have a long life; hooray

   祖國萬歲！／祖国万岁！  ―  Zǔguó wànsuì!  ―  Long live the motherland!

   吾皇萬歲萬歲萬萬歲！ [MSC, trad.]
   吾皇万岁万岁万万岁！ [MSC, simp.]

   Wúhuáng wànsuì wànsuì wànwànsuì! [Pinyin]

   [May] my Emperor [live and reign for] ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years! (chant in imperial Chinese courts)

2. (Cantonese, colloquial) to treat or shout others to a meal

Usage notes

Traditionally, the phrase ten thousand years is only reserved for the emperors, while empress consorts and empresses dowager are addressed with the phrase thousand years (千歲／千岁). In modern times, this is also applied to leaders of a country, the country itself, as well as being used as a general expression of enthusiasm.

Noun

萬歲

1. (historical) Your Majesty; the emperor

Derived terms

• 千秋萬歲 / 千秋万岁 (qiānqiūwànsuì)
• 吾皇萬歲 / 吾皇万岁
• 山呼萬歲 / 山呼万岁
• 萬歲千秋 / 万岁千秋
• 萬歲子 / 万岁子
• 萬歲爺 / 万岁爷 (wànsuìyé)
• 萬萬歲 / 万万岁 (wànwànsuì)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (萬歲):

• → Japanese: 万歳(ばんざい) (banzai); 万歳(まんざい) (manzai); 万歳(ばんぜい) (banzei) (see there for further descendants)
• → Korean: 만세(萬歲) (manse) (see there for further descendants)
• → Vietnamese: vạn tuế (萬歲)

Others:

• → Vietnamese: muôn tuổi (萬歲), muôn năm (萬年) (calques)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
萬	歲
Jinmeiyō	Hyōgai

For pronunciation and definitions of 萬歲 – see the following entries.

【万歳ばんざい】 [noun] an extremely long period of time [noun] (raising one's hands three times in cheer) raising ones hands [noun] (raising one's hands in defeat) business troubles, bankruptcy [interjection] an expression of celebration 【万歳ばんぜい】 [noun] an extremely long period of time [noun] long life and glory [noun] death [interjection] an expression of celebration 【万歳まんざい】 [noun] an extremely long period of time [noun] (historical) alternative form of 萬歳 (“Edo manzai (a traditional New Year performance)”) [noun] a song and dance to celebrate a new year [noun] a song sung to celebrate a new year [interjection] an expression of celebration

(This term, 萬歲, is the kyūjitai of the above term.)

【萬歳まんざい】 [noun] (historical) door-to-door manzai; Edo manzai (a traditional Japanese performing art in which performers wish patrons long life and prosperity as part of New Year festivities) Alternative spellings 万歳, 万才

(This term, 萬歲, is the kyūjitai of an alternative spelling (万歳) of the above term.)

Korean

Hanja in this term
萬	歲

Interjection

萬歲 • (manse) (hangeul 만세)

1. hanja form^? of 만세 (“long live”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
萬	歲

Interjection

萬歲

1. chữ Hán form of vạn tuế (“(archaic, to a monarch) long live”).

See also

• 𨷈𢆥 (muôn năm)

Noun

(classifier cây) 萬歲

1. chữ Hán form of vạn tuế (“sago palm (Cycas revoluta)”).

See also

• 千歲 (thiên tuế) (“Cycas pectinata”)