# 太后
## Chinese
### Etymology

Attested earliest in Stratagems of the Warring States:
    From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5th – 3rd centuries BCE
    Zhōujūn zhī qín. Wèi Zhōu Zuì yuē: “Bùrú yù Qínwáng zhī xiào yě, yīn yǐ yìng wèi tàihòu yǎngdì. Qínwáng, tàihòu bì xǐ, shì gōng yǒu Qín yě. Jiāo shàn, Zhōujūn bì yǐwèi gōng gōng; jiāo è, quàn Zhōujūn rù Qín zhě, bì yǒuzuì yǐ.” [Pinyin]
    The Lord of Zhou was going to Qin, and someone spoke to Zhou Zui, saying: "You could do no better than to praise the filial piety of the King of Qin, and take the opportunity to provide land to support the Queen Dowager. The King of Qin and the Queen Dowager will certainly be pleased, and this being so you will gain Qin's support. If relations improve, the Lord of Zhou will attribute the success to you. If they decline, whoever prompted him to go to Qin will certainly be blamed."

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): tàihòu
    (Zhuyin): ㄊㄞˋ ㄏㄡˋ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): taai$^3$ hau$^6$
* Hakka (Sixian, PFS): thai-heu
* Eastern Min (BUC): tái-hâiu
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): thài-hiǒ / thài-hō͘ / thài-hiō
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: tàihòu
*** Zhuyin: ㄊㄞˋ ㄏㄡˋ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: tàihòu
*** Wade–Giles: tʻai$^4$-hou$^4$
*** Yale: tài-hòu
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tayhow
*** Palladius: тайхоу (tajxou)
*** Sinological IPA : /tʰaɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ xoʊ̯⁵¹/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: taai$^3$ hau$^6$
*** Yale: taai hauh
*** Cantonese Pinyin: taai$^3$ hau$^6$
*** Guangdong Romanization: tai$^3$ heo$^6$
*** Sinological IPA : /tʰaːi̯³³ hɐu̯²²/
* Hakka
** (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: thai-heu
*** Hakka Romanization System: tai heu
*** Hagfa Pinyim: tai$^4$ heu$^4$
*** Sinological IPA: /tʰai̯⁵⁵ heu̯⁵⁵/
* Eastern Min
** (Fuzhou)
*** Bàng-uâ-cê: tái-hâiu
*** Sinological IPA : /tʰai²¹³⁻⁵³ $^{(h-)}$ɑu²⁴²/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thài-hiǒ
*** Tâi-lô: thài-hiǒ
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /tʰai⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ hio²²/
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thài-hō͘
*** Tâi-lô: thài-hōo
*** Phofsit Daibuun: tae'ho
*** IPA (Taipei): /tʰai¹¹⁻⁵³ hɔ³³/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /tʰai²¹⁻⁴¹ hɔ³³/
*** IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /tʰai²¹⁻⁵³ hɔ²²/
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thài-hiō
*** Tâi-lô: thài-hiō
*** Phofsit Daibuun: tae'hioi
*** IPA (Taipei): /tʰai¹¹⁻⁵³ hio³³/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /tʰai²¹⁻⁴¹ hiɤ³³/
* Middle Chinese: thajH huwX|huwH
Rime :
| Character | 太 | 后 | 后 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/2 | 2/2 |
| Initial (聲) | 透 (6) | 匣 (33) | 匣 (33) |
| Final (韻) | 泰 (25) | 侯 (137) | 侯 (137) |
| Tone (調) | Departing (H) | Rising (X) | Departing (H) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | I | I | I |
| Fanqie | 他蓋切 | 胡口切 | 胡遘切 |
| Baxter | thajH | huwX | huwH |
| Reconstructions ||||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /tʰɑi$^H$/ | /ɦəu$^X$/ | /ɦəu$^H$/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /tʰɑi$^H$/ | /ɦəu$^X$/ | /ɦəu$^H$/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /tʰɑi$^H$/ | /ɣəu$^X$/ | /ɣəu$^H$/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /tʰaj$^H$/ | /ɦəw$^X$/ | /ɦəw$^H$/ |
| Li Rong | /tʰɑi$^H$/ | /ɣu$^X$/ | /ɣu$^H$/ |
| Wang Li | /tʰɑi$^H$/ | /ɣəu$^X$/ | /ɣəu$^H$/ |
| Bernard Karlgren | /tʰɑi$^H$/ | /ɣə̯u$^X$/ | /ɣə̯u$^H$/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | tài | hòu | hòu |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | taai$^3$ | hau$^6$ | hau$^6$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*l̥ˤa[t]-s ɢˤ(r)oʔ/
    (Zhengzhang): /*tʰaːds ɡoːʔ|ɡoːs/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 太 | 后 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | tài | hòu |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ thaj$^H$ › | ‹ huw$^X$ › |
| Old Chinese | /*l̥ˁa[t]-s/ | /*ɢˁ(r)oʔ/ |
| English | great | sovereign; queen |
| 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 | 太 | 后 | 后 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/2 | 2/2 |
| No. | 1937 | 5168 | 5172 |
| Phonetic component | 大 | 后 | 后 |
| Rime group | 祭 | 侯 | 侯 |
| Rime subdivision | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 泰 | 厚 | 𠋫 |
| Old Chinese | /*tʰaːds/ | /*ɡoːʔ/ | /*ɡoːs/ |

### Noun

太后
* empress dowager
    From: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, circa 14th century CE
    Yǒnglè tàihòu bàobēng, zhònglùn huò yān [Pinyin]
    After the empress dowager of Yongle palace suddenly died, people talked about it with suspicion

#### Synonyms

* 皇太后 (huángtàihòu)

#### Derived terms

* 呂太后的筵席
* 太皇太后 (tài huáng tàihòu)
* 慈安太后
* 慈禧太后 (Cíxǐ Tàihòu)
* 王太后 (wángtàihòu)
* 皇太后 (huángtàihòu)
* 竇太后
* 西太后 (Xītàihòu)

#### Descendants

* → Japanese: 太后(たいこう) (taikō)
* → Korean: 태후(太后) (taehu)
* → Vietnamese: thái hậu (太后)
* → Thai: ไทเฮา (tai-hao)

## Japanese
### Etymology 1

Kanji in this term :
| 太 | 后 |
| たい Grade: 2 | こう Grade: 6 |
| on'yomi | kan'on |
From Middle Chinese 太后 (MC thajH huwX|huwH).

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) たいこー [tàíkóó] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [ta̠iko̞ː]

#### Noun

太(たい)后(こう) • (taikō)
* an empress dowager
    Synonym: 皇太后 (kōtaigō)

### Etymology 2

Kanji in this term :
| 太 | 后 |
| おお Grade: 2 | きさい Grade: 6 |
| nanori | kun'yomi |
Extension of 大后 (ōkisaki, “empress”), also read as later ōkisai.

#### Noun

太(おお)后(きさき) • (ōkisaki) or 太(おお)后(きさい) • (ōkisai)
* (archaic) an empress dowager
** c. 1001–1014, Murasaki Shikibu, Genji Monogatari (Sakaki)
    大(おほ)后(きさき)も参(まゐ)りたまはむとするを...
       ōkisaki mo mairi-tamahan to suru o...
       Though the Empress Dowager also thought she would visit him...

##### Derived terms

* 皇太后(おおきさいの)宮(みや) (ōkisai no miya)

### References

* ↑ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

## Korean

Hanja in this term :
| 太 | 后 |

### Noun

太后 • (taehu) (hangeul 태후)
* hanja form of 태후 (“empress dowager”)

## Old Japanese
### Etymology

Extension of 大后 (opoki₁saki₁, “empress”).

### Noun

太后 (opoki₁saki₁) (kana おほきさき)
* an empress dowager
** 720, Nihon Shoki, Emperor Suizei (first year [581 BCE] and month of reign; Atsuda-bon glosses):尊$_レ$皇-后、曰$_二$皇太后$_一$。[He] honoured the Empress by granting her [the title] of empress dowager.

#### Derived terms

* 皇太后宮 (opoki₁saki₁ no₂ mi₁ya)

#### Descendants

* Japanese: 太后 (ōkisaki → ōkisai)

## Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term :
| 太 | 后 |

### Noun

太后
* chữ Hán form of thái hậu (“empress dowager”).