# 太古
## Chinese
### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): tàigǔ
    (Zhuyin): ㄊㄞˋ ㄍㄨˇ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): taai$^3$ gu$^2$
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): thài-kó͘
* Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): $^5$tha-ku
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: tàigǔ
*** Zhuyin: ㄊㄞˋ ㄍㄨˇ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: tàigǔ
*** Wade–Giles: tʻai$^4$-ku$^3$
*** Yale: tài-gǔ
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tayguu
*** Palladius: тайгу (tajgu)
*** Sinological IPA : /tʰaɪ̯⁵¹ ku²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
*** Homophones: [Show/Hide]$^{edit}$太古 太鼓
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: taai$^3$ gu$^2$
*** Yale: taai gú
*** Cantonese Pinyin: taai$^3$ gu$^2$
*** Guangdong Romanization: tai$^3$ gu$^2$
*** Sinological IPA : /tʰaːi̯³³ kuː³⁵/
*** Homophones: $^{edit}$太古 太鼓
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: Xiamen)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thài-kó͘
*** Tâi-lô: thài-kóo
*** Phofsit Daibuun: tae'kor
*** IPA (Xiamen): /tʰai²¹⁻⁵³ kɔ⁵³/
* Wu
** (Northern: Shanghai)
*** Wugniu: $^5$tha-ku
*** MiniDict: tha$^去$ ku
*** Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): $^2$tha-ku
*** Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /tʰa³³ ku⁴⁴/
* Middle Chinese: thajH kuX
Rime :
| Character | 太 | 古 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 透 (6) | 見 (28) |
| Final (韻) | 泰 (25) | 模 (23) |
| Tone (調) | Departing (H) | Rising (X) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | I | I |
| Fanqie | 他蓋切 | 公戸切 |
| Baxter | thajH | kuX |
| Reconstructions |||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /tʰɑi$^H$/ | /kuo$^X$/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /tʰɑi$^H$/ | /kuo$^X$/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /tʰɑi$^H$/ | /ko$^X$/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /tʰaj$^H$/ | /kɔ$^X$/ |
| Li Rong | /tʰɑi$^H$/ | /ko$^X$/ |
| Wang Li | /tʰɑi$^H$/ | /ku$^X$/ |
| Bernard Karlgren | /tʰɑi$^H$/ | /kuo$^X$/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | tài | gǔ |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | taai$^3$ | gu$^2$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*l̥ˤa[t]-s kˤaʔ/
    (Zhengzhang): /*tʰaːds kaːʔ/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 太 | 古 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | tài | gǔ |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ thaj$^H$ › | ‹ ku$^X$ › |
| Old Chinese | /*l̥ˁa[t]-s/ | /*kˁaʔ/ |
| English | great | ancient |
| 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 | 古 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| No. | 1937 | 4219 |
| Phonetic component | 大 | 古 |
| Rime group | 祭 | 魚 |
| Rime subdivision | 1 | 0 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 泰 | 古 |
| Old Chinese | /*tʰaːds/ | /*kaːʔ/ |

### Noun

太古
* (often attributive) remote antiquity; immemorial
    From: Xunzi, c. 3rd century BCE
    Tàigǔ bózàng, gù bù 抇 yě; luàn jīn hòuzàng, gù 抇 yě. [Pinyin]
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)

#### Synonyms

* 上古 (shànggǔ)
* 元古 (yuángǔ)
* 先代 (xiāndài) (literary)
* 先古 (xiāngǔ) (literary)
* 古代 (gǔdài)
* 古早 (gǔzǎo) (chiefly Min)
* 古時／古时 (gǔshí)
* 曠古／旷古 (kuànggǔ)
* 絕代／绝代 (juédài) (literary)
* 遠古／远古 (yuǎngǔ)
* 邃古 (suìgǔ)

#### Derived terms

* 太古代 (Tàigǔdài)
* 太古傳宗／太古传宗
* 太古界

#### Descendants

* → Japanese: 太(たい)古(こ) (taiko)
* → Korean: 태고(太古) (taego)
* → Vietnamese: thái cổ (太古)

### Proper noun

太古
* Tai Koo (an area in Eastern district, Hong Kong)

## Japanese

Kanji in this term :
| 太 | 古 |
| たい Grade: 2 | こ Grade: 2 |
| on'yomi ||

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) たいこ [táꜜìkò] (Atamadaka –)
* IPA: [ta̠iko̞]

### Noun

太(たい)古(こ) • (taiko)
* ancient times
    太(たい)古(こ)の昔(むかし)
       taiko no mukashi
       ancient times
       (literally, “ancient times of ancient times”)

### References

* ↑ Hirayama, Teruo, editor (1960), 全国アクセント辞典 (Zenkoku Akusento Jiten, “Nationwide Accent Dictionary”) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Tōkyōdō, →ISBN
* ↑ Taishukan's Genius Japanese-English Dictionary, Tōkyō: Taishukan, 1998.