# 式微
## Chinese
### Etymology

Rebracketing of 式微 (OC *hljɯɡ mɯl, “meaningless initial particle + to decline”) in a verse of the Classic of Poetry, poem 36 (《詩經·邶風·式微》):
    式微式微，胡不歸？ [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]式微式微，胡不归？ [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11th – 7th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's versionShì wēi shì wēi, hú bù guī? [Pinyin]Reduced! Reduced! Why not return?

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): shìwēi, shìwéi
    (Zhuyin): ㄕˋ ㄨㄟ, ㄕˋ ㄨㄟˊ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): sik$^1$ mei$^4$
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sek-bî
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: shìwēi
*** Zhuyin: ㄕˋ ㄨㄟ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: shìhwei
*** Wade–Giles: shih$^4$-wei$^1$
*** Yale: shr̀-wēi
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyhuei
*** Palladius: шивэй (šivɛj)
*** Sinological IPA : /ʂʐ̩⁵¹ weɪ̯⁵⁵/
*** Homophones: [Show/Hide]$^{edit}$式微 示威
** (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan; dated variant in Mainland)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: shìwéi
*** Zhuyin: ㄕˋ ㄨㄟˊ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: shìhwéi
*** Wade–Giles: shih$^4$-wei$^2$
*** Yale: shr̀-wéi
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyhwei
*** Palladius: шивэй (šivɛj)
*** Sinological IPA : /ʂʐ̩⁵¹ weɪ̯³⁵/
*** Homophones: [Show/Hide]$^{edit}$室韋／室韦 式微 視為／视为
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: sik$^1$ mei$^4$
*** Yale: sīk mèih
*** Cantonese Pinyin: sik$^7$ mei$^4$
*** Guangdong Romanization: xig$^1$ méi$^4$
*** Sinological IPA : /sɪk̚⁵ mei̯²¹/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sek-bî
*** Tâi-lô: sik-bî
*** Phofsit Daibuun: sekbii
*** IPA (Taipei): /siɪk̚³²⁻⁴ bi²⁴/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /siɪk̚³²⁻⁴ bi²³/
* Middle Chinese: syik mj+j
Rime :
| Character | 式 | 微 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 書 (26) | 明 (4) |
| Final (韻) | 職 (134) | 微 (21) |
| Tone (調) | Checked (Ø) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Closed |
| Division (等) | III | III |
| Fanqie | 賞職切 | 無非切 |
| Baxter | syik | mj+j |
| Reconstructions |||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /ɕɨk̚/ | /mʉi/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /ɕɨk̚/ | /mʷɨi/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /ɕiek̚/ | /miuəi/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /ɕik̚/ | /muj/ |
| Li Rong | /ɕiək̚/ | /miuəi/ |
| Wang Li | /ɕĭək̚/ | /mĭwəi/ |
| Bernard Karlgren | /ɕi̯ək̚/ | /mwe̯i/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | shi | wéi |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | sik$^1$ | mei$^4$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*l̥ək məj/
    (Zhengzhang): /*hljɯɡ mɯl/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 式 | 式 | 微 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 2/2 | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | shì | shì | wēi |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ syik › | ‹ syik › | ‹ mjɨj › |
| Old Chinese | /*l̥ək/ | /*l̥ək/ | /*məj/ |
| English | pattern | to wipe | small |
| 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 | 式 | 微 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| No. | 14980 | 12801 |
| Phonetic component | 弋 | 微 |
| Rime group | 職 | 微 |
| Rime subdivision | 0 | 1 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 識 | 微 |
| Old Chinese | /*hljɯɡ/ | /*mɯl/ |

### Verb

式微
* (literary) to decline; to wane

#### Synonyms

* 敗落／败落 (bàiluò)
* 替 (tì) (literary, or in compounds)
* 沒落／没落 (mòluò)
* 淪落／沦落 (lúnluò)
* 漉柵／漉栅 (Zhangzhou Hokkien)
* 破落 (pòluò) (in wealth and position)
* 衰微 (shuāiwēi) (literary)
* 衰敗／衰败 (shuāibài)
* 衰落 (shuāiluò)
* 陵替 (língtì) (literary)
* 零落 (língluò)

#### Derived terms

* 漸趨式微／渐趋式微