# 冥冥
## Chinese
### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): míngmíng
    (Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄇㄧㄥˊ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): ming$^5$ ming$^5$ / ming$^4$ ming$^4$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: míngmíng
*** Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄇㄧㄥˊ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: míngmíng
*** Wade–Giles: ming$^2$-ming$^2$
*** Yale: míng-míng
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mingming
*** Palladius: минмин (minmin)
*** Sinological IPA : /miŋ³⁵ miŋ³⁵/
*** Homophones: [Show/Hide]$^{edit}$明明 溟溟
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: ming$^5$ ming$^5$ / ming$^4$ ming$^4$
*** Yale: míhng míhng / mìhng mìhng
*** Cantonese Pinyin: ming$^5$ ming$^5$ / ming$^4$ ming$^4$
*** Guangdong Romanization: ming$^5$ ming$^5$ / ming$^4$ ming$^4$
*** Sinological IPA : /mɪŋ¹³ mɪŋ¹³/, /mɪŋ²¹ mɪŋ²¹/
* Middle Chinese: meng meng
Rime :
| Character | 冥 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 明 (4) |
| Final (韻) | 青 (125) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open |
| Division (等) | IV |
| Fanqie | 莫經切 |
| Baxter | meng |
| Reconstructions ||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /meŋ/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /meŋ/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /mɛŋ/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /mɛjŋ/ |
| Li Rong | /meŋ/ |
| Wang Li | /mieŋ/ |
| Bernard Karlgren | /mieŋ/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | míng |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | ming$^4$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*mˤeŋ mˤeŋ/
    (Zhengzhang): /*meːŋ meːŋ/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 冥 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | míng |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ meng › |
| Old Chinese | /*mˁeŋ/ |
| English | dark |
| 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 | 冥 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| No. | 9197 |
| Phonetic component | 冥 |
| Rime group | 耕 |
| Rime subdivision | 0 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 冥 |
| Old Chinese | /*meːŋ/ |

### Adjective

冥冥
* (literary, ideophonic) dusky; dark and gloomy
    From: 759 CE, Du Fu, At Dharma Mirror Temple (《法鏡寺》)
    Míngmíng zǐguī jiào, wēijìng bùgǎn qǔ. [Pinyin]
    Dark in the distance the cuckoo crows Go Go, The narrow path to the temple I dare not seek.
** 1046 October 17, 范仲淹 (Fan Zhongyan), 岳陽樓記:
       Bómù míngmíng, hǔxiào yuántí. [Pinyin]
       At twilight it becomes dark and gloomy; the tigers roar and the apes call.

#### Synonyms

* 慘／惨 (cǎn) (literary, or in compounds)
* 慘淡／惨淡 (cǎndàn)
* 慘白／惨白 (cǎnbái)
* 昏暗 (hūn'àn)
* 昏沉 (hūnchén)
* 昏黑 (hūnhēi)
* 晦冥 (huìmíng) (literary, used both literally and figuratively)
* 晦暗 (huì'àn) (literary)
* 暗淡 (àndàn) (used both literally and figuratively)
* 烏暗／乌暗 (Hokkien, Teochew)
* 陰幽／阴幽 (yīnyōu) (literary)
* 黑暗 (hēi'àn)

#### Derived terms

* 俏冥冥
* 冥冥中
* 冥冥之中
* 冥冥之志
* 悄冥冥
* 悄悄冥冥
* 愁緒冥冥／愁绪冥冥
* 渺渺冥冥
* 窈窈冥冥
* 窈窕冥冥
* 薄暮冥冥
* 邈冥冥
* 飛鴻冥冥／飞鸿冥冥
* 鴻飛冥冥／鸿飞冥冥
* 鴻飛冥冥，弋人何慕／鸿飞冥冥，弋人何慕

## Japanese

Kanji in this term :
| 冥 | 冥 |
| めい Grade: S | めい Grade: S |
| on'yomi ||
* Alternative spelling
* 冥々

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) めーめー [mèéméé] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [me̞ːme̞ː]

### Adjective

冥(めい)冥(めい) • (meimei) $^†$-tari (adnominal 冥(めい)冥(めい)とした (meimei to shita) or 冥(めい)冥(めい)たる (meimei taru), adverbial 冥(めい)冥(めい)と (meimei to) or 冥(めい)冥(めい)として (meimei to shite))
* dark, dim
* unclear (situation, prospects)

#### Conjugation

Stem forms :
| Irrealis (未然形) | 冥冥たら | めいめいたら | meimeitara |
| Continuative (連用形) | 冥冥と$^{[1]}$ 冥冥たり$^{[2]}$ | めいめいと めいめいたり | meimeito meimeitari |
| Terminal (終止形) | 冥冥たり | めいめいたり | meimeitari |
| Attributive (連体形) | 冥冥たる | めいめいたる | meimeitaru |
| Realis (已然形) | 冥冥たれ | めいめいたれ | meimeitare |
| Imperative (命令形) | 冥冥たれ | めいめいたれ | meimeitare |
| Key constructions ||||
| Negative | 冥冥たらず | めいめいたらず | meimeitarazu |
| Contrasting conjunction | 冥冥たれど | めいめいたれど | meimeitaredo |
| Causal conjunction | 冥冥たれば | めいめいたれば | meimeitareba |
| Conditional conjunction | 冥冥たらば | めいめいたらば | meimeitaraba |
| Past tense (firsthand knowledge) | 冥冥たりき | めいめいたりき | meimeitariki |
| Past tense (secondhand knowledge) | 冥冥たりけり | めいめいたりけり | meimeitarikeri |
| Adverbial | 冥冥と | めいめいと | meimeito |
| $^{[1]}$Without auxiliary verb. $^{[2]}$With auxiliary verb. ||||

### References

* ↑ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN