# 染指
## Chinese
### Etymology

    From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4th century BCE
    Chǔ rén xiàn yuán yú Zhènglínggōng. Gōngzǐ Sòng yǔ Zǐjiā jiāng jiàn, Zǐgōng zhī shízhǐ dòng, yǐ shì Zǐjiā, yuē: ‘Tārì wǒ rúcǐ, bì cháng yìwèi.’...... Jí shí dàfū yuán, zhào Zǐgōng ér fú yǔ yě. Zǐgōng nù, rǎn zhǐ yúdǐng, cháng zhī ér chū. [Pinyin]
    People from Chu presented a large turtle to Lord Ling of Zheng. Gongzi Song and Gongzi Guisheng were about to have an audience with the lord. Gongzi Song’s index finger moved involuntarily. He showed it to Gongzi Guisheng and said, “On other days when my finger did this, I always without fail got to taste something extraordinary.” ......When the lord had the high officers partake of the turtle, he called Gongzi Song forward but did not give him any. Furious, Gongzi Song dipped his finger into the cauldron, tasted the turtle, and left.

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): rǎnzhǐ
    (Zhuyin): ㄖㄢˇ ㄓˇ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): jim$^5$ zi$^2$
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): jiám-cháiⁿ
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: rǎnzhǐ [Phonetic: ránzhǐ]
*** Zhuyin: ㄖㄢˇ ㄓˇ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: rǎnjhǐh
*** Wade–Giles: jan$^3$-chih$^3$
*** Yale: rǎn-jř
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: raanjyy
*** Palladius: жаньчжи (žanʹčži)
*** Sinological IPA : /ʐän²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: jim$^5$ zi$^2$
*** Yale: yíhm jí
*** Cantonese Pinyin: jim$^5$ dzi$^2$
*** Guangdong Romanization: yim$^5$ ji$^2$
*** Sinological IPA : /jiːm¹³ t͡siː³⁵/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: jiám-cháiⁿ
*** Tâi-lô: jiám-tsáinn
*** Phofsit Daibuun: jiafmzvae
*** IPA (Xiamen): /d͡ziam⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sãi⁵³/
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /d͡ziam⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ t͡sãi⁵⁵⁴/
*** IPA (Zhangzhou): /d͡ziam⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sãi⁵³/
*** IPA (Taipei): /d͡ziam⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sãi⁵³/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /ziam⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ t͡sãi⁴¹/
* Middle Chinese: nyemX|nyemH tsyijX
Rime :
| Character | 染 | 染 | 指 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 2/2 | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 日 (38) | 日 (38) | 章 (23) |
| Final (韻) | 鹽 (153) | 鹽 (153) | 脂 (17) |
| Tone (調) | Rising (X) | Departing (H) | Rising (X) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | III | III | III |
| Fanqie | 而琰切 | 而豔切 | 職雉切 |
| Baxter | nyemX | nyemH | tsyijX |
| Reconstructions ||||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /ȵiᴇm$^X$/ | /ȵiᴇm$^H$/ | /t͡ɕˠiɪ$^X$/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /ȵiɛm$^X$/ | /ȵiɛm$^H$/ | /t͡ɕᵚi$^X$/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /ȵʑjæm$^X$/ | /ȵʑjæm$^H$/ | /t͡ɕiɪ$^X$/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /ȵiam$^X$/ | /ȵiam$^H$/ | /cji$^X$/ |
| Li Rong | /ȵiɛm$^X$/ | /ȵiɛm$^H$/ | /t͡ɕji$^X$/ |
| Wang Li | /ȵʑĭɛm$^X$/ | /ȵʑĭɛm$^H$/ | /t͡ɕi$^X$/ |
| Bernard Karlgren | /ȵʑi̯ɛm$^X$/ | /ȵʑi̯ɛm$^H$/ | /t͡ɕi$^X$/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | rǎn | ràn | zhǐ |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | jim$^5$ | jim$^6$ | zi$^2$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*C.n[a]mʔ mə.kijʔ/
    (Zhengzhang): /*njomʔ|njoms kjiʔ/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 染 | 指 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | rǎn | zhǐ |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ nyem$^X$ › | ‹ tsyij$^X$ › |
| Old Chinese | /*C.n[a]mʔ/ | /*mə.kijʔ/ |
| English | to dye | finger; point |
| 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 | 染 | 染 | 指 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 2/2 | 1/1 |
| No. | 10790 | 10791 | 17325 |
| Phonetic component | 染 | 染 | 旨 |
| Rime group | 談 | 談 | 脂 |
| Rime subdivision | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 冉 | 染 | 旨 |
| Old Chinese | /*njomʔ/ | /*njoms/ | /*kjiʔ/ |

### Verb

染指
* (literally) to dip a finger
* to encroach on; to have a hand in
* to meddle in; to interfere in