Tian - Pronunciations

Pronunciations

The Modern Standard Chinese pronunciation of 天 "sky, heaven; heavenly deity, god" is tiān in level first tone. The character is read as Cantonese tin1; Taiwanese thiN1 or thian1; Vietnamese yêu or thiên; Korean cheon or ch'ŏn (천); and Japanese ten in On'yomi (borrowed Chinese reading) and ame or sora in Kun'yomi (native Japanese reading).

Tiān 天 reconstructions in Middle Chinese (ca. 6th–10th centuries CE) include t'ien (Bernhard Karlgren), t'iɛn (Zhou Fagao), tʰɛn > tʰian (Edwin G. Pulleyblank), and then (William H. Baxter). Reconstructions in Old Chinese (ca. 6th–3rd centuries BCE) include *t'ien (Karlgren), *t'en (Zhou), *hlin (Baxter), and *thîn (Schuessler).

Read more about this topic:  Tian