辛苦

Chinese

	8th heavenly stem; tired	bitter; intensely; miserable bitter; intensely; miserable; painful
trad. (辛苦)	辛	苦
simp. ^#(辛苦)	辛	苦
anagram	苦辛

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xīnkǔ

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄣㄎㄨˇ
Cantonese
(Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): san¹ fu²

(Dongguan, Jyutping++): sam¹ fu²

(Taishan, Wiktionary): lhin¹ fu²
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): sîn-khú

(Hailu, HRS): sin^ˋ ku^ˊ

(Meixian, Guangdong): xin¹ ku³
Eastern Min (BUC): sĭng-*kū
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): sing¹ kou³
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): sin-khó͘ / sen-khó͘

(Teochew, Peng'im): sing¹ kou²
Southern Pinghua (Nanning, Jyutping++): slan¹ fu²
Wu (Northern, Wugniu): ¹shin-khu₅ / ¹sin-khou₃ / ¹shin-khu₃
Xiang (Hengyang, Wiktionary): xin¹ ku³

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xīnkǔ
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄣㄎㄨˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sinkǔ
  - Wade–Giles: hsin¹-kʻu³
  - Yale: syīn-kǔ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shinkuu
  - Palladius: синьку (sinʹku)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕin⁵⁵ kʰu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: san¹ fu²
  - Yale: sān fú
  - Cantonese Pinyin: san¹ fu²
  - Guangdong Romanization: sen¹ fu²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐn⁵⁵ fuː³⁵/
- (Dongguan, Guancheng)
  - Jyutping++: sam¹ fu²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐm²¹³ fu³⁵/

Note: sam1 fu2 - from assimilation.

- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: lhin¹ fu²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬin³³ fu⁵⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sîn-khú
  - Hakka Romanization System: xin^ˊ ku^ˋ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: xin¹ ku³
  - Sinological IPA: /sin²⁴ kʰu³¹/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
  - Hakka Romanization System: sin^ˋ ku^ˊ
  - Sinological IPA: /sin⁵³ kʰu²⁴/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: xin¹ ku³
  - Sinological IPA: /ɕin⁴⁴⁻³⁵ kʰu³¹/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: sĭng-*kū
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /siŋ⁵⁵⁻⁵³ kʰu³³/
Puxian Min
- (Putian)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: sing¹ kou³ [Phonetic: sing⁵ ngou³]
  - Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: sing-kô
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬiŋ⁵³³⁻¹¹ ^(kʰ-)ŋɔu⁴⁵³/
- (Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: sing¹ kou³ [Phonetic: sing⁵ ngou³]
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬiŋ⁵⁴⁴⁻²¹ ^(kʰ-)ŋɔu³³²/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese, Jinjiang, Philippines)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sin-khó͘
  - Tâi-lô: sin-khóo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sinqor
  - Sinological IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /sin⁴⁴⁻²² kʰɔ⁵³/
  - Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /sin⁴⁴⁻³³ kʰɔ⁴¹/
  - Sinological IPA (Taipei): /sin⁴⁴⁻³³ kʰɔ⁵³/
  - Sinological IPA (Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Philippines): /sin³³ kʰɔ⁵⁵⁴/
- (Hokkien: Hui'an)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sen-khó͘
  - Tâi-lô: sen-khóo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: senqor
  - Sinological IPA (Hui'an): /sen³³ kʰɔ⁵⁴/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: sing¹ kou²
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: sing khóu
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /siŋ³³⁻²³ kʰou⁵²/
Southern Pinghua
- (Nanning Pinghua, Tingzi)
  - Jyutping++: slan¹ fu²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬən⁵³ fu³³/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ¹shin-khu₅
  - MiniDict: shin^平 khu^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹xin-khu₂
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ɕin⁵⁵ kʰu²¹/
- (Northern: Suzhou)
  - Wugniu: ¹sin-khou₃
  - MiniDict: sin^平 khou^上
  - Sinological IPA (Suzhou): /sin⁴⁴ kʰəu/
- (Northern: Jiaxing)
  - Wugniu: ¹shin-khu₃
  - MiniDict: shin^平 khu^上
  - Sinological IPA (Jiaxing): /ɕin⁴⁴ kʰu²¹/
Xiang
- (Hengyang)
  - Wiktionary: xin¹ ku³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕin⁴⁴⁵ kʰu³³/

Middle Chinese: sin khuX|khuH

Rime
Character	辛	苦	苦
Reading #	1/1	1/2	2/2
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	溪 (29)	溪 (29)
Final (韻)	眞 (43)	模 (23)	模 (23)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	I	I
Fanqie	息鄰切	康杜切	苦故切
Baxter	sin	khuX	khuH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/siɪn/	/kʰuo^X/	/kʰuo^H/
Pan Wuyun	/sin/	/kʰuo^X/	/kʰuo^H/
Shao Rongfen	/sjen/	/kʰo^X/	/kʰo^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/sin/	/kʰɔ^X/	/kʰɔ^H/
Li Rong	/siĕn/	/kʰo^X/	/kʰo^H/
Wang Li	/sĭĕn/	/kʰu^X/	/kʰu^H/
Bernhard Karlgren	/si̯ĕn/	/kʰuo^X/	/kʰuo^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xīn	kǔ	kù
Expected Cantonese Reflex	san¹	fu²	fu³

Adjective

辛苦

laborious; hard; miserable; exhausting
(Cantonese, Nanning Pinghua) uncomfortable

Synonyms

(laborious):

Dialectal synonyms of 辛苦 (“laborious”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		辛苦, 累人, 吃重, 吃力
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	辛苦
	Taiwan	辛苦
	Malaysia	辛苦
	Singapore	辛苦
Cantonese	Guangzhou	辛苦
	Hong Kong	辛苦
	Taishan	辛苦
	Dongguan	辛苦
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	辛苦
	Singapore (Guangfu)	辛苦
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	辛苦
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	辛苦
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	辛苦
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	辛苦
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	辛苦
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	辛苦
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	辛苦
Eastern Min	Singapore (Fuqing)	辛苦
Southern Min	Xiamen	艱苦
	Quanzhou	艱苦
	Zhangzhou	艱苦
	Penang (Hokkien)	艱苦
	Singapore (Hokkien)	艱苦
	Manila (Hokkien)	艱苦
	Shantou	艱苦
	Shantou (Chenghai)	艱苦
	Jieyang	艱苦
	Singapore (Teochew)	艱苦
	Pontianak (Teochew)	艱苦
	Wenchang	艱苦
	Singapore (Hainanese)	艱苦
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	辛苦
Wu	Shanghai	辛苦, 衰瘏, 吃力
	Shanghai (Chongming)	辛
	Suzhou	辛苦
	Danyang	吃力
	Hangzhou	吃力
	Ningbo	𢜭力, 吃力
	Jinhua	著力, 吃力

edit

不容易 (bùróngyì)
勤 (qín) (literary, or in compounds)
困難 / 困难
疑難 / 疑难 (yínán)
硬斗 (Hokkien)
硬氣 / 硬气 (Quanzhou Hokkien, Xiamen Hokkien)
硬水 (Hokkien)
硬繚 / 硬缭 (Hokkien)
硬頭 / 硬头 (Xiamen Hokkien, Zhangzhou Hokkien)
良苦 (liángkǔ) (literary)
艱巨 / 艰巨 (jiānjù)
艱苦 / 艰苦 (jiānkǔ)
艱辛 / 艰辛 (jiānxīn)
艱難 / 艰难 (jiānnán)
苦難 / 苦难 (kǔnàn)
辛勞 / 辛劳 (xīnláo)
難 / 难

(uncomfortable): 難受／难受 (nánshòu), 不舒服 (bùshūfu)

Related terms

勤勞／勤劳 (qínláo)
辛勤 (xīnqín)

Verb

辛苦

to work hard; to toil; to go through hardship
辛苦一輩子／辛苦一辈子 ― xīnkǔ yībèizi ― to work hard all one's life
(polite) to trouble; to bother (often used to thank someone for assistance; can be used for general assistance over time or a specific act)
你辛苦了！ ― Nǐ xīnkǔ le! ― Thanks for your trouble!

辛苦大家了！ ― Xīnkǔ dàjiā le! ― Thanks, everyone, for your trouble!

辛苦嗮！ [Cantonese] ― san¹ fu² saai³! [Jyutping] ― Thank you so much for your trouble!

Synonyms

(to work hard): 苦幹／苦干 (kǔgàn)
(to trouble):

edit

交仗 (Taiwanese Hokkien)
付託 / 付托 (fùtuō)
勞慰 / 劳慰 (nao² wei⁴) (Sichuanese, polite)
勞累 / 劳累 (láolèi) (polite)
囑託 / 嘱托 (zhǔtuō)
委託 / 委托 (wěituō)
寄 (jì)
寄託 / 寄托 (jìtuō)
打擾 / 打扰 (dǎrǎo) (polite)
拜託 / 拜托 (bàituō) (polite)
煩 / 烦 (fán) (polite)
相煩 / 相烦 (xiāngfán) (polite)
託付 / 托付 (tuōfù)
託管 / 托管 (tuōguǎn)
麻煩 / 麻烦 (máfan) (polite)
齪嘈 / 龊嘈 (Zhangzhou Hokkien, Taiwanese Hokkien)

Derived terms

不辭辛苦 / 不辞辛苦 (bùcíxīnkǔ)
備嘗辛苦 / 备尝辛苦
攞苦嚟辛 / 𫽋苦嚟辛 (Cantonese)
辛苦你了 (xīnkǔ nǐ le)
辛苦錢 / 辛苦钱 (xīnkǔqián)
辛辛苦苦 (xīnxīnkǔkǔ)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (辛苦):

→ Japanese: 辛(しん)苦(く) (shinku)
→ Korean: 신고(辛苦) (sin'go)

References

李如龙 [Li, Ru-long]; 刘福铸 [Liu, Fu-zhu]; 吴华英 [Wu, Hua-ying]; 黄国城 [Huang, Guo-cheng] (2019), 莆仙方言调查报告 [Investigation Report on Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 33.

Japanese

Kanji in this term
辛	苦
しん Grade: S	く Grade: 3
on'yomi

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) しんく [shíꜜǹkù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
IPA^(key): [ɕĩŋkɯ̟]

Noun

辛(しん)苦(く) • (shinku)

hardship

Verb

辛(しん)苦(く)する • (shinku suru) suru (stem 辛(しん)苦(く)し (shinku shi), past 辛(しん)苦(く)した (shinku shita))

go through great hardship

Conjugation

Conjugation of "辛苦する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	辛苦し	しんくし	shinku shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	辛苦し	しんくし	shinku shi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	辛苦する	しんくする	shinku suru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	辛苦する	しんくする	shinku suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	辛苦すれ	しんくすれ	shinku sure
Meireikei ("imperative")	辛苦せよ¹ 辛苦しろ²	しんくせよ¹ しんくしろ²	shinku seyo¹ shinku shiro²
Key constructions
Passive	辛苦される	しんくされる	shinku sareru
Causative	辛苦させる辛苦さす	しんくさせるしんくさす	shinku saseru shinku sasu
Potential	辛苦できる	しんくできる	shinku dekiru
Volitional	辛苦しよう	しんくしよう	shinku shiyō
Negative	辛苦しない	しんくしない	shinku shinai
Negative continuative	辛苦せず	しんくせず	shinku sezu
Formal	辛苦します	しんくします	shinku shimasu
Perfective	辛苦した	しんくした	shinku shita
Conjunctive	辛苦して	しんくして	shinku shite
Hypothetical conditional	辛苦すれば	しんくすれば	shinku sureba

¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative

References

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

“辛苦”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

Vietnamese

辛苦

chữ Hán form of tân khổ (“distress”)

[DJR-1] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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