明白

Chinese
 
clear; bright; to understand
clear; bright; to understand; next; the Ming dynasty
 
white; empty; blank
white; empty; blank; bright; clear; plain; pure; gratuitous
simp. and trad.
(明白)		 明 白
Literally: “clear and clean”.

Etymology

Attested in Zhuangzi ("clear and clean"), Chu Ci ("bright and clean"), Mozi ("to be evident, clear"), Tao Te Ching ("to know, to understand").

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 明 白
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Initial (聲) 明 (4) 並 (3)
Final (韻) 庚 (111) 庚 (113)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division (等) III II
Fanqie 武兵切 傍陌切
Baxter mjaeng baek
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /mˠiæŋ/ /bˠæk̚/
Pan
Wuyun		 /mᵚiaŋ/ /bᵚak̚/
Shao
Rongfen		 /miaŋ/ /bak̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /miajŋ/ /baɨjk̚/
Li
Rong		 /miɐŋ/ /bɐk̚/
Wang
Li		 /mĭɐŋ/ /bɐk̚/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /mi̯ɐŋ/ /bʱɐk̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 míng bó
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex		 ming4 bak6
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 明 白
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 míng bái
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ mjæng › ‹ bæk ›
Old
Chinese		 /*mraŋ/ /*bˁrak/
English bright white

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 明 白
Reading # 1/1 1/1
No. 9188 207
Phonetic
component		 明 白
Rime
group		 陽 鐸
Rime
subdivision		 0 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 明 白
Old
Chinese		 /*mraŋ/ /*braːɡ/

Verb

明白

  1. to understand; to know
    我講的話你明白了嗎？ [MSC, trad.]
    我讲的话你明白了吗？ [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ jiǎng de huà nǐ míngbai le ma? [Pinyin]
    Do you understand what I said?
    你在想什麼，我心裡全明白。 [MSC, trad.]
    你在想什么，我心里全明白。 [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ zài xiǎng shénme, wǒ xīnli quán míngbai. [Pinyin]
    I know for sure what you are thinking.

Usage notes

When used as a verb, 明白 (míngbai) conveys an understanding of a meaning or a situation. To express an ability to understand a language, see 會說／会说 (huìshuō, “to be able to speak”), 聽懂／听懂 (tīngdǒng, “to understand by listening”) or 看懂 (kàndǒng, “to understand when reading”).

Synonyms
Synonyms of 明白

Adjective

明白

  1. clear; obvious; evident
  2. open; explicit; frank
  3. sensible; reasonable

Synonyms
  • (clear):
  • (explicit):

See also
  • (not to be confused with) 明日 (míngrì)

Derived terms

Descendants
Sino-Xenic (明白):
  • → Japanese: 明白(めいはく) (meihaku)
  • → Korean: 명백(明白) (myeongbaek)
  • → Vietnamese: minh bạch (明白)

Japanese

Etymology 1
Kanji in this term
明 白
めい
Grade: 2		 はく
Grade: 1
on’yomi

Adjective

明(めい)白(はく) • (meihaku) -na (adnominal 明(めい)白(はく)な (meihaku na), adverbial 明(めい)白(はく)に (meihaku ni))

  1. clear, obvious, plain, undeniable
    明白(めいはく)な安(あん)保(ぽ)理(り)決(けつ)議(ぎ)違(い)反(はん)だ。
    Meihaku na anporiketsugiihan da.
    It is a clear violation of Security Council resolutions.
Inflection
Inflection of 明白
Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形) 明白だろ めいはくだろ meihaku daro
Continuative (連用形) 明白で めいはくで meihaku de
Terminal (終止形) 明白だ めいはくだ meihaku da
Attributive (連体形) 明白な めいはくな meihaku na
Hypothetical (仮定形) 明白なら めいはくなら meihaku nara
Imperative (命令形) 明白であれ めいはくであれ meihaku de are
Key constructions
Informal negative 明白ではない
明白じゃない		 めいはくではない
めいはくじゃない		 meihaku de wa nai
meihaku ja nai
Informal past 明白だった めいはくだった meihaku datta
Informal negative past 明白ではなかった
明白じゃなかった		 めいはくではなかった
めいはくじゃなかった		 meihaku de wa nakatta
meihaku ja nakatta
Formal 明白です めいはくです meihaku desu
Formal negative 明白ではありません
明白じゃありません		 めいはくではありません
めいはくじゃありません		 meihaku de wa arimasen
meihaku ja arimasen
Formal past 明白でした めいはくでした meihaku deshita
Formal negative past 明白ではありませんでした
明白じゃありませんでした		 めいはくではありませんでした
めいはくじゃありませんでした		 meihaku de wa arimasen deshita
meihaku ja arimasen deshita
Conjunctive 明白で めいはくで meihaku de
Conditional 明白なら（ば） めいはくなら（ば） meihaku nara (ba)
Provisional 明白だったら めいはくだったら meihaku dattara
Volitional 明白だろう めいはくだろう meihaku darō
Adverbial 明白に めいはくに meihaku ni
Degree 明白さ めいはくさ meihakusa

Noun

明(めい)白(はく) • (meihaku) 

  1. obviousness, undeniability

Etymology 2
Kanji in this term
明 白
あからさま
Grade: 2 Grade: 1
jukujikun
For pronunciation and definitions of 明白 – see the following entry.
【あからさま】
[adjective] open; candid
Alternative spellings
明白, 明白地
(This term, 明白, is an alternative (literary) spelling of the above term.)

References
  • 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.
  • 2002, Yasuo Kitahara, 明鏡国語辞典 (Meikyō Kokugo Jiten), First Edition (in Japanese), Tokyo: Taishūkan Shoten, →ISBN

Vietnamese
Hán tự in this term
明白

Adjective

明白

  1. chữ Hán form of minh bạch.
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