CANTONESE ↔ ENGLISH · CC-CANTO

一鳴驚人

简一鸣惊人 · 繁一鳴驚人

Cantonese · source Jyutpingjat1 ming4 ging1 jan4

to gain fame overnight or suddenly

About these definitions

Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.

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Reading & tones

jat11 · high levelchecked · -tming44 · low fallingging11 · high leveljan44 · low falling

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Same syllable, six tones

jat一jat1onejat2—jat3—jat4—jat5—日jat6sun

mingming1—ming2—ming3—明ming4bright 酩ming5drunk 命ming6

ging经ging1classics 警ging2to alert 径ging3footpathging4—ging5—劲ging6strength

jan因jan1cause 隐jan2secret 印jan3to print 人jan4man 引jan5to seduce or tempt 孕jan6pregnant

Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.

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Written characters

一鳴驚人鸣惊

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

Cantonese characters and the Mandarin bridge ↗

Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:

一鳴驚人 yī míng jīng rén CC-CEDICT · Mandarinto amaze the world with a single brilliant feat (idiom); an overnight celebrity

A separate source entry, shown for comparison. The same characters can carry different senses in Mandarin and in Cantonese; zimai does not align these senses.

CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: yi1 ming2 jing1 ren2. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jat1 ming4 ging1 jan4

Cantonese word readings for 一鳴驚人. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to amaze the world with a single brilliant feat; to become famous overnight; to set the world on fire; a bolt from the blue

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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