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燕雀安知鴻鵠之志

简燕雀安知鸿鹄之志 · 繁燕雀安知鴻鵠之志

Mandarin · pinyin yàn què ān zhī hóng hú zhī zhì

lit. can the sparrow and swallow know the will of the great swan? (idiom)
fig. how can we small fry predict the ambitions of the great?

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Characters in this entry

燕: yàn · swallow (bird); comfort, enjoy
雀: què · sparrow
安: ān · peaceful, tranquil, quiet
知: zhī · know, perceive, comprehend
鴻: Look up this written character
鵠: Look up this written character
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
志: zhì · purpose, will, determination; annals
鸿: hóng · species of wild swan; vast
鹄: gǔ · target

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–1–2–2–1–4 · yan4 que4 an1 zhi1 hong2 hu2 zhi1 zhi4

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燕雀安知鴻鵠之志 · find source passages ↗ · 燕雀安知鸿鹄之志 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jin3 zoek3 on1 zi1 hung4 huk6 zi1 zi3

Cantonese word readings for 燕雀安知鴻鵠之志. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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