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番薯

Mandarin · pinyin fān shǔ

(dialect) sweet potato
yam

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Characters in this entry

番: fān · to take turns; a turn, a time; to repeat
薯: shǔ · yam, tuber, potato

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3 · fan1 shu3

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

faan1 syu2

Cantonese word readings for 番薯. 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.

noun · Etymology 1

sweet potato
(Mainland China Hokkien) the hell (usually in a question in mild disdain)

noun · Etymology 2

(Cantonese, humorous) fan (e.g. of music, movies, celebrities)

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

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