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能上能下

Mandarin · pinyin néng shàng néng xià

ready to take any job, high or low

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Characters in this entry

能: néng · to be able; can, permitted to; ability
上: shàng · top; superior, highest; go up, send up
下: xià · under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–2–4 · neng2 shang4 neng2 xia4

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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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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

nang4 soeng5 nang4 haa6

Cantonese word readings for 能上能下. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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