七手八腳

Chinese

		seven	hand; convenient; ‑er	eight	role; foot; base
trad. (七手八腳)		七	手	八	腳
simp. (七手八脚)		七	手	八	脚
alternative forms		七手八跤 Southern Min 七手八骹 Hokkien
Literally: “seven hands, eight feet”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qīshǒubājiǎo

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧ ㄕㄡˇ ㄅㄚ ㄐㄧㄠˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cat¹ sau² baat³ goek³
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): chhit-sú-pat-kiok
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chhit-chhiú-poeh-kha / chhit-chhiú-peh-kha

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qīshǒubājiǎo
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧ ㄕㄡˇ ㄅㄚ ㄐㄧㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cishǒubajiǎo
    • Wade–Giles: chʻi¹-shou³-pa¹-chiao³
    • Yale: chī-shǒu-bā-jyǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chishooubajeau
    • Palladius: цишоубацзяо (cišoubaczjao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ pä⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qīshǒubājiǎor
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧ ㄕㄡˇ ㄅㄚ ㄐㄧㄠˇㄦ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cishǒubajiǎor
    • Wade–Giles: chʻi¹-shou³-pa¹-chiao³-ʼrh
    • Yale: chī-shǒu-bā-jyǎur
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chishooubajeaul
    • Palladius: цишоубацзяор (cišoubaczjaor)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ pä⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯aʊ̯ɻʷ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: cat¹ sau² baat³ goek³
    • Yale: chāt sáu baat geuk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsat⁷ sau² baat⁸ goek⁸
    • Guangdong Romanization: ced¹ seo² bad³ gêg³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɐt̚⁵ sɐu̯³⁵ paːt̚³ kœːk̚³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chhit-sú-pat-kiok
    • Hakka Romanization System: qid^ˋ su^ˋ bad^ˋ giog^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: qid⁵ su³ bad⁵ giog⁵
    • Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰit̚² su³¹ pat̚² ki̯ok̚²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Taipei, Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhit-chhiú-poeh-kha
    • Tâi-lô: tshit-tshiú-pueh-kha
    • Phofsit Daibuun: chitchiw'poehqaf
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰit̚⁵⁻²⁴ t͡sʰiu⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ pue(ʔ)⁵ kʰa³³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Taipei): /t͡sʰit̚³²⁻⁴ t͡sʰiu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ pue(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ kʰa⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhit-chhiú-peh-kha
    • Tâi-lô: tshit-tshiú-peh-kha
    • Phofsit Daibuun: chitchiw'pehqaf
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡sʰit̚³²⁻⁵ t͡sʰiu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ pe(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ kʰa⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sʰit̚³²⁻⁴ t͡sʰiu⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ pe(ʔ)³²⁻⁴¹ kʰa⁴⁴/

Idiom

七手八腳

1. with many people lending a hand; chaotically

Derived terms

• 螃蟹過河——七手八腳／螃蟹过河——七手八脚 (pángxiè guò hé, qīshǒubājiǎo)

 

References

• 周长楫 [Zhou, Changji], editor (2006), “七…八…”, in 闽南方言大词典 MINNAN FANGYAN DA CIDIAN (overall work in Hokkien and Mandarin), Fuzhou: 福建人民出版社 [Fujian People's Publishing House], →ISBN, page 586.