功夫

Chinese

		merit; achievement; result merit; achievement; result; service; accomplishment	husband; man
simp. and trad. (功夫)		功	夫

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): gōngfu

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄥ ㄈㄨ˙

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gung¹ fu¹
• Gan (Wiktionary): gung¹ fu
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): kûng-fû
• Min Dong (BUC): gĕ̤ng-hŭ / gŭng-hŭ
• Min Nan (POJ): kang-hu
• Wu (Wiktionary): kon vu (T1); kon fu (T1)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Pinyin: gōngfu
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄥ ㄈㄨ˙
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gong.fu
    • IPA ^(key): /kʊŋ⁵⁵ fu²/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 功夫 工夫

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)
    • Jyutping: gung¹ fu¹
    • Yale: gūng fū
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gung¹ fu¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: gung¹ fu¹
    • IPA ^(key): /kʊŋ⁵⁵ fuː⁵⁵/
    • Homophones:

      edit edit 功夫 工夫

• Gan
  • (Nanchang)
    • Wiktionary: gung¹ fu
    • IPA ^(key): /kuŋ⁴² fu²/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: kûng-fû
    • Hakka Romanization System: gung´ fu´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: gung¹ fu¹
    • IPA: /kuŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ fu²⁴/
• Min Dong
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: gĕ̤ng-hŭ / gŭng-hŭ
    • IPA ^(key): /køyŋ⁵⁵ ^(h-)ŋu⁵⁵/, /kuŋ⁵⁵ ^(h-)ŋu⁵⁵/

Note:

• gĕ̤ng-hŭ - colloquial;
• gŭng-hŭ - literary.

• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kang-hu
    • Tâi-lô: kang-hu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kanghw
    • IPA (Xiamen): /kaŋ⁴⁴⁻²² hu⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kaŋ³³ hu³³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kaŋ⁴⁴⁻²² hu⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /kaŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ hu⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kaŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ hu⁴⁴/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • Wiktionary: kon vu (T1); kon fu (T1)
    • IPA ^(key): /kʊŋ⁵⁵ v̻v̩ʷ²¹/, /kʊŋ⁵⁵ fv̩ʷ²¹/

Noun

功夫

1. time (to do something); synonym for 工夫 (gōngfu)

   我沒有功夫。 / 我没有功夫。  ―  Wǒ méiyǒu gōngfu.  ―  I have no time. (I am busy)

   一會兒功夫他就爬上了一个大樹。 [MSC, trad.]

   一会儿功夫他就爬上了一个大树。 [MSC, simp.]

   Yīhuìr gōngfu tā jiù pá shàng le yīgè dà shù. [Pinyin]

   He climbed up a tall tree in no time

2. efforts (devoted to a task)

   要花很大的功夫才行。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Yào huā hěn dà de gōngfu cái xíng. [Pinyin]

   It won't work unless one expends great effort.

3. accomplishments, achievement
4. skill; art; workmanship (especially Chinese martial arts)

   那個演員念臺詞的功夫不錯。 [MSC, trad.]

   那个演员念台词的功夫不错。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nà ge yǎnyuán niàn táicí de gōngfu bùcuò. [Pinyin]

   That actor's skill at reading his lines is not too shabby.

5. kung fu (Chinese Martial art)

   這是中國少林功夫首次在雅典登臺亮相。 [MSC, trad.]

   这是中国少林功夫首次在雅典登台亮相。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè shì Zhōngguó Shàolín gōngfu shǒucì zài Yǎdiǎn dēng tái liàngxiàng. [Pinyin]

   This was the first time that Chinese Shaolin kung fu was put on display in Athens, Greece.

Usage notes

• Originally, kung fu referred to any skill learned through great effort. Used by the Occident to refer to Chinese martial arts (武術／武术 (wǔshù)), kung fu is now used by Chinese to also refer to martial arts, but only since the late twentieth century.

Synonyms

• 武術／武术 (wǔshù) (Chinese martial art, wushu)
• 工夫 (gōngfu)

Derived terms

• 下功夫
• 功夫片 (gōngfupiàn)
• 功夫茶
• 只要功夫深，鐵杵磨成針／只要功夫深，铁杵磨成针
• 床上功夫
• 抽功夫
• 沒的功夫／没的功夫

• 白費功夫／白费功夫
• 磨功夫
• 筆下功夫／笔下功夫
• 箱底功夫
• 費功夫／费功夫
• 頂上功夫／顶上功夫

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Japanese

Kanji in this term
功	夫
Grade: 4	Grade: 4
Irregular

Noun

功夫 (hiragana かんふう, katakana カンフー, rōmaji kanfū)

1. (kenpō): kung fu