九牛一毛

Chinese

		nine	ox; cow; bull	one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	hair; fur; one tenth of a yuan or dollar
simp. and trad. (九牛一毛)		九	牛	一	毛
Literally: “one hair from nine oxen”.

Etymology

假令僕伏法受誅，若九牛亡一毛，與螻蟻何以異？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]

假令仆伏法受诛，若九牛亡一毛，与蝼蚁何以异？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Sima Qian, Letter to Ren An. 1st century BCE. Translated by Burton Watson.

Jiǎlìng pú fúfǎ shòuzhū, ruò jiǔniú wáng yīmáo, yǔ lóuyǐ héyǐ yì? [Pinyin]

If I fell before the law and was executed, it would make no more difference to most people than one hair off nine oxen, for I was a mere ant to them.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): jiǔniúyīmáo

(Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄧㄇㄠˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): gau² ngau⁴ jat¹ mou⁴
Min Nan (Teochew, Peng'im): gao² ghu⁵ zêg⁸ mo⁵
Wu (Wugniu)
- (Shanghainese): ⁵cieu-gnieu-iq-mau

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: jiǔniúyīmáo [Phonetic: jiǔniúyìmáo]
  - Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄧㄇㄠˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: jiǒunióuyimáo
  - Wade–Giles: chiu³-niu²-i¹-mao²
  - Yale: jyǒu-nyóu-yī-máu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jeouniouimau
  - Palladius: цзюнюимао (czjunjuimao)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ni̯oʊ̯³⁵ i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ mɑʊ̯³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: jiǔniúyīmáor [Phonetic: jiǔniúyìmáor]
  - Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄧㄇㄠˊㄦ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: jiǒunióuyimáor
  - Wade–Giles: chiu³-niu²-i¹-mao²-ʼrh
  - Yale: jyǒu-nyóu-yī-máur
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jeouniouimaul
  - Palladius: цзюнюимаор (czjunjuimaor)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ni̯oʊ̯³⁵ i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ maʊ̯ɻʷ³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: gau² ngau⁴ jat¹ mou⁴
  - Yale: gáu ngàuh yāt mòuh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: gau² ngau⁴ jat⁷ mou⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: geo² ngeo⁴ yed¹ mou⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɐu̯³⁵ ŋɐu̯²¹ jɐt̚⁵ mou̯²¹/
Min Nan
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: gao² ghu⁵ zêg⁸ mo⁵
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: káu gû tse̍k mô
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kau⁵²⁻³⁵ ɡu⁵⁵⁻¹¹ t͡sek̚⁴⁻² mo⁵⁵/
Wu
- (Shanghainese)
  - Wugniu: ⁵cieu-gnieu-iq-mau
  - Wiktionary Romanisation: ²jieu-nyieu-iq-mau
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕiɤ³³ n̠ʲiɤ⁵⁵ iɪʔ³³ mɔ²¹/

Note: Tone sandhi within chengyu often vary from person to person..

Idiom

九牛一毛

a drop in the bucket

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