臨淵羨魚

Chinese

		to face; to overlook; to arrive to face; to overlook; to arrive; to be (just) about to; just before	abyss	to envy	fish
trad. (臨淵羨魚)		臨	淵	羨	魚
simp. (临渊羡鱼)		临	渊	羡	鱼
Literally: “to stand on the edge of a pool and idly long for fish”.

Etymology

This idiom is first attested in c. 139 BCE, in the book Huainanzi, but is likely to be older.

臨河而羡魚，不若歸家織網。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

临河而羡鱼，不若归家织网。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Huainanzi, 2^nd century BCE

Lín hé ér xiàn yú, bùruò guījiā zhī wǎng. [Pinyin]

Standing by a river to dream of fish is by no means better than returning home to knit a fishing net.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): línyuānxiànyú

(Zhuyin): ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄩㄢㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄩˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): lam⁴ jyun¹ sin⁶ jyu⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: línyuānxiànyú
  - Zhuyin: ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄩㄢㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄩˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: línyuansiànyú
  - Wade–Giles: lin²-yüan¹-hsien⁴-yü²
  - Yale: lín-ywān-syàn-yú
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: liniuanshiannyu
  - Palladius: линьюаньсяньюй (linʹjuanʹsjanʹjuj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lin³⁵ ɥɛn⁵⁵ ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹ y³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: lam⁴ jyun¹ sin⁶ jyu⁴
  - Yale: làhm yūn sihn yùh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: lam⁴ jyn¹ sin⁶ jy⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: lem⁴ yun¹ xin⁶ yu⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɐm²¹ jyːn⁵⁵ siːn²² jyː²¹/

Middle Chinese: lim 'wen zjenH ngjo

Rime
Character	臨	淵	羨	魚
Reading #	1/2	1/1	2/3	1/1
Initial (聲)	來 (37)	影 (34)	邪 (17)	疑 (31)
Final (韻)	侵 (139)	先 (86)	仙 (77)	魚 (22)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	IV	III	III
Fanqie	力尋切	烏玄切	似面切	語居切
Baxter	lim	'wen	zjenH	ngjo
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/liɪm/	/ʔwen/	/ziᴇn^H/	/ŋɨʌ/
Pan Wuyun	/lim/	/ʔʷen/	/ziɛn^H/	/ŋiɔ/
Shao Rongfen	/ljem/	/ʔuɛn/	/zjæn^H/	/ŋiɔ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/lim/	/ʔwɛn/	/zian^H/	/ŋɨə̆/
Li Rong	/liəm/	/ʔuen/	/ziɛn^H/	/ŋiɔ/
Wang Li	/lĭĕm/	/iwen/	/zĭɛn^H/	/ŋĭo/
Bernhard Karlgren	/li̯əm/	/ʔiwen/	/zi̯ɛn^H/	/ŋi̯wo/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	lín	yuān	xiàn	yú
Expected Cantonese Reflex	lam⁴	jyun¹	zin⁶	jyu⁴

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*(p.)rum [ʔ]ʷˤi[ŋ] s-N-qa[r]-s [r.ŋ]a/

(Zhengzhang): /*b·rɯm qʷiːn ljans ŋa/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	臨	淵	羨	魚
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/3	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	lín	yuān	xiàn	yú
Middle Chinese	‹ lim ›	‹ ʔwen ›	‹ zjen^H ›	‹ ngjo ›
Old Chinese	/*(p.)rum/	/*[ʔ]ʷˁi[ŋ]/	/*s-N-qa[r]-s/	/*[r.ŋ]a/
English	look down at	abyss	covet, desire	fish (n.)
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	臨	淵	羨	魚
Reading #	1/2	1/1	2/3	1/1
No.	9801	16099	13574	15939
Phonetic component	品	淵	羨	魚
Rime group	侵	眞	元	魚
Rime subdivision	1	1	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	林	淵	羡	魚
Old Chinese	/*b·rɯm/	/*qʷiːn/	/*ljans/	/*ŋa/
Notes			㳄字轉註

Idiom

臨淵羨魚

to wish for something good but take no action to obtain it; irresoluteness

Synonyms

臨淵羨魚，不如退而結網 / 临渊羡鱼，不如退而结网 (lín yuān xiàn yú, bù rú tuì ér jié wǎng)