大魚吃小魚，小魚吃蝦米

Chinese
big fish
 
eat; eradicate; destroy
eat; eradicate; destroy; receive; stammer
 small fish small fish
 
eat; eradicate; destroy
eat; eradicate; destroy; receive; stammer
 dried and shelled small shrimp; small shrimp
trad. (大魚吃小魚，小魚吃蝦米) 大魚 吃 小魚 ， 小魚 吃 蝦米
simp. (大鱼吃小鱼，小鱼吃虾米) 大鱼 吃 小鱼 ， 小鱼 吃 虾米
Literally: “The big fish eat the little fish, and the little fish eat small shrimps.”

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): dàyú chī xiǎoyú, xiǎoyú chī xiāmi
    (Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˋ ㄩˊ ㄔ ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄩˊ , ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄩˊ ㄔ ㄒㄧㄚ ˙ㄇㄧ
  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: dàyú chī xiǎoyú, xiǎoyú chī xiāmi
      • Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˋ ㄩˊ ㄔ ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄩˊ , ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄩˊ ㄔ ㄒㄧㄚ ˙ㄇㄧ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: dàyú chih siǎoyú, siǎoyú chih siami̊
      • Wade–Giles: ta4-yü2 chʻih1 hsiao3-yü2, hsiao3-yü2 chʻih1 hsia1-mi5
      • Yale: dà-yú chr̄ syǎu-yú-, syǎu-yú chr̄ syā-mi
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dahyu chy sheauyu, sheauyu chy shia.mi
      • Palladius: даюй чи сяоюй, сяоюй чи сями (dajuj či sjaojuj, sjaojuj či sjami)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /tä⁵¹ y³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ y³⁵ ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ y³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ ɕi̯ä⁵⁵ mi²/

Proverb

大魚吃小魚，小魚吃蝦米

  1. The weak are the prey of the strong; might makes right
    大魚吃小魚，小魚吃蝦米，蝦米吃爛泥。 [MSC, trad.]
    大鱼吃小鱼，小鱼吃虾米，虾米吃烂泥。 [MSC, simp.]
    Dà yú chī xiǎo yú, xiǎo yú chī xiāmi, xiāmi chī lànní. [Pinyin]
    The big fish eat the little fish, the little fish eat small shrimps, and the shrimps eat sludge.

Derived terms

See also
  • Thai: ปลาใหญ่กินปลาเล็ก
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