愛

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (愛):
* → Japanese: 愛(あい) (ai)
* → Korean: 애(愛) (ae)
* → Vietnamese: ái (愛)

→? Proto-Hlai: *ʔəːp (“to love”)

Originally 㤅 (xì), a phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *qɯːds): phonetic 旡 (OC *kɯds) + semantic 心 (“heart”). However, the phonetic component indicates somebody kneeling with an open mouth, perhaps, trilling.
As early as the Qin dynasty, a meaningless component 夊 (suī, “foot”) was added to the bottom of the character, as with some other characters depicting people. Compare 憂 /忧 (yōu) (from 㥑). Hence, the character changed into 𢙴.
Further corruption of the top component of 𢙴 turned the original phonetic 旡 (jì) into ⿱爫冖.
Based on Baxter's (1992) Old Chinese reconstruction /*ʔɨts/, STEDT suggests that it is from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ŋ-(w)aːj (“to copulate; to love; to be gentle”). Compare Proto-Karen *ʔai (“to love”), whence Pa'o Karen [script needed] (ʔái, “to love”), S'gaw Karen အဲၣ် (ʼeh̀, “to love”); Southern Bai e⁴⁴ (“love”); Mizo hma-ngaih (“to love, to like”); Jingpho nwai (“to respect, to love”), ngwi (“to be gentle”); Burmese ငွေ့ (ngwe., “to be gentle, moderate”). The Chinese word is related to a Tibeto-Burman allofam without initial *ŋ-. STEDT states that an Old Chinese reconstruction of /*ʔɨjs/ for 愛 is also possible because Old Chinese rhyming does not provide direct evidence of contacts with *-t.
However, Baxter and Sagart (2014) reconstructs /*[q]ˁə[p]-s/, which ends in *-p-s instead. The Old Chinese contrast between *-p-s and *-t-s was lost at a late stage of Old Chinese. The final *-p is not reflected in the Tibeto-Burman comparandum provided by STEDT, making the likelihood that the Chinese form is related to the rest very low (Sagart, 2019). Behr (2016) suggests a derivation from a verbal root meaning "to draw in; to inhale; to suck in", relating it to 吸 (OC *qʰ(r)əp, “to inhale”), 欱 (OC *qʰˁ[ə]p, “to sip”), 愾 (OC *qʰəp-s, “to sigh with regret”), 僾 (OC *qˁəp-s, “to pant”), 氣 (OC *C.qʰəp-s, “vapour; breath”).
;"to maltreat, to abuse"

cog

爱
㤅
𢙴
𢛭
𢜤
𤔠
𤔤
𢟪
𢖻
要

我唔愛咁多。

我唔爱咁多。

(Can we date this quote?), “快樂希望”, 饒瑞軍 (lyrics), 織田哲郎 [Tetsurō Oda] (music), performed by 龔心怡, cover of ゆめいっぱい [Yume Ippai]:

khoai-lo̍k chhiu he sióng oi mak-ke chhiu tet-tó

快樂就係 想愛麼個就得著

快乐就系 想爱么个就得着

(Cantonese, Hakka, Wu, Hokkien, Teochew) to want (an object)

1907, J. Dyer Ball, Cantonese Made Easy, third edition, Singapore: Kelly & Walsh, Limited, page 16:

蠔、我愛生食。

蚝、我爱生食。

(Hakka, Min, dated in Cantonese) to want (to do)

There's one thing you must bear in mind.

有一點愛注意的。

有一点爱注意的。


朝

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (朝):
* → Japanese: 朝(ちょう) (chō)
* → Korean: 조(朝) (jo)
* → Vietnamese: triêu (朝)

Guo Moruo
Han dynasty
Shuowen
Spring and Autumn period
Warring States period
bamboo and wooden slips

In the oracle bone script, it was an ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 2 or 4 屮 (“grass”) or even 木 (“tree”) + 日 (“sun”) + 月 (“moon”) – the sun rising above the ground while the waning moon is still in the sky – the morning.
In the bronze script, it was a compound of 𠦝 and a pictograph of a river (川 or 水) – this was possibly an original form for 潮 (OC *r'ew, “tide”). The river glyph may be a corruption of 月 due to association with tides or diurnal events. Chi (2010) considers such forms to be phono-semantic (形聲 /形声), where 𠦝 is the abbreviated form of the phonetic 朝 (OC *ʔr'ew, *r'ew). In the some late Western Zhou forms, 𠦝 was corrupted into a form resembling 車.
According to Guo Moruo, in the stone drum inscriptions (石鼓文 (shígǔwén), likely from the Spring and Autumn period) 㫃 was added (attached to 車), and the river glyph was replaced with 舟 (OC *tjɯw), which was interpreted as the phonetic component; the small seal script might have inherited from this form. Shuowen interpreted the fused components of 𠦝 and 㫃 as a semantic component 倝 (“dawn”). However, the accuracy of identification has been questioned; the character was a heavily weathered one in which the 㫃 identification was probably spurious and likely influenced by the Shuowen. Meanwhile, the 舟 component on the right remained somewhat legible.
The 舟 component remained in the bamboo and wooden slips of the Warring States period (see the table). In the clerical script since the Han dynasty, 舟 had been reverted to 月; it is unclear whether this was a remnant from 月 in the oracle bone script or a corruption of 舟 (as in 朕 < 𦩎 and many other characters). The current form is essentially inherited from the clerical script.
“Morning” > “perform the morning ceremony” > “to go/come to court; to have an audience”. Derivative: 潮 (OC *r'ew, “morning tide”).
Perhaps related to Thai เพรา (prao, “morning”) (Manomaivibool, 1975).

(Cantonese, Hakka, Northern Min) breakfast


零

Sino-Xenic (零):
* → Japanese: 零(れい) (rei)
* → Korean: 령(零) (ryeong)
* → Vietnamese: linh (零)

→ Bouyei: lingz

→ Lü: ᦟᦲᧃᧉ (liin²)

→ Zhuang: lingz

/liaŋ²²⁻²²⁵/

/liaŋ²²⁻²²⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *riːŋ, *reːŋ, *reːŋs): semantic 雨 (“rain”) + phonetic 令 (OC *ren, *reŋ, *reŋs, *reːŋ, *reːŋs). On the oracle bone script, only thick raindrops are depicted falling from the sky.
Unclear. Schuessler (2007) proposes several possibilities:
* From Austroasiatic; compare Khmer ភ្លៀង (phliəng, “rain”), from Proto-Mon-Khmer *(p)liɲ ~ *(p)liəɲ ~ (p)liiɲ (“sky, rain”).
* Possibly related to Jingpho marang (“rain”), for which STEDT sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m/s-raŋ (“rain”). Starostin also relates it to this Jingpho word and sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *rēŋ (“to drop”), also comparing Tibetan སྤྲིན (sprin, “cloud”) and Burmese ရည် (rany, “liquid; juice”).
* Possibly related to 隕 (OC *ɢunʔ, “to drop”) and 霣 (OC *ɢunʔ, “to rain; to fall down like rain”) if one assumes Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r/s/g-wa (“water; rain”) (or its variant *rwe-) can be simplified to *re- and *we-.
Sense "zero" is introduced in 1248 by Chinese mathematician Li Ye.

inh

〇
𠏡
𡈍
𤅫
𥥋
𮖿
𩂙
霗
𩃞
𩅶
𩆖
𩆼
⿳⻗人𰆊

廿零蚊

分零兩分鐘

分零两分钟

七十零

(Cantonese, Hakka, Northern Min, Eastern Min) Used after a number or a classifier to express a small remaining quantity.


㓾

From 治 (MC dri, “to regulate; to clean (fish)”).


下

Characters in the same phonetic series (下) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
In oracle bone script, it is an ideogram (指事) that shows the concept of "down" by showing one line below another (contrast 上). This form evolved into 下 in later scripts, the character used today.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(k/g)la-k/j/t (“to fall”) (STEDT):
* inside Sinitic, cognate with 落 (OC *ɡ·raːɡ, “to fall, to drop”), 露 (OC *ɡ·raːɡs, “dew”), 陊 (OC *l'aːlʔ, *l'alʔ, “to collapse”) and 阤 (OC *l'alʔ, *hljalʔ, “hillside, slope”);
* outside Sinitic, cognate with Mizo tla ~ tlâk (“to fall”), thla ~ thlâk (“to drop”), Burmese ကျ (kya., “to fall”) and ချ (hkya., “to drop”).
Schuessler (2007) instead proposed an Austroasiatic origin by comparing 下 (OC *ɡraːʔ, “to descend, down, below”) to Khmer [script needed] (gra'ka, “be low, debased”); additionally, he suggested that Sino-Tibetan influence had possibly caused the weakening of foreign final *-k to OC final *-ʔ. He derives the departing tone (去聲) pronunciation via two derivations:
* 下 (OC *ɡraːs, “to be put down”) is an exopassive derivation (ibid.);
* 下 (OC *ɡraːs, “to descend, to fall”) is a later, general departing tone derivative (ibid.).

cog

下帽仔

窗簾下下來洗撇知

窗帘下下来洗撇知

(transitive) (with limited objects, often figuratively) to put something down

(Hakka) to remove, to take off (especially a hat)


乜

(Can we date this quote?), “上帝就係愛”performed by 客家聖樂團:

mò-han mân-chiuk khoai-lo̍k yúng chhṳ sîm-thièn, ngùi-hiám chûng me m̀ kói-pien

無限滿足快樂湧自心田 危險中乜毋改變

无限满足快乐涌自心田 危险中乜毋改变


事

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (事):
* → Japanese: 事(じ) (ji)
* → Korean: 사(事) (sa)
* → Vietnamese: sự (事)

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 又 (“hand”) + 中 (“flag or hunting weapon”) – flag in hand > to perform one's job. Compare 吏. Furthermore, both character are related to 史, which is a variant without the horizontal stroke on top.
Exopassive of 士 (OC *zrɯʔ, “to give or carry out an assignment; to serve”), literally “what has been assigned” (Schuessler, 2007).
Alternatively, based on Gong (2000), STEDT derives it from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-dzas (“thing”), whence Burmese စာ (ca, “thing”) and Tibetan རྫས (rdzas, “thing, object, matter”).

cog

亊
叓
㕝
𠁱
𠫺
𠭏
𤔇
𪜃
𠭆

建甌事／建瓯事 [Northern Min] ― Gṳ̿ing-é-dī [Kienning Colloquial Romanized] ― Jian'ou dialect

(dialectal Hakka, Northern Min, Central Min) speech; words; language


介

2003, “花樹下 [Under the Flowers]”, 古秀如 (lyrics), 謝宇威 [Hsieh Yu-Wei] (music)performed by 謝宇威 [Hsieh Yu-Wei]:

該紅紅白白介花

该红红白白介花

(Hakka) alternative form of 個 /个 (“(particle; classifier)”)


仔

Characters in the same phonetic series (子) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ʔslɯ, *ʔslɯʔ): semantic 人 (“person”) + phonetic 子 (OC *ʔslɯʔ)
Cognate with 子 (OC *ʔslɯʔ) and 崽 (OC *ʔslɯːʔ, *srɯː, *srɯː).

Han compound

崽
子
子
囝
兒
亜
啊
也
兒
欸
之

你個仔真係好乖。

你个仔真系好乖。

(Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Shehua) son (Classifier: 個／个 c; 粒 c)

肥仔 [Cantonese] ― fei⁴ zai² [Jyutping] ― fatty

後生仔／后生仔 [Cantonese] ― hau⁶ saang¹ zai² [Jyutping] ― young man

(Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Northern Min) Diminutive suffix.

Denotes a young male of a particular trait.

打工仔 [Cantonese] ― daa² gung¹ zai² [Jyutping] ― young worker

拔萃仔 [Cantonese] ― bat⁶ seoi⁶ zai² [Jyutping] ― DBS kid

日本仔 [Cantonese] ― jat⁶ bun² zai² [Jyutping] ― Japanese guy

Denotes a young male of a particular occupation or background, often demeaningly.

明仔 [Cantonese] ― ming⁴ zai² [Jyutping] ― Little Ming

強仔／强仔 [Cantonese] ― koeng⁴ zai² [Jyutping] ― Little Keung

老婆仔 [Cantonese] ― lou⁵ po⁴ zai² [Jyutping] ― wifey

Used to call somebody affectionately. (For names, it is only used for males.)

秘書仔／秘书仔 [Cantonese] ― bei³ syu¹ zai² [Jyutping] ― a mere secretary

Demeaningly denotes somebody of a particular occupation or position.

狗仔 [Cantonese] ― gau² zai² [Jyutping] ― puppy

羊仔 [Cantonese] ― joeng⁴ zai² [Jyutping] ― lamb

Diminutive suffix.
Denotes a young animal.

凳仔 [Cantonese] ― dang³ zai² [Jyutping] ― small stool

雀仔 [Cantonese] ― zoek³ zai² [Jyutping] ― birdie

眼仔睩睩

公園仔／公园仔 [Cantonese] ― gung¹ jyun⁴⁻² zai² [Jyutping] ― small park

超市仔 [Cantonese] ― ciu¹ si⁵ zai² [Jyutping] ― grocery store (literally, “small supermarket”)

Denotes something that is small in size.

brother-in-law (husband's younger brother)

叔仔

姨仔

Denotes the younger sibling of one's spouse.

耳仔

Used with single-syllable nouns without denoting a specific meaning.


仰

𠈟
𠇆
𬽸
佒
𢓋
𠈟
𠇆
𬽸
𢓋
樣

仰會無人在這位了

仰会无人在这位了


企

人 (“person”) + 止 (“foot”) – a person standing on tiptoes.

企穩

企稳


伸

/t͡sʰuoŋ⁵⁴⁴/

/t͡sʰɯəŋ⁵⁴⁴/

/t͡sʰuoŋ⁵⁴⁴/

/t͡sʰɯəŋ⁵⁴⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *hlin): semantic 亻 (“man”) + phonetic 申 (OC *hlin).
STEDT derives the word from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsjan ~ *dzjan (“to stretch out”), and compares Burmese ဆင်း (hcang:, “idem”), though the Old Chinese reconstructions make this somewhat problematic.


佢

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic 亻 + phonetic 巨 (OC *ɡaʔ).
From the initial *k-series of Old Chinese third-person pronouns, cognate with 其 (OC *ɡɯ). Also compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *ge(e)ʔ, whence Khmer គេ (kei, “they; he; she”) (Schuessler, 2007).
In standard Cantonese, the tone has assimilated with the other personal pronouns: 我 (ngo⁵), 你 (nei⁵) (Chan, 1998).
Before the use of 佢, 渠 was also used in some novels and newspapers, such as 老婆奴續編／老婆奴续编 (1926). The character 渠 is still preferred in lects such as Wu and sometimes Gan.

Han compound

while 渠 is more common in other varieties

Chinese varieties in general do not distinguish gender

distinctions are only sometimes made in writing.佢 is commonly used in Yue

佢有三個大佬。

佢有三个大佬。

唔好搞佢啦。

佢個鼻好大。

佢个鼻好大。

(Cantonese, Hakka, Gan, Northern Min, Central Min, Southern Wu, vernacular) he; she; they; it (third person singular pronoun)


佮

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *tkʰuːb, *kuːb, *quːb, *quːb): semantic 人 (“person”) + phonetic 合 (OC *kuːb, *ɡuːb).
Related to 合 (OC *kuːb, *ɡuːb).

Han compound

alt. forms: 合, 甲 (jiǎ), 及 (jí), 與 /与, 共

alt. forms: 合, 甲 (jiǎ), 及 (jí), 與 /与, 共

(Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka) with; accompanying


供

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *kloŋ, *kloŋs): semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 共 (OC *kloŋ, *ɡloŋs).

Han compound

供豬仔

供猪仔

(Hakka) to raise (children or animals); to feed (livestocks)


係

→ Vietnamese: hễ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *keːɡs): semantic 人 + phonetic 系 (OC *ɡeːɡs).
The simplified form 系 also exists as a traditional character, and is also used to simplify 繫. In ancient times, 系, 係, and 繫 were usually interchangeable graphic variants, although in some compounds, only one form is acceptable (e.g. 世系 and 繋辭／繋辞).

Han compound

其母係北京人。

其母系北京人。

wu¹ lung⁴⁻² caa⁴ hai⁶ caa⁴ ge³ jat¹ zung².

烏龍茶係茶嘅一種。

乌龙茶系茶嘅一种。

(formal or Cantonese, Hakka) to be (copula)

(Cantonese, Hakka) yes (as answer to a question)


倈

Possibly from 兒 (OC *ŋje, “son”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Alternatively, Sagart (2002) treats it as a semantic broadening of 孻／𡥧 (“youngest son”) in a language ancestral to Hakka and Gan.


個

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (個):
* → Japanese: 個(こ) (ko)
* → Korean: 개(個) (gae)
* → Vietnamese: cá (個)

Wutunhua: -ge

→? Baba Malay: punya (semantic loan)

desc

→? Vietnamese: cái (possibly some contamination)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *kaːls): semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 固 (OC *kaːs).
The semantics may have developed along the grammaticalisation process "bamboo stalk" (箇) > "piece, item" > "classifier for every category of noun" > "possessive particle, generic particle". If so, it would then possibly be cognate with 竿 (OC *kaːn, “bamboo, rod”). Compare Tibetan མཁར་བ (mkhar ba), འཁར་བ ('khar ba, “walking stick, staff”) and Thai ก้าน (gâan, “stem, stalk”).
; Southern Min classifier and possessive particle
; Wu classifier and possessive particle

Han compound

个
箇
个
兮
的
ㄟ
ケ
亓
亇

may use corresponding classifier in certain contexts

(dialectal Hakka, dialectal Min, dialectal Wu) one

三個九毫九

三个九毫九

八個六

八个六

個半十隻檸檬

个半十只柠檬

三個銀

三个银

兩斤五個

两斤五个

個銀三粒

个银三粒

(Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew, Puxian Min, Wenzhounese) Classifier for money: yuan, dollar; buck

→ 嘅 (ge3) (Cantonese); 格 (kaq), 額／额 (gheq) (Shanghainese) (Mandarin influenced); 噶, 葛 (Suzhounese); 的 (ê) (Hokkien)

我個冊

我个册

我個書

我个书

我個小囡

我个小囡

客家個精神

客家个精神

(dialectal Cantonese, Hakka, Southern Min, Wu) Possessive particle. Equivalent to Mandarin 的 (de).


偋

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *beŋs): semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 屏 (OC *peŋ, *peŋʔ, *beːŋ).

Han compound

alt. forms: 㔷 (lòu), 柄


傍

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *baːŋ, *baːŋs): semantic 亻 + phonetic 旁 (OC *baːŋ).

Han compound

(Hakka) to have savory dishes with (rice, alcoholic beverage, etc.)


儆

(Cantonese, Hakka) to be careful; to be cautious; to restrain


儕

Possibly related to Proto-Tai *ʑaːjᴬ (“man; male”) (Luo and Deng, 1995; Li, 1997).

侪
侪
倽
畲
畬
𠈱
侪
纔
裁
全
惢

阿哥儕 留下來个吉他

2020, 羅文裕 [Wing], “哥哥留下來的吉他”, in 當太陽升起時, performed by 羅文裕 [Wing]:

阿哥侪 留下来个吉他

(Hakka, Central Min, usually in compounds) person

(Can we date this quote?), 現代臺灣客語譯本 [Today's Taiwan Hakka Version], translation of the Bible, 馬太福音 [Mǎtài Fúyīn, Matthew], 14:21:

And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

Sṳ̍t ke ngìn, fu-ngìn-kâ lâu se-ngìn-è yî-ngoi, yok yû ńg-chhiên sà.

食个人，婦人家㧯細人仔以外，約有五千儕。

食个人，妇人家㧯细人仔以外，约有五千侪。


兜

(Hakka) some; a few; a little; a bit (an indefinite amount)


公

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (公):
* → Japanese: 公(こう) (kō, “duke”)
* → Korean: 공(公) (gong, “duke”)
* → Vietnamese: công (公, “duke”)

→ Mongolian: гүн (gün)

→ Manchu: ᡤᡠᠩ (gung)

→ Thai: กง (gong, “grandfather”) (said by Chinese race)

Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus

The traditional interpretation as given by Han Feizi is that 公 is a compound of 八 (= 背 (“to deviate; opposite”)) and 厶 (original form of 私 (“individual; private”)), i.e. the opposite of “private” — “public”. This theory is supported by Sun Yirang and Qiang Kaiyun, despite the somewhat different shape of the bottom component from 厶.
This is disputed in modern times by Gao Hongjin, who thinks that the 八 on top stands for 分 (“to divide; to distribute”) and the bottom round component 口 symbolises a generic object. 公 thus represents “equally dividing resources so that they are communal”.
Another theory put forth by Zhu Fangpu is that 公 is a pictogram (象形), being the original form of 瓮 (OC *qloːŋs, “a wide-mouthed round-bottomed jar”), and later borrowed for the meanings of “public” and “male of older generation or higher rank”.
; "fair; impartial; public"
; "male of older generation or higher rank; duke; male (of animals)"
: STEDT provisionally sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kaŋ (“father; grandfather; honorific”), also comparing it to 翁; compare Drung kangkang (“grandpa”), vkang (“(my/our) grandfather”), Burmese ခင် (hkang), as in မိခင် (mi.hkang, “mother”), ဖခင် (hpa.hkang, “father”). Alternatively, STEDT also compares it with Proto-Sino-Tibetan *gaŋ (“penis; male”), whence 雄 (OC *ɡʷɯŋ, “male”), but considers it less probable.
: Schuessler (2007) suggests a Mon-Khmer origin; compare Khmer ឡូញ (louñ, “title of an unidentified rank or function”) and Old Khmer khloñ (“head, chief”) (whence ខ្លោង (khlaong)). Compare also Thai ลุง (lung), from Proto-Tai *luŋᴬ (“parent's older brother”), which may also be from Mon-Khmer. Tibetan ཁོང (khong) ~ གོང (gong, “final syllable in dignitaries' name”) may be borrowed from Chinese.

cog

鼻公 [Sixian Hakka] ― phi-kûng [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ] ― nose

貓公／猫公 [Meixian Hakka] ― miau⁴ gung¹ [Hakka Transliteration Scheme] ― cat


冇

From the removal of the two inner strokes from 有 (“to have”).
Attested at least since 1672, in 《星餘筆記》 by 王鉞:
From 無 (MC mju, “to not have”). In some varieties, such as Cantonese and Xiang, there seems to be fusion or analogy with 有 (MC hjuwX, “to have”) (Chan, 1998; Schuessler, 2007).

When filing pleas, peasants in the Ning county (西寧縣, modern 鬱南縣) often use the local popular writing, it is peculiar when first seen, but when accustomed, each has its meaning, for example: … 冇, sounds like 茂, means "to not have".

Níng sú pǔbǐ suǒ chén diésù duō yòng tǔsú shū, chūjiàn hài'è, xíxián yì gè yǒu yìyì, lìng lüèjì shùzì:...... 冇, yīn mào, wèi wúyǒu yě.

寧俗樸鄙所陳牒訴多用土俗書，初見駭愕，習閒亦各有義意，令略記數字：……冇，音茂，謂無有也。

宁俗朴鄙所陈牒诉多用土俗书，初见骇愕，习闲亦各有义意，令略记数字：……冇，音茂，谓无有也。

(Can we date this quote?), “紅茶館”, performed by 陳慧嫻:

You don't have a girlfriend? Of course I don't believe you! ... Maybe you do have one, but you just don't know it.

nei⁵ mou⁵ neoi⁵ pang⁴ jau⁵? gang² hai⁶ m⁴ seon³ laa¹!...... waak⁶ ze² jau⁵. nei⁵ m⁴ zi¹ ze¹.

你冇女朋友？梗係唔信啦！……或者有。你唔知啫。

你冇女朋友？梗系唔信啦！……或者有。你唔知啫。

冇理由㗎。

(dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese, dialectal Gan, Hakka, dialectal Wu, Xiang) to not have; to not exist


冇

Compare Saek [script needed] (phoong^(C2), “hollow; hole (in a tree, bamboo)”), Proto-Bahnaric *pɔːŋ (“hollow; flattened”) (Schuessler, 2007).

冇柴

(Min, Hakka) empty; hollow; spongy; not sturdy

(Min, Hakka) unreliable; undependable; casual


冚

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 冖 (“cover”) + 山 (“mountain”).
Traditionally related to 𠖫 (gǎn, “to cover”) (Bai, 1980; You, 1992).
Bauer (1996) considers this to be part of an area word family in Southeast Asian languages: *khVm ~ *khVp ~ *kVm ~ *kVp ~ *k(h)l/rm/p. It is probably related to 扱 (kap1, “to cover; to imprint”). Compare Min Nan 崁 (khàm, “to cover”), Burmese ခြုံ (hkrum, “to cover; to wrap”), Proto-Tai *hɤmᴮ (“to cover (with cloth)”) (whence Zhuang hoemq and Thai ห่ม (hòm)). The root is found in many Sinitic dialects including Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien and Wenzhounese.

cog

冚埋本書／冚埋本书 [Cantonese] ― kam² maai⁴ bun² syu¹ [Jyutping] ― close the book

Last night, while sleeping, I put on two blankets.

ngo⁵ kam⁴ maan⁵ fan³ gaau³ kam² zo² loeng⁵ zoeng¹ pei⁵.

我琴晚瞓覺冚咗兩張被。

我琴晚𰥛觉冚咗两张被。

Please put the lid back on after taking it.

攞完唔該冚返個蓋

𫽋完唔该冚返个盖


凝

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ŋrɯŋ, *ŋrɯŋs): semantic 冫 (“ice”) + phonetic 疑 (OC *ŋɯ)
Possibly related to 冰 (OC *p.rəŋ, “ice”) (Baxter & Sagart, 2014); if so, also related to 凌 (OC *[r]əŋ ~ p.rəŋ, “ice”) and from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-p(w)am (“to freeze; snow”) (provisionally reconstructed) (STEDT); other comparanda are 雱 (OC *pʰˁaŋ) "heavy snowfall", and 霙 (OC *ʔraŋ) "sleet, snowflake".

och-l

*􂀿r􂁀əŋ ~ p.rəŋ


凼

(dialectal Mandarin, Hakka, Gan, Xiang) puddle; pool; pit


分

→ Malay: hun

→ Indonesian: hun

desc

→ Thai: หุน (hǔn, “a unit of length and weight”)

→ Zhuang: faen

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 八 (“to separate”) + 刀 (“knife”) – to separate with a knife.

Han compound

Obsolete. 皮 is used for SI prefix pico-.

分人罵／分人骂 [Sixian Hakka] ― pûn ngìn ma [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ] ― to be scolded (by people)


刣

Often considered a substrate word. Compare (Deng, 1994, Schuessler, 2007):
* Proto-Hmong-Mien *təjH (“to kill”) ~ Proto-Hmong-Mien *dəjH (“to die”)
** White Hmong tua (“to kill”)
** White Hmong tuag (“to die”)
* Proto-Austronesian *pa-aCay (“to kill”) ~ Proto-Austronesian *ma-aCay (“to die”)
** Amis patay (“to die; death”)
** Cebuano patay (“dead; to kill”)
** Tagalog patay (“dead; corpse; carcass”); matay (“dying”); katay (“a slaughtering; a killing”); bitay (“hanging (means of execution)”)
* Proto-Tai *p.taːjᴬ (“to die”)
** Thai ตาย (dtaai, “to die”)
Norman (1979) suggests that this derives from 治 (MC dri, “to regulate; to clean (fish)”) instead. This usage is still used in some Mandarin dialects (usually meaning “to clean (fish)”) and Hakka chhṳ̀ (“to slaughter (livestock)”), often written as 㓾.
Alternatively, some have suggested that 夷 (MC yij, “to be level; to pacify; to kill”) is the original character.

ltc-l

𠛀
殺
刏
宰
𠷂
夷
治
汰

刣豬

刣猪

刣豬

刣猪


刮

刮唔好意思


剝

→ Proto-Tai: *poːkᴰ (“peel”)

Lao: ປອກ (pǭk, “peel”)

desc

Lü: ᦔᦸᧅᧈ (ṗoak¹)

Lü: ᦔᦸᧅᧈ (ṗoak¹)

Shan: ပွၵ်ႇ (pàuk)

Thai: ปอก (bpɔ̀ɔk, “peel”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *proːɡ): phonetic 彔 (OC *b·roːɡ) + semantic 刂 (“knife”).

wp

List of hexagrams of the I Ching#Hexagram 23

剥
剥
𠚩
𠚬
𠧓
𠛧
𭃄
忉
㣼

(Cantonese, Hakka, Zhongshan Min) to take off (clothes)


剩

(Hakka, Hokkien) alternative form of 伸 (“to be left; to remain”)


厥

厥爸


古

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (古):
* → Japanese: 古(こ) (ko)
* → Korean: 고(古) (go)
* → Vietnamese: cổ (古)

→ Vietnamese: cũ

Ideogram (指事): A shield (十, contraction of 盾 and similar but unrelated to 中) and the radical of the mouth (口) both as a distinguishing mark and as a component that partly indicates pronunciation. Together, they indicate the concept of "strong, firm" (as strong as a shield); original form of 固 (OC *kaːs) (Qiu Xigui, Ding Shan 丁山). Later, the meaning of "solid, firm" shifted to "antiquity" for unclear reasons. Compare oracle bone forms with 干, 盾. Unrelated to 中 and hence to 史 and 使.
Fang (1982) finds evidence for the 十 component originally being a depiction of a piece of food and the character originally being a depiction of someone spitting out a piece of food due to his bad taste. Thus, Fang argues this character is the original form of 苦 (kǔ), "bitter".
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-ga (“old”). Cognate with 故 (OC *kaːs, “old things; former; dead”) and Tibetan རྒ (rga, “to be old; aged”).

och-l

講古

讲古

(Cantonese, Hakka, Southern Min) story (Classifier: 段 c)


叻

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic 口 (“mouth; colloquial”) + phonetic 力 (OC *rɯɡ).
Uncertain. Various theories exist:
* From 㔹 (MC lok, “having the talent and power of ten people”).
* From 頔 (MC dek, “good”).
* From 犖 (MC laewk), as in 犖犖 (MC laewk laewk, “clear; evident”), 卓犖 (MC traewk laewk, “outstanding; extraordinary”).
* From 𥌮 (MC lek), as in 𥌮𥉶 (MC lek luwk, “to see clearly”).

ltc-l

佢好叻㗎。

佢唱歌好叻㗎。

又叻又勤力

(retort) if only you could focus these smarts into studying (lit. "yet I do not see you be so smart when studying")

讀書又唔見你咁叻

读书又唔见你咁叻

(retort) good at talking back [but not at other things, i.e. studying]

駁嘴你就叻

驳嘴你就叻

(Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew) smart; clever; capable; good (at something)


吂

Contraction of 唔曾 (Norman, 1995) or 未曾 (Lien, 2016).


吾

吾姆 [Sixian Hakka] ― ngâ mê [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ] ― my mom

(Can we date this quote?), “佬妹阿花”, 张少林 (lyrics)performed by 张少林:

雅佬妹喊做阿花


哀

Coblin (2021) proposes that it is a contraction of Common Neo-Hakka compound 阿姆 (*a¹ moi¹), where *moi¹ may have come from earlier *moi⁴, perhaps related to 母 (OC *mɯʔ, “mother”).

爺哀

爷哀


唔

Belongs to the *m- series of negatives; see 無 (OC *ma, “no”) for more. Cognate with the syllabic negative 毋 (m̄, m̀) in Hokkien and Hakka.

唔好意思，我唔記得。

唔好意思，我唔记得。

nei⁵ zi¹ m⁴ zi¹ dou³ jau⁴ seoi² ci⁴ hai² bin¹ dou⁶ aa³?

你知唔知道游水池喺邊度呀？

你知唔知道游水池喺边度呀？

(Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka) not (negator)


唚

吣
吣
吢
斟
啿
親
吻
鐘
烝

(Hakka, Eastern Min, Southern Min) to kiss


啉

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ɡ·ruːm): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 林 (OC *ɡ·rɯm).
Related to Thai ดื่ม (dʉ̀ʉm, “to drink”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

你欲啉茶抑是咖啡？

2001, 黃一飛 (馬來西亞歌手) [Freddie Huang Yi Fei], “一百萬 [One Million Dollars]”:

I want to travel the world / drink coffee in Italy / eat spaghetti on the roadside

góa beh iû sè-kài, Ì-tá-lì lim ko-pi, lō͘-piⁿ chia̍h Spaghetti

我要遊世界 義大利飲咖啡 路邊吃Spaghetti

我要游世界 义大利饮咖啡 路边吃Spaghetti


啊

2015, 黃瑋傑, “天光日”, in 《天光。日》, performed by 黃瑋傑:

In 1998, I went away from home to study faraway. Once I went back home, I got a shirt.

1998 ngiàn, ngài chhut-ngoi thu̍k-sû m̀ tî yán, kûi-a-to vuk-hâ, chhiu liâng to yit liâng sâm

1998年 𠊎出外讀書毋知遠 歸啊到屋下 就領到一領衫

1998年 𠊎出外读书毋知远 归啊到屋下 就领到一领衫

(Hakka) Used between a verb and a complement to indicate that something has happened within a short time and/or is immediately followed by another event.


啖

我想飲啖水。

我想饮啖水。

(Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Pinghua) Classifier for mouthfuls of things (water, rice, etc.)


啜

/t͡syːt̚³⁻⁵/

/t͡syːt̚³⁻³⁵/

/t͡syːt̚³⁻⁵/

/t͡syːt̚³⁻³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *tods, *djods, *tod, *tʰjod, *djod): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 叕 (OC *tod).
Possibly related to 噆 (OC *ʔsluːb, “(of a mosquito) to bite”) (Schuessler, 2007).

och-l

嚽
歠
𠼣
𡂜
𩟫
𠽶
涰
餟
諁

(Hakka) alternative form of 撮 (cod⁵) to cheat; to deceive; to hoax


喺

(Hakka) alternative form of 嗨 (“at; in”)


嗮

Uncertain. Chan (1995) suggests that it is from 澌 (MC sjeH, “to dry up; to finish”).

做嗮功課未呀？

做嗮功课未呀？

For some reason, everyone is not hungry tonight and left all the food almost untouched.

gam¹ maan⁵⁻¹ m⁴ zi¹ dim² gaai² go³ go³ dou¹ mou⁵ mat¹ wai⁶ hau², gaau² dou³ sik⁶ zing⁶ saai³ di¹ sung³.

今晚唔知點解個個都冇乜胃口，搞到食剩嗮啲餸。

今晚唔知点解个个都冇乜胃口，搞到食剩嗮啲𩠌。

多謝嗮！

多谢嗮！

等佢哋走嗮先。

已經喺嗮出便啦。

已经喺嗮出便啦。

賣嗮

卖嗮

7 days isn't enough to see all the places I want to go see

七日去唔嗮

1994, Stephen Chow, Hail the Judge, spoken by Lui Pao (Elvis Tsui)

我要嗮！

(Can we date this quote?), “海南鸡饭 [Hǎinán jīfàn]”performed by 张少林 [Chong Sau Lin]:

張惠妹稱霸晒歌壇

张惠妹称霸晒歌坛

1986, “跳舞街”, 林敏驄 (lyrics), performed by 陳慧嫻:

caa¹ jat¹ fan¹ zung¹ tin¹ zau⁶ hak¹ saai³, mou⁴ seoi¹ gap¹ jyu¹ gon² gai³ sing⁴ baai⁶

差一分鐘天就黑晒 毋須急於趕計成敗

差一分钟天就黑晒 毋须急于赶计成败

1903, 吳啟太, part 1 of 官商吐屬, in 粵音指南, volume 1, Hong Kong: 聚珍書樓, translation of 官話指南:

jau⁵ gei² do¹ gaan¹ fong⁴ ne¹,, jau⁵ saam¹ sap⁶ do¹ gaan¹,, saam¹ sap⁶ do¹ gaan¹ fong⁴ taai³ do¹ gaak³, ngo⁵ zyu⁶ m⁴ saai³ gam³ do¹,

有幾多間房呢、 有三十多間、 三十多間房太多咯、我住唔嘥咁多、

有几多间房呢、 有三十多间、 三十多间房太多咯、我住唔嘥咁多、

(Cantonese, dialectal Hakka) Verbal aspect marker for full extent.


嘢

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic 口 + phonetic 野.

Han compound

好嘢！ [Cantonese] ― hou² je⁵! [Jyutping] ― Good stuff! Hooray!

講人哋嘅嘢／讲人哋嘅嘢 [Cantonese] ― gong² jan⁴ dei⁶ ge³ je⁵ [Jyutping] ― to talk about other people's stuff

Do you want to eat Japanese food or Thai food?

nei⁵ soeng² sik⁶ jat⁶ bun² je⁵ ding⁶ sik⁶ taai³ gwok³ je⁵ aa³?

你想食日本嘢定食泰國嘢啊？

你想食日本嘢定食泰国嘢啊？

(Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Zhongshan Min) thing; matter; stuff (Classifier: 樣／样 c; 家 c)


噲

1894, James Dyer Ball, Readings in Cantonese Colloquial, page 2:

Can you reach up so high? No. (literally, Can you raise that hand to as high as the sun? [You] cannot.)

nei⁵ wui⁵ geoi² go³ zek³ sau² dou³ jit⁶ tau⁴⁻² gam³ gou¹ m⁴ ni¹, m⁴ wui⁵ aa³.

你噲舉個隻手到熱頭咁高唔呢、唔噲呀。

你哙举个只手到热头咁高唔呢、唔哙呀。

(Can we date this quote?), “潮汕女孩”, 李立群 (lyrics), 徐曉穎 (music)performed by 徐曉穎:

She will cause you to pretend to be a good man and not dare play tricks all your life.

i¹ oi⁶ hai⁷ le² zêg⁸ buê³ ze² long² diêh⁸ gê² ho² nang⁵ m⁶ gan² sai² huai⁶

伊噲害你一輩子攏著假好人唔敢使坏

伊哙害你一辈子拢着假好人唔敢使坏

(dated in Cantonese, Hakka, still used in Teochew) alternative form of 會 /会 (“can; will”)


地

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (地):
* → Japanese: 地(じ) (ji); 地(ち) (chi)
* → Korean: 지(地) (ji)
* → Vietnamese: địa (地)

→ Proto-Tai: *diːᴮ

Ahom: 𑜄𑜣 (tī)

Lao: ທີ່ (thī)

Lü: ᦑᦲᧈ (tii¹)

Northern Thai: ᨴᩦ᩵

Shan: တီႈ (tīi)

Thai: ที่ (tîi)

Zhuang: dih

Characters in the same phonetic series (也) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *l'els): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 也 (OC *laːlʔ).
Compare Tibetan གཞི (gzhi, “ground”), Burmese မ္လိယ် (ma.liy) (whence Burmese မြေ (mre, “earth; ground”)) (Hill, 2019). From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mV-lej.

Han compound

坔
埅
埊
𡍑
𨹛
𨻐
墬
𡏇
𠏂
𡑸
𡒿
𡒴
𡒰
𡓬
嶳
𪒉
𤅴
哋

叫天天不應，叫地地不靈 / 叫天天不应，叫地地不灵

jiào tiān tiān bù yìng, jiào dì dì bù líng

蛤地站 ― Gédì zhàn ― Gedi station (蛤地 means "frog-shaped tomb")


坑

In its current form, a phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *kʰraːŋ): phonetic 亢 (OC *kaːŋ, *kʰaːŋs) + semantic 土 (“soil”). Early forms appear to be 阬.
Possibly related to 空 (OC *kʰoːŋ, *kʰoːŋs, “empty; space; air”), though the function of the *-r- in the Old Chinese reconstruction is unclear and its presence thus problematic (STEDT).

och-l

(dialectal, including Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien, Taishanese) valley; gully; ravine

(Hakka) small stream; creek; brook (Classifier: 條／条 h)


埔

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 甫.

Han compound

(Hakka, Southern and Puxian Min) plain; flatland


壯

/ʈ͡ʂu̯ɑŋ²¹⁴/

/t͡sʰuɑŋ²¹³/

/ʈ͡ʂu̯ɑŋ²¹⁴/

/t͡sʰuɑŋ²¹³/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ʔsraŋs): phonetic 爿 (OC *braːn, *zaŋ) + semantic 士.

Han compound

Fame portends trouble for men just as fattening does for pigs.

人怕出名豬怕壯

人怕出名猪怕壮

(colloquial or dialectal, chiefly Hakka or Wu, of a person or an animal) fat


夠

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *koː, *koːs, *kʰoː): semantic 多 + phonetic 句 (OC *koː, *koːs, *kos, *ɡo).


奀

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 不 (“not”) + 大 (“big”).


好

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (好):
* → Japanese: 好(こう) (kō)
* → Korean: 호(好) (ho)
* → Vietnamese: hảo (好)

desc

→ Vietnamese: hẩu (“kind, good, delicious”)

Characters in the same phonetic series (好) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 女 (“woman”) + 子 (“child”).
The widely accepted meaning of this character is that the characters for “female” (女) and “child” (子) were put together to form a compound because it was good for a woman to have a child. Similarly, it has been proposed that the compound originally refers to the mutual affection between the mother and child, which then extended to mean “good”. These theories are supported by the smaller 子 found in some oracle bones and bronze inscriptions. See also 保 and the original version of 乳.
However, broader interpretations of the second character 子 could lead to other theories. 子 could also mean “son”, so it may have meant two children, a boy and a girl next to each other, which is a good fortune to have a boy and a girl. 子 could also mean “man”, so it may have referred to the love between a man and a woman, which is good. Duan Yucai, in his annotated version of Shuowen, interpreted it as originally referring to the beauty of woman. Lastly, it could mean that the “attitude” of a girl was considered good.
The two pronunciations are cognate – pronunciation 2 is the *-s suffixed form, or exoactive/putative of pronunciation 1, literally “to consider good”. Compare 惡 (OC *qaːɡ, “bad; evil”) > 惡 (OC *qaːɡs, “to consider bad; to hate”).
This word has been compared with Proto-Sino-Tibetan *hu (“to raise; to rear; to nourish”): Proto-Lolo-Burmese *hu³, Abor-Miri (Tani) u, Mawo Northern Qiang χu, which is only attested in a limited number of languages. If this is correct, it may be related to 畜 (OC *l̥ʰuɡs, *l̥ʰuɡ, *hluɡ, “to raise; to rear; domesticated animal”). Alternatively, compare Tibetan མཁོ (mkho, “necessary, important”).
Cognate with Central Bai hux (“good”), which may be a loanword from Chinese.

cog

⿰女人
㚥
⿱女子
𡥃
𰠗
㝀
𡚽
𡥆
𢑒
𤫧
𩐔

sap⁶ ji⁶ dim² laa³, hou² heoi³ fan³ gaau³ laa³.

十二點喇，好去瞓覺喇。

十二点喇，好去𰥛觉喇。

My dad advised that Fa should get married next year.

雅爸都劝讲阿花明年好嫁

雅爸都勸講阿花明年好嫁


妹

→ Khmer: មួយ (muəy, “you”) (used with people of Chinese ethnicity)

→ Thai: หมวย (mǔai, “younger sister”) (said by Chinese ethnicity)

/muːi̯²²⁻⁵⁵/

/muːi̯²²⁻³⁵/

/muːi̯²²⁻⁵⁵/

/muːi̯²²⁻³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *mɯːds): semantic 女 (“female, woman”) + phonetic 未 (OC *mɯds).
Probably Sino-Tibetan. Proposed etymologies:
* STEDT relates it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mi (“girl; female; feminine suffix”), whence Apatani nyimii (“girl; woman; female”), Proto-Loloish *C-mi² (“woman”), Proto-Karen *hmɨᴮ (“female; woman”).
* Schuessler (2007) compares it to Burmese မ (ma., “sister”) (whence အစ်မ (acma., “elder sister”), ညီမ (nyima., “younger sister”)), Miju ku-mai- (“woman”), Tibetan བུད་མེད (bud med, “woman”), and also Mizo hmei (“concubine”) (> Mizo hmei-chhia (“woman; wife”)), which STEDT relates to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-maj (“widow, widower”) instead.


姖

And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment.

現代臺灣客語譯本 (Today's Taiwan Hakka Version), 馬太福音 (Matthew) 9:20

Yû yit-ke fu-ngìn-kâ, pot hiet-leu-phiang sṳ̍p-ngi ngièn; kì hàng-to Yâ-sû ke heu-poi, miâ kì ke sâm-mî.

有一個婦人家，發血漏病十二年；姖行到耶穌个後背，摸佢个衫尾。

有一个妇人家，发血漏病十二年；姖行到耶稣个后背，摸佢个衫尾。

(Cantonese, Hakka, uncommon) she, her; feminine of 佢


姣

(obsolete or Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien, Leizhou Min, Hainanese, of a woman) lewd; flirtatious


嫲

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 麻 (OC *mraːl).
Cognate with 媽／妈 (mā, “mother”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

(Hakka)

勺嫲

(Hakka) Suffix for certain nouns, often indicating a large size.


嫽

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *rewʔ, *reːw, *reːws): semantic 女 (“female”) + phonetic 尞.

Han compound

When you are free, come and chat with me.

得閒過來同𠊎嫽。

得闲过来同𠊎嫽。

(Hakka) to chat; to kill time (with someone)


屌

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声) and ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): semantic 尸 (“body”) + phonetic 吊 (OC *tiːwɢs, “hanging”): “something that hangs from the body”.
Derived from 鳥 (MC tewX, “bird”). Words for "bird" are commonly used to denote the penis in Chinese.

鳥
𡰯
𨳒
𠄏
dior

屌你！ [Guangzhou Cantonese] ― diu² nei⁵! [Jyutping] ― Fuck you!

1907, John Chalmers, T. K. Dealy, “Violate”, in 《英粤字典》 [English and Cantonese Dictionary], seventh edition, Hongkong: Kelly & Walsh, Ltd., page 715:

屌你亞媽

屌你亚妈

(chiefly Cantonese, Hakka, Pinghua, Zhongshan Min, Guangxi Mandarin, vulgar) to fuck

(Cantonese, Hakka, Longyan Min, vulgar) to scold; to reprimand


屐

→ Thai: เกี๊ยะ (gía)

Shuowen: Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ɡreɡ): abbreviated semantic 履 (“shoe”) + phonetic 支 (OC *kje).

Han compound

𡰸
𡰵
跂
𰍸
⿸尸𢪊
𭕞
𡲆

(Classical, Cantonese, Hakka or Min) clogs; wooden shoes


屑

(Hakka, Southern Min) bits; scraps; crumbs; fragments


岃

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic 山 (“mountain”) + phonetic 刃 (OC *njɯns). Compare 屻 (rèn).


崎

Homophonous with 徛 (“to stand”) in most surveyed varieties of Hakka.


嶇

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *kʰo): semantic 山 (“mountain”) + phonetic 區 (OC *qoː, *kʰo).


嶺

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *reŋʔ): semantic 山 (“mountain”) + phonetic 領 (OC *reŋʔ).
Compare 陵 (OC *rɯŋ, “mound; hill”).

Han compound

(Hakka, dialectal Cantonese) mountain; hill


平

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (平):
* → Japanese: 平(へい) (hei)
* → Korean: 평(平) (pyeong)
* → Vietnamese: bình (平)

→ Iu Mien: baengh (“level”)

desc

→ Proto-Palaungic: *-pre/iŋ (“equal, level”) (Sidwell, 2015)

→ Proto-Tai: *biangᴬ (“flat, even”)

Lao: ພຽງ (phīang, “flat, even, equal”)

Lü: ᦵᦗᧂ (peng, “flat, even, equal”)

Northern Thai: ᨻ᩠ᨿᨦ (“flat, even, equal”)

Shan: ပဵင်း (páeng, “flat, even, equal”)

Thai: เพียง (piiang, “equal, as, only, just”)

Characters in the same phonetic series (平) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Uncertain. Various explanations include:
* According to the Shuowen, 八 (“division”) + 亏 (“exhaled air”) — the smooth flow of speech.
* Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ben, *beŋ): phonetic 釆 (biàn) + semantic 二 (“two equal lines”) (Lin Yiguang, 1920)
* A pictogram (象形) of waterweed spread flat on the surface of water. Original form of 苹 (OC *beŋ, “duckweed”). (Lawrence J. Howell)
* Pictogram (象形) of a balance scale. (Karlgren, 1973)
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(p/b)ljaŋ (“plank; palm; flat surface; wing”), whence Jingpho phun-pyen (phun⁵⁵ pjen³³, “plank”) and Burmese ပျဉ် (pyany, “flat board”) (STEDT).

cog

平機票

平机票

平啲得唔得呀？

What about selling it to me at a lower price?

bat¹ jyu⁴ peng⁴ peng⁴⁻² dei⁶⁻² maai⁶ bei² ngo⁵ laa¹.

不如平平地賣畀我啦。

不如平平地卖畀我啦。

(Can we date this quote?), “海南鷄飯”, 张少林 [Chong Sau Lin] (lyrics), 伍佰 [Wu Bai] (music)performed by 张少林 [Chong Sau Lin]:

价钱係普普通通讲来好平

價錢係普普通通講來好平

(Cantonese, Hakka, Northern Min) cheap; inexpensive

伊佮我平懸。

伊佮我平悬。


幾

→ Thai: กี่ (gìi, “how many; how much”)

→ Northern Thai: ᨠᩦ᩵

→ Khün: ᨠᩦ᩵

desc

→ Lü: ᦂᦲᧈ (k̇ii¹)

→ Lü: ᦂᦲᧈ (k̇ii¹)

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 𢆶 (“silk threads; little things”) + 戍 (“to guard against”) – watching over the fine details.
Note that the simplified form 几 (OC *krilʔ, “small table”) is also a traditional character on its own.

Han compound

佢今年幾大呀？

佢今年几大呀？

有幾難啫？

有几难啫？

(dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese, Gan, Hakka, Pinghua) how; how much

(dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese, Gan, Hakka, Pinghua, Xiang) how; so; such


弓

Characters in the same phonetic series (弓) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形) – a bow. See also the original version of 射.
Possibly related to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *kuːŋ (“tree, branch, stem”) (Coblin, 1986), semantically connected with the shape of a bent tree branch. Cognate with Burmese ကိုင်း (kuing:, “to bend over; to be bent”), အကိုင်း (a.kuing:, “stalk; branch”), Tedim Chin [script needed] (kung¹, “tree”), Jingpho kung (“to branch; to grow”), lakung (“branch; limb”), Lepcha ᰀᰩᰵ (kóng, “branch”), ᰀᰫᰵ (kúng, “tree”) (STEDT).
Schuessler (2007) proposes that both Old Chinese 弓 (OC *kʷɯŋ) and Proto-Tibeto-Burman *kuːŋ are derived from Proto-Mon-Khmer *koŋ, whence Nyah Kur [script needed] (kóoŋ, “bent (in the middle)”), Mon ကိုၚ် (“to be bent”), Khmer កោង (kaong, “to bend; to be bent”), Khasi pyrkhung (“to bend; to arch”), Pear kuŋ (“bend”), Vietnamese cong (“to be bent, curved”).
Also compare Proto-Tibeto-Burman *ku(ː)m (“arched; vaulted”)
Derivatives are 肱 (OC *kʷɯːŋ, “(upper) arm”) and 穹 (OC *kʰʷɯŋ, “arched; vault; sky”).


張

desc

→ English: Chang, Zhang, Cheung, Cheong, Chong, Teo, Teoh

→ Tagalog: Chang, Tiu, Tiong

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *taŋ, *taŋs): semantic 弓 (“bow”) + phonetic 長 (OC *taŋʔ, *daŋ, *daŋs).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g/m/b-raŋ (“strong; firm; tense”) or Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(d/t)aŋ (“tense; tight”), the latter which appears to be preferred based on more current research (Hill, 2019, p. 224); compare Tibetan ཐང་པོ (thang po, “tense; tight; firm”), Burmese တင်း (tang:, “to tighten; to be tight”).
Pronunciation 2 is the exopassive of pronunciation 1, literally “to be stretched” (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

(Cantonese, Hakka, Zhongshan Min) Classifier for knives.


往

徃
𢓸
㞷
𢔎
迬
𨓹
徍
𧗧
矼

2016, 彭瑞珠, “時間停跎个所在”, in 《教育部電子報》^(https://language.moe.gov.tw/readminke/電子報_閱讀閩客174期(客).pdf), number 718:

Ên chhai sân-táng khon kông hâ — liòng-fûng khiâng-khiâng-é sô-tén hò-pa mien, hò-pa lióng phién thièn-khiû hàn-he chhap-chhè ke vò-é, si-vì sân-kien hàn-he chhiâng-yû ke su-lìm.

𫣆在山頂看往下——涼風輕輕仔挲等河壩面，河壩兩片田坵還係插齊个禾仔，四圍山峎還係青悠个樹林。

𫣆在山顶看往下——凉风轻轻仔挲等河坝面，河坝两片田坵还系插齐个禾仔，四围山峎还系青悠个树林。

2019 December 13, “徙”, 陳美燕 [Mei-Yen Chen], 邱廉欽 [Kim Chiu], Uncle Willow, Regina Grounded (lyrics), 邱廉欽 [Kim Chiu] and 賴威成 [Andres Lai] (music)performed by 愛客樂 [iColor]:

Migrating down, crossing rivers, climbing mountains, going out of the village with difficulty; then migrating out, crossing big rivers to look for a place good for farming

sai´ gong` ha`, goˇ ho baˇ, bag san` gong`, gan` sin` chud ngoi⁺ zong`, zaiˇ sai´ gong` chud, goˇ tai⁺ gong`, cim rhid zhag rhiu` ho´ gang` zhungˇ gaiˇ ti⁺ fong`

徙往下 過河壩 跋山崗 艱辛出外莊 再徙往出 過大江 尋一隻 有好耕種个地方

徙往下 过河坝 跋山岗 艰辛出外庄 再徙往出 过大江 寻一只 有好耕种个地方


徙

The erroneous variant form 𢓊 (left) and ancient form 𡲴 (right) in small seal script, as depicted within the Shuowen Jiezi.
During the Zhou dynasty, 徙 was represented with the phonetic borrowing 屎 (OC *hliʔ, *hri, “excrement”), with the components 辵 and 止 later being added to differentiate the character used to represent "migration". During the Warring States period, the earlier forms of 屎 consisting of 小 or 少 components (as seen in and ) had these portions transform into 米, however 徙 continued to retain the 少 form. The Chu script form of 屎 corrupted into a form with the 尸 ("body") component becoming 尾 ("tail"), while the Qin script form of 徙 omitted the 尸 component of 屎 and left only 少 remaining. Li Shoukui (2015) however argues that the Chu script ⿸尾少 may not actually be cognate to ⿸尸少 (and ergo 屎). The clerical script form inherited the Qin script form, however had the 少 component mutate into another 止, which coincidentally resulted in the clerical form matching the same character structure as 歨 (the Shang dynasty form of 步) with an additional 彳 component.
Shuowen Jiezi erroneously takes this mutated clerical script form of 徙 with two 止 components, and claims that it is a phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *selʔ): semantic 辵 (“walk”) + phonetic 止 (OC *kjɯʔ). It also omits one of the 止 components to create an alternative form 𢓊, however no such character exists in ancient writing (although coincidentally it has a similar shape to the Shang and Zhou 延). Hu Houxuan (1981) states that the "ancient script" form of 徙 in Shuowen, 𡲴, comes from a corruption of the variant form featuring 尾 in place of 尸, but with the tail portion misrepresented as 火. For this reason, the "ancient script" forms of 徙 provided in Shuowen are extremely corrupted.
Li Jiahao (2010) notes that the ancient form of 屎, namely ⿸尸少, may potentially suggest that 徙 is a phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *selʔ): semantic 辵 (“walk”) + abbreviated phonetic 沙 (OC *sraːl, *sraːls).

Han compound

𨑭
𰺵
𨗬
𡲴
𢓊
𢒲
𨖤
𨔀
𡕝
𨕄

(Hakka, Hokkien, Teochew) to move (an object)


必

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (必):
* → Japanese: 必(ひつ) (hitsu)
* → Korean: 필(必) (pil)
* → Vietnamese: tất (必)

Characters in the same phonetic series (必) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Likely a pictogram (象形) – weapon handle made of bamboo strips; the original character for 柲 (OC *priɡs, *bliːɡ, *priɡ, *bliɡ). The character was phonetically borrowed for the senses of "certainly" and "must".
Unrelated to 心, as bronze script makes clear, but in current form very similar.
Unclear (Schuessler, 2007).


恁

㤛
𢗖
按
咹
按
咹
您


恬

恬喙！

(Southern Min, Hakka) quiet; silent; calm


息

(Cantonese, Hakka, Hainanese, Leizhou Min, Zhongshan Min) great-grandchild (Classifier: 個／个 c)

† - distinguishes male gender from gender-neutral term


悿

1992, “無聲的所在”, 陳世杰 (lyrics), 吳俊霖 [Wu Chun-lin] (music), performed by 林強 [Lim Giong] and 侯孝賢 [Hou Hsiao-hsien]:

After going this far, don't you feel a little tired?

kiâⁿ chiah-nī kú, sī m̄-sī kám-kak ū tām-po̍h-á thiám

行這呢久 是不是感覺有淡薄仔累

行这呢久 是不是感觉有淡薄仔累

Sister Shan, recently I have been very tired. I have often dreamed about my parents and my brothers

李秀 [Louise Lee Hsiu], 《井月澎湖》 [Penghu Moon in the Well] http://www.tccs.ca/sites/default/files/files/newsletter/201904_newsletters.pdf

Sūn ché! Kīn-lâi lâng chin thiám, chi̍t ji̍p-bîn tō bāng-kìⁿ góa a-tia a-niâ kah sió-tī

順姐！近來人真悿，一入眠就夢見我阿爹阿娘和小弟

顺姐！近来人真悿，一入眠就梦见我阿爹阿娘和小弟


愐

→ Bai: *mi² (“to think”)

Central Bai: mix

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *menʔ): semantic 心 (“heart”) + phonetic 面 (OC *mens).
; “diligent; hardworking”

Han compound

(literary or Hakka) to think; to consider


慶

From Hokkien 勥 (khiàng) or Teochew 勥 (kiang³).

2000, “阿婆”, in 阿淘的歌：離開台灣八百米, performed by 陳永淘:

I said, "You're so capable; you're a great-grandmother and you can still cook on your own."

ngai gong´ ngi han kiangˇ, zoˇ a⁺ taiˇ le`, han voi⁺ cid ga` pu

捱講妳還慶 做阿太了 還會自家烳

捱讲你还庆 做阿太了 还会自家烳


憑

凭
凭
凴
凭
凭
凭
屏
拼


戇

Dialectally preserved word for “stupid”, attested since Middle Chinese. Relationship to Etymology 1 is unknown.
Compare Proto-Central Chin *ŋoŋ (“dull, stupid”) > Mizo ngawng (“dull, stupid”), Proto-Tai-Kadai *ŋV:ŋ.T (“stupid”) > Zhuang nguengh (“stupid”), as well as Old Khmer lṅaṅya (“stupid, obtuse, ignorant”) > Khmer ល្ងង់ (lngŭəng)).
Bauer (1996) suggests that this root may have entered Old Southern Chinese during the period of its early contact with Tai-speaking peoples in southern China.

cog

戆
戅
𢥹
𢦀
贛
戆
戅
怣
憨
慐
惷

戇大

戆大

戇居

戆居

My kid is very stupid; they don't even know where the capital of America is.

⁷aq-la ⁵shiau-noe ⁶lau ⁶gaon ⁰gheq ⁶li ⁵me-koq ⁵seu-tu ⁸laq ⁵sa-di-faon ⁶gha ⁸veq-shiau-teq

阿拉小囡老戇個，連美國首都辣啥地方也勿曉得。

阿拉小囡老戆个，连美国首都辣啥地方也勿晓得。

(Cantonese, Hakka, Min, Wu) stupid; foolish; simple; simple-minded


抨

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *pʰreːŋ): semantic 扌 + phonetic 平 (OC *ben, *beŋ).

Han compound

(Hakka) to slap with the palm of the hand


抺

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic 扌 (“hand”) + phonetic 未 (OC *mɯds).


拌

(Hakka) to cast; to throw; to fling; to cause to fall and break; to break


拗

(Hakka) to pluck; to pick (flowers, fruits, leaves, etc.)


拜

Originally 𢱭. Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 扌 (“hand”) + 𠦪 (“herbs”), a hand holding herbs as a gift. 𣬓 and 𢫶 are variant forms showing the hands at the bottom.
; "to bow"
; "byte"
; "bye"
; "day of the week"

拝
𢷎
𢳎
𢴽
𢰛
𡴬
𢱭
𣬓
𣬊
𢫶

拜一

(Malaysia, Singapore, Hakka, Min) day of the week (when used with a number)


挨

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *qlɯːʔ, *qrɯː, *qrɯːʔ): semantic 扌 + phonetic 矣 (OC *ɢlɯʔ).

Han compound

(Can we date this quote?), “客家世界”, 黃連煜 (lyrics), 黃連煜 (music):

Grandpa's playing the huqin; grandma comes to sing hill songs.

Â-kûng â, âi hièn-é, â-phò chhiu lòi chhong sân-kô.

阿公啊，挨弦仔，阿婆就來唱山歌。

阿公啊，挨弦仔，阿婆就来唱山歌。

(Hokkien, Hakka) to play (a stringed instrument)


挳

For pronunciation and definitions of 挳 – see 摼 (“to strike; to hit with a hard object; etc.”).
(This character is a variant form of 摼).

zh-see

(Hakka) to dig out; to pick out with one's finger or fingernails


挷

For pronunciation and definitions of 挷 – see 搒 (“to conceal; to flog with bamboo poles; etc.”).
(This character is a variant form of 搒).


捉

/t͡sʰiɔk̚³²/

/t͡sʰiɔk̚³²/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ʔsoːɡ): semantic 扌 + phonetic 足 (OC *ʔsoɡs, *ʔsoɡ).

Han compound

捉象棋 [Meixian Hakka] ― zog⁵ xiong⁴ ki² [Hakka Transliteration Scheme] ― to play Chinese chess

(Cantonese, Hakka) to play (a board game)


捋

(Hakka) to hit; to strike; to slap with slender bamboo stick


捽

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *zuːd, *zud): semantic 手 (“hand”) + phonetic 卒 (OC *ʔsuːd, *sʰuːd, *ʔsud)

Han compound

捽眼 [Cantonese] ― zeot¹ ngaan⁵ [Jyutping] ― to rub one's eye(s)

捽仔 [Sixian Hakka] ― chhu̍t-é [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ] ― eraser/rubber


掃

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意) – a 手 (“hand”) with a 帚 (“broomstick”).


掌

→ Mongolian: зан (zan, “sole”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *tjaŋʔ): phonetic 尚 (OC *djaŋ, *djaŋs) + semantic 手.

Han compound

(Hakka, Teochew) to watch over; to look after


掘

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ɡlod, *ɡlud): semantic 扌 (“hand; action”) + phonetic 屈 (OC *klud, *kʰlud).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r-(k/g)wa-t (“to dig out; to scoop out”), cognate to Tibetan རྐོད་པ (rkod pa), རྐོ་བ (rko ba, “to dig; to hoe”) (STEDT). Possibly related to 決 (OC *kʷeːd, “to dig an outlet for water; to burst out”).


揇

Earliest known attestation is in Tangyun (dated [732 CE]) (according to Kangxi dictionary).
Schuessler (2007) suggests possible relation to Proto-Vietic *-namʔ (> Vietnamese nắm (“to grip, to grasp, to hold; > a handful, a fistful”)) and possible cognation to 深 (shēn) (see there for more).


提

GT - General Taiwanese (no particular region identified)

(Hokkien, dialectal Hakka) to take; to hold in one's hand


揣

𢭍
𢰚
㪜
找
𢶀
綽
覓
覔
尋
垂
慱
𬣍
挆
挅


揹

For pronunciation and definitions of 揹 – see 背 (“to carry on the back; to carry; to bear (blame); to shoulder (responsibility)”).
(This character is a variant form of 背).

zh-see

背
背
把
背
背
負
背
背


搉

(literary or Cantonese, Hakka) to knock; to hit; to beat


搣

搣衰人 [Sixian Hakka] ― met-sôi ngìn [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ] ― to play tricks on someone


搭

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *tuːb, *tʰoːb): semantic 扌 (“hand”) + phonetic 荅 (OC *tkuːb).

Han compound

佢毋搭𠊎。

(Hakka, usually in negative) to pay attention to; to care about

(Hakka) to temporarily deposit something; to leave something with

(Hakka) to unload; to trust something to someone; consign


搲

𫽼
wea
nonstandard
wear
nonstandard
握
wea
wear

(Cantonese, Hakka, Wu) to clutch; to grab

搲痕


搵

搵豆油

揾豆油

(literary or premodern vernacular or Hakka, Southern Min) to dip in; to submerge in (sauce, ink, etc.)


搵

我搵到鎖匙喇。

我揾到锁匙喇。

搵唔到工

揾唔到工

搵緊佢副眼鏡

揾紧佢副眼镜

ask them not to try to contact me ever again

叫佢唔好再搵我

叫佢唔好再揾我

(Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Zhongshan Min) to search; to look for


摒

偋
㔷
偋
柄
*併
庰
屏


摝

摝人

摝屎棍


摟

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *roː, *ro): semantic 手 (“hand”) + phonetic 婁 (OC *ɡ·roː, *ɡ·ro).

Han compound

(Cantonese, dialectal Hakka) to drape; to cover


撇

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *pʰeːd): semantic 手 (“hand”) + phonetic 敝 (OC *beds, *bed).

Han compound

(Hakka) to flog the buttocks; to spank; to smack lightly with palm


撇

食撇

I have looked for you three, four times but could not find you.

2015, 温昌衍 and 王秋珺 (editors), 《客家方言》, page 132

ngai² qim² pêd⁵ n² sam¹ xi⁴ bai³ du¹ qim² m² dau³.

𠊎尋撇你三四擺都尋唔到。

𠊎寻撇你三四摆都寻唔到。

perfective aspect
perfective aspect#English

(Hakka) Used after a verb to indicate perfective aspect (action completion).

電腦壞撇了。

电脑坏撇了。

(Hakka) Normally followed by 了 to mark a state change.


撙

/t͡su̯ən²¹⁴/

/t͡su̯ən²¹⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ʔsuːnʔ): semantic 手 (“hand”) + phonetic 尊 (OC *ʔsuːn).


撮

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ʔsoːd, *sʰoːd): semantic 扌 + phonetic 最 (OC *zloːds).
Compare perhaps Burmese ဆွတ် (hcwat, “to pluck”) (STEDT).

Han compound

Gi² bun¹ ngin² cod⁵ zêu³ ê² liong³ bag⁵ kuai⁴ qiên².

佢分人撮走欸兩百塊錢。

佢分人撮走欸两百块钱。


撳

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *kʰrɯms): semantic 扌 (“hand”) + phonetic 欽 (OC *kʰrɯm).
Probably a Kra-Dai substrate word. Compare Thai ข่ม (kòm, “to press something down”), Zhuang gaemh (“to press downwards”), Lingao xɔm⁴ (“to press”). This word is found in many languages and dialects used by people in southern China, including Yue, Hakka, Wu, and Southwestern Mandarin.

cog

撳門鈴

揿门铃

enter the laboratory and press the emergency stop button (tongue-twister)

入實驗室撳緊急掣

入实验室揿紧急掣

(Cantonese, Hakka, Wu) to press (with one's hand or finger); to push down


撿

/t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/

/t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ɡ·ramʔ, *kramʔ): semantic 手 (“hand”) + phonetic 僉 (OC *skʰlam).


擂

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ruːl, *ruːls): semantic 手 (“hand”) + phonetic 雷 (OC *ruːl).


擲

掷
擿
掷
掟
旦
掞
丟
掷
掷

(Hakka) to throw; to hurl (especially something heavy)


擺

Zhao (1990) and Li (2005) consider this to be a Kra-Dai substrate word; compare Zhuang baez, Bouyei baiz, Lingao fɔi³.

逐擺

逐摆

這擺

这摆

(Southern Min, Hakka, Malaysian Cantonese) Classifier for occurrences: time


敨

敨啖氣

敨啖气

敨一陣好行喇。

敨一阵好行喇。


數

Exopassive derivation of Etymology 1 with suffix *-s, meaning "what is counted" (Schuessler, 2007).

數簿／数簿 [Cantonese] ― sou³ bou⁶⁻² [Jyutping] ― account book

公數／公数 [Cantonese] ― gung¹ sou³ [Jyutping]

(Cantonese, Hakka, Southern Min) account (Classifier: 條／条 c mn-t; 盤／盘 c)


料

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 米 (“rice”) + 斗 (“dipper”) – to measure; to gauge.


斲

Perhaps related to 觸 (OC *tʰjoɡ, “to butt, knock against”); see there for more (STEDT).

斫
斵
剢
剁
督
㓸
𠠇
𣂪
𣂡
𣃆
𣃂
𣃃
𣃋
𣃏
𦘣
𨮕

[A]nd when he has found such large trees, you will be glad, thinking that they will answer for the intended object. Should the workmen hew them so as to make them too small, then your Majesty will be angry, thinking that they will not answer for the purpose.

Gōngshī dé dà mù, zé wáng xǐ, yǐwéi néng shēng qí rèn yě. Jiàngrén zhuó ér xiǎo zhī, zé wáng nù, yǐwéi bù shēng qí rèn yǐ.

工師得大木，則王喜，以為能勝其任也。匠人斵而小之，則王怒，以為不勝其任矣。

工师得大木，则王喜，以为能胜其任也。匠人斫而小之，则王怒，以为不胜其任矣。

1883, Adele Marion Fielde, “剁”, in A Pronouncing and Defining Dictionary of the Swatow Dialect, Arranged According to Syllables and Tones, Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, page 557:

he was hacked into mince-meat by the populace

伊給眾人剁做肉醬

伊给众人剁做肉酱

(literary or Cantonese, Hakka, Southern Min) to chop; to hack


旺

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ɢʷaŋs): semantic 日 (“sun”) + phonetic 㞷 (huáng). Compare 往.
Now phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ɢʷaŋs): semantic 日 (“sun”) + phonetic 王 (OC *ɢʷaŋ, *ɢʷaŋs).

Han compound

旺過旺角

旺过旺角

(Cantonese, Pinghua, dialectal Hakka) bustling; filled with activity


旺

(Hakka, Gan) bustling; filled with activity


春

Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d(w)əj (“egg; testicle”) (Baxter and Sagart, 2014). Sagart (2023b) reconstructs Old Chinese *tʰu[n] ~ *tʰu[r] from tentative Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tʰur, some of whose other descendants are Bodo (India) dəy, Mizo tui, Proto-Karen *ʔdejᴮ, etc.; he also relates it to 春 (chūn) "springtime" after noting a connection between eggs and Chinese new year season, as birds generally nest and lay eggs in the warmer months in the north (ibid.).

inh

水蛇春咁長

水蛇春咁长


晝

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 聿 + 日 (“sun”). Used to mean “daytime” in ancient texts.
The significance and meaning of the 聿 component, as present in the oracle bone inscriptions, is not clear. Various theories exist, including that it serves as a phonetic component, in which case the character would be a phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *tus): phonetic 聿 (OC *b·lud) + semantic 日 (“sun”).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-duk (“daytime; noon”) (STEDT). Cognate with Tibetan གདུགས (gdugs, “midday; umbrella”).


曉

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *hŋeːwʔ): semantic 日 (“sun”) + phonetic 堯 (OC *ŋeːw).

Han compound

After eating it, everyone would come to applaud

齐家吃开晓来称赞

齊家吃開曉來稱讚

(Hakka, including Huiyang Hakka, Huicheng dialect) will; would


枵

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *hraw): semantic 木 + phonetic 号 (OC *ɦlaːws).
Substrate word, possibly from a Tai-Kadai language. Compare Thai หิว (hǐu, “hungry”).


柑

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (柑):
* → Japanese: 柑(かん) (kan)
* → Vietnamese: cam (柑)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *kaːm): semantic 木 (“wood; tree”) + phonetic 甘 (OC *kaːm); however, the phonetic component coud also indicate that the mandarin fruit is sweet. Similar but unrelated to 某.
Either the same etymon as 甘 (OC *kaːm, “sweet”) (Wang, 1982), or, in light of the citrus fruit's southern origin, possibly connected with Austroasiatic; compare Proto-Austroasiatic *ŋaːm (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

(dialectal Hakka, Mingxi Min, Waxiang) pomelo


桊

/t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn⁵⁵/

/t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn⁵⁵/


條

→ Zhuang: diuz

/tʰi̯aʊ̯ɻʷ³⁵/

/tʰi̯aʊ̯ɻʷ³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *l'ɯːw): phonetic 攸 (OC *lɯw) + semantic 木. Originally it indicates a small branch, perhaps with some reference to a wooden stick (in the top component, there is a man warned by a hand holding a vertical stick). The bottom part of the character is unrelated to 茶.
Related to 悠 (OC *lɯw, “remote; distant”), 修 (OC *slɯw, “long and thin”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

(dialectal Cantonese, Hakka, Southern Min) Classifier for songs.


樖

兩樖樹／两樖树 [Cantonese] ― loeng⁵ po¹ syu⁶ [Jyutping] ― two trees

(Cantonese, Liuzhou Mandarin, Pinghua, dialectal Hakka, Zhongshan Min) Classifier for plants. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier


樵

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡sʰiːu̯²¹/

/t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵/

/t͡sʰiːu̯²¹/

Likely related to 焦 (OC *ʔsew, “to scorch”); see there for more (STEDT).


樽

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (樽):
* → Japanese: 樽(そん) (son)

/t͡sɐn²¹³⁻⁵⁵/

/t͡sɐn²¹³⁻⁵⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ʔsuːn): semantic 木 (“wood”) + phonetic 尊 (OC *ʔsuːn).
Specialised orthographic form of 尊 (OC *ʔsuːn, “zun, a kind of vessel”) that inherited the noun sense for "vessel", as 尊 became chiefly used for the more abstract senses (Duan Yucai's analysis of the Shuowen).

Han compound

玻璃樽 [Cantonese] ― bo¹ lei⁴⁻¹ zeon¹ [Jyutping] ― glass bottle

(Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew, Leizhou Min, Zhongshan Min) bottle; vase (Classifier: 個／个 c)

一樽酒 [Cantonese] ― jat¹ zeon¹ zau² [Jyutping] ― a bottle of wine

The bottle of soy sauce we bought yesterday is already used up today?

kam⁴ jat⁶ maai⁵ go² zeon¹ si⁶ jau⁴, gam¹ jat⁶ zau⁶ jung⁶ saai³ laa⁴?

琴日買嗰樽豉油，今日就用嗮嗱？

琴日买嗰樽豉油，今日就用嗮嗱？

(Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew) Classifier for bottles.


檨

tlb

(Hakka, Coastal Min, also loaned into written literary Chinese)

→ Tsou: suai

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic 木 (“tree”) + phonetic 羨.
An Austroasiatic substrate loanword; compare Khmer ស្វាយ (svaay, “mango”), Vietnamese xoài (“mango”).

Han compound

1719, 呂猶龍, 進獻福建臺灣所產番檨摺:

Fújiàn yǒu fānshē yī zhǒng chǎn zài Táiwān měi yú sìyuè zhōngxún chéngshú

福建有番檨一種產在臺灣每於四月中旬成熟

1719, 呂猶龍, 進獻福建臺灣所產番檨摺:

福建有番檨一种产在台湾每于四月中旬成熟


欸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *qɯː, *qʰrɯːs): phonetic 矣 (OC *ɢlɯʔ) + semantic 欠 (“breath”).


正

Burmese language
Chepang language
Jingpho language
Khmer language
Mizo language
Proto-Sino-Tibetan language
Thai language
Tibetan language

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *tjeŋ, *tjeŋs): phonetic 丁 (OC *rteːŋ, *teːŋ) + semantic 止 (“foot”) – to go on a long journey. Original form of 征 (OC *tjeŋ, “to go on long campaign”).
Later, 丁 was simplified into a horizontal stroke, as in 旦. Folk etymologies do not recognize 丁. Graphically, the modern version of the character is the reverse of 之.
Sino-Tibetan or area word: “centre; target; first (month); straight; correct”.
Compare Mizo dîng (“to go straight or direct (as person, arrow etc.); to go straight through without breaking the journey; straight; direct”). Matisoff sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-tjak/ŋ ~ tik/ŋ (“good; very; real; straight”) for this, which includes 正, 直 (OC *dɯɡ, “straight; right”) and 實 (OC *ɦliɡ, “solid; true”).
Additionally, Matisoff has Proto-Sino-Tibetan *t(r)waŋ (“straight; straighten”), whence Chepang धेङ्सा (dʰeŋ-, “straight”), Jingpho ding (“straight”), Tibetan དྲང་པོ (drang po, “straight; correct; upright; just; fair”), Burmese တန်း (tan:, “straight; to head straight for”). Also compare Khmer ទៀង (tiĕng, “accurate; correct; exact; precise; honest”) and Thai ดิ่ง (dìng, “vertically; straight; to plummet”).
Derivatives:
* 征 (OC *tjeŋ, “to go straight > to go on a journey”)
* 政 (OC *tjeŋs, “correct; to govern; government; to determine”)
* 整 (OC *tjeŋʔ, “orderly; to arrange; to dispose”)
For etymology of pronunciation 正 (zhĕng) in the month 正月 (zhēngyuè)'s name, see there.

och-l

Late Qing/Early Republic, 《古板白蓮花全歌》, volume 5, 潮州 [Chaozhou]: 李萬利, page 3v:

[he] did not know what was making such a noise; only after going inside could he find out

bhuê⁷ zai¹ ho⁵ se⁷ nao⁶ cai¹ cai¹ / ia⁷ diêh⁸ rib⁸ lai⁶ toin² zian³ zai¹

未知何事鬧猜猜/亦着入内看正知

未知何事闹猜猜/亦着入内看正知

(Hakka, Teochew) Used to emphasize that something is/is not.


歪

Originally written as 竵. In its current form, an ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 不 (“not”) + 正 (“straight; proper”).


歪

(Shanxi, Sichuanese, dialectal Hakka) inferior; bad; fake


毋

→? Vietnamese: mựa

Characters in the same phonetic series (母) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
In the oracle bone script, 母 (“mother”) was borrowed to represent this character. It was later specialized to distinguish it from “mother”, replacing the two dots with one stroke.
Cognate with 無 (OC *ma, “to not have”). Already in Zhou time, phonetically confused with and read like 無 (OC *ma).
Cognate with 唔 in Cantonese, Teochew and Hakka.

Han etyl

I'm illiterate (literally: I don't know characters)

我毋捌字。

The King of Zhao feared the state of Qin, and thus wanted to not travel to Qin.

The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

趙王畏秦，欲毋行。

赵王畏秦，欲毋行。

2018, “一九四五 [1945]”performed by 滅火器樂團 [Fire EX.]:

我毋是勇敢的人


毒

Pictogram (象形) - a woman wearing a feathered ornament - original form of 纛 (OC *duːɡs, *duːɡ). If this is the correct interpretation, see also 每.
Alternatively, Li Xueqin (2012) proposes it is a phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *l'uːɡ): semantic 屮 (“vegetation”) + phonetic 毐 (OC *ʔmɯː, *ʔmɯːʔ), meaning "a type of poisonous plant."
; “poison”
; “to poison” (Pronunciation 2)
; “nerdy”

Han compound

𭖪
𡴛
𡹆
𥲮
𦸕
𫦚
𧉉
𤯟
杜
餖
透
𭖪
踱
喥

(Cantonese, Hakka, Min, Wenzhounese, colloquial) to poison; to administer poison to


毫

→ Classical Mongolian: ᠬᠣᠤ (qou)

Mongolian: ᠬᠣᠤ (qou)

→ Thai: เครา (krao)

九蚊九毫九

六毫幾

六毫几

(Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew) one tenth of a yuan or dollar; 10 cents; dime


氹

(Cantonese, dialectal Hakka) puddle; pool; pit (Classifier: 個／个 c)


汶

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *mrɯn, *mɯn, *mɯns): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 文 (OC *mɯn).


泡

(Wuhan Mandarin, Liannan Hakka) swim bladder


洋

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (洋):
* → Japanese: 洋(よう) (yō)
* → Korean: 양(洋) (yang)
* → Vietnamese: dương (洋)

→ Zhuang: yangz

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ljaŋ, *laŋ): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 羊 (OC *laŋ).
; “multitudinous; vast; ocean”: Schuessler (2007) compares it with Tibetan ཡངས་པ (yangs pa, “wide; extensive; vast; spacious”). In contrast, Starostin sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *lɨ̆ŋ (“wave”), encompassing this and Tibetan ཀློང (klong, “space; expanse; wave”), Burmese လှိုင်း (hluing:, “wave; to abound; plentiful”).
: Compare 羕 (OC *laŋs, “(of rivers) long”), 漾 (OC *laŋs, “waves; (of rivers) long”).
; "vast expanse of flat land"

cog

(Min, Hakka, often in place names) plain; flatland


流

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ru): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 㐬.
Cognate with Tibetan རྒྱུ་ (rgyu, “to move, to go, to wander”) (Hill, 2019).

cog

汖
㳅
𡵰
𣳛
𭰈
𣴑
𣹭
𣹳
𣻤
⿰氵巟
⿰氵𡿮
⿰𣴑水
⿲水𡿮水
⿲氺⿱一𠫝水
⿰氵⿱厶⿲丿丨㇏

流嘢


添

→ Vietnamese: thêm

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *tʰiːm): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 忝 (OC *l̥ʰiːmʔ, *l̥ʰiːms) – to increase by pouring more water in.
Compare Proto-Tai *k.temᴬ (“full”), whence Thai เต็ม (dtem, “full”) (Manomaivibool, 1975).

Han compound

Excuse me, two more bowls of steamed rice, please!

m⁴ goi¹, jiu³ do¹ loeng⁵ wun² baak⁶ faan⁶ tim¹ aa¹!

唔該，要多兩碗白飯添吖！

唔该，要多两碗白饭添吖！

Since there is still two hours before boarding anyway, there's no worry in napping a little more.

waang⁴ dim⁶ zung⁶ jau⁵ loeng⁵ go³ zung¹ sin¹ soeng⁵ dak¹ gei¹, zoi³ min⁴ zan⁶ tim¹ dou¹ m⁴ paa³.

橫掂仲有兩個鐘先上得機，再眠陣添都唔怕。

横掂仲有两个钟先上得机，再眠阵添都唔怕。

1998, 一同分享觀看電視的樂趣，並給予兒童適當指導 [Share the joy of watching TV and provide children with guidance], 廣播事務管理局:

Six eggs, two teaspoons of sugar, and also some orange peels.

gai¹ daan⁶⁻² luk⁶ zek³, tong⁴ ne¹ zau⁶ loeng⁵ caa⁴ ci⁴, zoi³ jau⁵ di¹ caang⁴⁻² pei⁴ tim¹.

雞蛋六隻，糖呢就兩茶匙，再有啲橙皮添。

鸡蛋六只，糖呢就两茶匙，再有啲橙皮添。

(Cantonese, Hakka, Wenzhounese) again; more


渡

Proto-Tai: *daːᴮ (“river”)

Lao: ທ່າ (thā)

Lü: ᦑᦱᧈ (taa¹)

desc

Shan: တႃႈ (tāa, “pier; shallow place in water”)

Thai: ท่า (tâa, “pier; port”)

Zhuang: dah (“river”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *daːɡs): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 度 (OC *daːɡs, *daːɡ).
Inherited from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *da(k). Cognate with Tibetan འདས ('das, “to pass over”).
Proto-Tai *daːᴮ (“river”) (whence Thai ท่า (tâa, “port; pier; quay”) and Zhuang dah (“river”)) is a loan from late Old Chinese (Schuessler, 2007).
The Austroasiatic synonym of 渡 is 濟 (OC *ʔsliːlʔ, *ʔsliːls, “to cross a river”).

och-l

(Hakka) to take; to bring along; to carry

(Hakka) to look after; to take care of; to care for; to attend to


渴

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (渴):
* → Vietnamese: khát (渴)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *kʰaːd, *ɡrad): semantic 氵 (“water”) + phonetic 曷 (OC *ɡaːd); dry, exhausted (of water).


湓

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *pʰɯːns, *bɯːn, *pʰɯns): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 盆 (OC *bɯːn).

Han compound

(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese, Southwestern Mandarin, dialectal Gan, Hakka, dialectal Jin, Xiang, of water, etc.) to overflow


溚

dripping with water / completely wet / drenched

溚濕

溚湿

(literary or Hakka, in compounds) drenched


滴

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *teːɡ): semantic 水 + phonetic 啻 (OC *hljeɡs).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tek (“to drip”), cognate to Tibetan ཐིག་པ (thig pa, “drop”).

Han compound

一滴仔

滴滴仔


滾

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *kluːnʔ): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 袞 (OC *kluːnʔ)

Han compound

(Cantonese, Gan, Hakka) boiling hot; scalding hot

(dialectal Hakka) hot; high in temperature (in general)


滿

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *moːnʔ): semantic 水 (“water”) + phonetic 㒼 (mán).
; “Manchu”
; “Classifier for occurrences of events”

Han compound

(Hakka) Classifier for occurrences of events.


潲

捎
韶
精
𪷰
洨
佋
溲
屑
邵
哨
梢
稍
消
肖
紹
𩩓
㞞
嬲
漦
液


瀉

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *sjaːʔ, *sjaːɡs): semantic 水 + phonetic 寫 (OC *sjaːʔ).

Han compound

碗公瀉撇了。

碗公泻撇了。


瀾

A dialectal variant of 涎 (OC *ljan, “saliva”) in the South (Schuessler, 2007; Xu and Iwata, 2014).

澜
灡
澜
澜
涎
灠
漤
潾
㘓

(chiefly Hakka, Min, Southern Wu) saliva


炊

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰuɐi⁵³³/

/t͡sʰe̞i̯³³/

/t͡ɕʰy̯e̞i̯³³/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡sʰuɐi⁵³³/

/t͡sʰe̞i̯³³/

/t͡ɕʰy̯e̞i̯³³/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *kʰjol): semantic 火 (“fire”) + abbreviated phonetic 吹 (OC *kʰjol, *kʰjols).
From 吹 (OC *kʰjol, “to blow”), as in blowing to get a fire going (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

(dialectal Cantonese, Hakka, Min) to steam


烏

desc

→ English: O (Singapore, via Hokkien or Teochew)

Pictogram (象形) – a bird. Compare 鳥 (“bird”), of similar development. See also the original version of its variant 於.
; “crow; black; dark”
: Schuessler (2007) considers it to be onomatopoeic, and compares it with Proto-Loloish *akᴸ (“crow”).
: “Black; dark” is a semantic extension of “crow” – “black as a crow”. Compare 黑 (OC *hmlɯːɡ, “black”), which is cognate with 墨 (OC *mlɯːɡ, “ink”).
; “sun”
; interrogative pronoun

† - usually describes the color of cloth or thread

烏雲／乌云

烏油油／乌油油

嘴唇發烏／嘴唇发乌

The mounted troops of the Xiongnu on the west all had white horses; on the east, all blue-green horses; on the north, all black horses; on the south, all red horses.

Xiōngnú qí, qí xīfāng jìn báimǎ, dōngfāng jìn qīng máng mǎ, běifāng jìn wū lí mǎ, nánfāng jìn xīng mǎ.

匈奴騎，其西方盡白馬，東方盡青駹馬，北方盡烏驪馬，南方盡騂馬。

匈奴骑，其西方尽白马，东方尽青𮪡马，北方尽乌骊马，南方尽骍马。

The sky is dark; it seems like it will rain.

天烏烏，欲落雨。

天乌乌，欲落雨。

(literary or in compounds or Hakka, Min) black; dark


焗

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic 火 (“fire”) + phonetic 局 (OC *ɡoɡ).
First attested as 局 in 《廣東省土話字彙》 [1828] and as 焗 in 《粵語全書》 [1905] (Zhang and Li, 2017).
Possible origins include:
# From 酷 (MC khowk, “to be cooked”) (Chen Botao, 《東莞縣志》), based on an entry in Fangyan:
#:
# From 焅 (MC khowk, “dry, hot air”) (Chan, 1995; Chan, 1998).
# From 熇 (MC xuwk|xowk|xak, “hot; blazing”) (Zhan and Qiu, 2003).
# From English cook (Zhang and Li, 2017).

Han compound

Er, ren, peng, lan, xi, qiu, ku: to be cooked.

Ér, rèn, pēng, làn, xī, qiú, kù, shú yě.

胹、飪、亨、爛、糦、酋、酷，熟也。

胹、饪、亨、烂、糦、酋、酷，熟也。

焗蛋糕 [Cantonese] ― guk⁶ daan⁶ gou¹ [Jyutping] ― to bake a cake


無

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (無):
* → Japanese: 無(む) (mu); 無(ぶ) (bu)
* → Korean: 무(無) (mu)
* → Vietnamese: vô (無)

→ Peranakan Indonesian: bo

Characters in the same phonetic series (無) (Zhengzhang, 2003)
Pictogram (象形). A person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain.
This character is borrowed for “have no”, and the character 舞 (wǔ) is used for the original sense.
Core Sino–Tibetan. From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ma (“no, not”); cognate with Tibetan མ་ (ma, “not”) and Burmese မ (ma., “not”).
Cognate with:
* 微 (OC *mɯl, “not, no”)
* 毋 (OC *ma, “do not”)
* 勿 (OC *mɯd, “not, don't”)
* 未 (OC *mɯds, “not yet, haven't”)
* 靡 (OC *mralʔ, “not, no”)
* 亡 (OC *maŋ, “not have; to flee, to disappear, to die”)
* 沒 (OC *mɯːd, “to end, to disappear, to drown”)
* 莫 (OC *maːɡ, “none, nobody, nothing; do not; can not”)
Attested profusely in Classical Chinese, this word is the prototypical negation particle in the *m- series of Chinese negatives. In the oracle bone script, however, 無 is not frequently used, and its homophone (or near-homophone) 毋 (OC *ma) is used instead.
See 不 (OC *pɯ, *pɯʔ, *pɯ', “not”) for more on negative particles in Old Chinese.
Perhaps related to 巫 (OC *ma, “shaman, wizard, magician, sorcerer, witch”).

och-l

无
𭴿
橆
𣞤
𣟒
𬻜
𬻝
𭴾
𤍍
𣞣
𫡟
𣠮
𡙻
𤀢
𰙄
𰙈
𣑨
𣚨
𠘩
㷻
无
嘸

GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

仙人拍鼓有時錯，跤步踏差啥人無 / 仙人拍鼓有时错，跤步踏差啥人无

sian-jîn phah kó͘ iú sî chhò, kha-pō͘ ta̍h-chha siáⁿ-lâng bô

天空無雲。

天空无云。

我無零星錢。

我无零星钱。

2019, “下一位前度 [NEXT]”, 林夕 (lyrics)performed by 林家謙 [Terence Lam]:

Maybe once I think of someone as the only one I can love, I would be afraid that there would not be a next time, but it's actually quite ridiculous

jaa⁵ heoi² jat¹ soeng² hei² mau⁵ mau⁵ si⁶ wai⁴ jat¹ ho² zung¹ ji³, coi⁴ loi⁴ hoi⁶ paa³ mou⁴ haa⁶ ci³ kei⁴ sat⁶ do¹ mo¹ fung³ ci³

也許一想起某某是唯一可鍾意 才來害怕無下次其實多麼諷刺

也许一想起某某是唯一可钟意 才来害怕无下次其实多么讽刺

(literary or Hakka, Min) to not have something; there is not ...

Night comes and the sky seems like it might snow; could you drink a cup?

晚來天欲雪，能飲一杯無？

晚来天欲雪，能饮一杯无？

(literary or Hakka, Min) Interrogative particle.

(Hakka, Min) if not; otherwise (placed at the start of a sentence)


焫

Compare Zhuang ndat (“hot”), Thai เดือด (dʉ̀ʉat, “to boil”).

我畀滾水焫嚫手。

我畀滚水焫𰈍手。

焫嚫條脷

焫𰈍条脷

(Cantonese, Hakka) (of hot objects) to burn; to scald; to sear


煠

煠菜 [Cantonese] ― saap⁶ coi³ [Jyutping] ― to blanch vegetables

Be patient when having hot pot. You must keep the food in the boiling water a little longer before eating.

daa² bin¹ lou⁴ m⁴ hou² sam¹ gap¹, di¹ sung³ jiu³ saap⁶ noi⁶ di¹ sin¹ hou² sik⁶.

打邊爐唔好心急，啲餸要煠耐啲先好食。

打边炉唔好心急，啲𩠌要煠耐啲先好食。

(dialectal, including Cantonese, Hakka, Eastern Min, Southern Min, Wu, Xiang, cooking) to boil; to blanch (cook by immersing in boiling water)


熝

(Cantonese, Hakka) alternative form of 淥 /渌 (“to scald”)


燒

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *hŋjew, *hŋjaws): semantic 火 (“fire”) + phonetic 堯 (OC *ŋeːw).
From 蕘 (OC *ŋjew, “firewood; fuel”) with causative devoicing (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified); † - describes the weather; ‡ - describes objects

(dialectal Mandarin, Gan, Hakka, Jin) boiling hot; scalding hot

燒水

烧水

(Hakka, Northern Min, Southern Min, Malaysian and Singapore Mandarin) hot; having a high temperature (distinguished from 熱／热, which describes weather)


爪

/ʈ͡ʂu̯ɑɻ²¹⁴/

/ʈ͡ʂu̯ɑɻ²¹⁴/

Pictogram (象形) – a hand grabbing from above (in earlier forms from side); compare 手, 寸, 九. Even if it can indicate a claw, actually the pictogram depicts a human hand.


爭

→ Vietnamese: giành

Pictogram (象形) – two hands on a plowshare. The two hands are still visibile on top of the character (爪 and 彐), while the plowshare looks like a vertical hook in modern writing.
; "to dispute; to fight; to contend; to strive"
; "to lack; to owe"

Their house still hasn't had the bathroom installed yet.

keoi⁵ dei⁶ gaan¹ uk¹ zung⁶ zaang¹ go³ ci³ so² mei⁶ zong¹.

佢哋間屋仲爭個廁所未裝。

佢哋间屋仲争个厕所未装。

There are still a couple minutes until we reach the airport.

dou³ gei¹ coeng⁴ zung⁶ zaang¹ gei² fan¹ zung¹.

到機場仲爭幾分鐘。

到机场仲争几分钟。

好似争减啲嘢 [Cantonese, simp.]
hou² ci⁵ zaang¹ gam² di¹ je⁵ [Jyutping]

(dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Jin, dialectal Min, Southern Wu) to lack; to be missing; still have; remaining


片

→ Proto-Southwestern Tai: *pʰɛːnᴮ¹

Ahom: 𑜇𑜢𑜐𑜫 (phiñ)

Lao: ແຜ່ນ (phǣn)

Northern Thai: ᨹᩯ᩠᩵ᨶ

Shan: ၽႅၼ်ႇ (phèn)

Tai Dam: ꪵꪠ꪿ꪙ

Tai Nüa: ᥚᥦᥢᥱ (phǎen)

Thai: แผ่น (pɛ̀n)

/pʰiːn³³⁻³⁵/

/pʰen³³⁻³³⁵/

/pʰiːn³³⁻³⁵/

/pʰen³³⁻³³⁵/

Mirror image of 爿 (OC *braːn, “piece”), which is the pictogram of a bed.
Shuowen: half of 木 (“wood; tree”) to denote “to pare; to slice”; but this interpretation is not based on oracle bones and bronzes.

東片／东片 [Teochew]

許片／许片 [Teochew]


牯

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *kaːʔ): semantic 牛 (“cow”) + phonetic 古 (OC *kaːʔ)
Wang (1982) related this word to 羖 (OC *klaːʔ, “(black) ram”) and 豭 (OC *kraː, “boar”).
However, Schuessler (2007) suggested an Austroasiatic origin: compare these Bahnaric lexical items Koho klaw, Chrau klo:, Bulo Stieng klaw "male" (all from Proto-Bahnaric *kləw < Proto-Mon-Khmer *t₁l(ə)w(ʔ) (“male”)), as well as Khmer ខ្លោះ (khlɑh, “male, virile”), កំលោះ (kɑmlɑh, “young man”).

Han compound

(Hakka)

狗牯

賊牯

贼牯


猛

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (猛):
* → Japanese: 猛(もう) (mō)

→ Vietnamese: mạnh (猛, “powerful”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *mraːŋʔ): semantic 犬 + phonetic 孟 (OC *mraːŋs).

Han compound

(Eastern Min, Teochew, Hainanese, Zhangzhou and Penang Hokkien, dialectal Hakka) fast; quick


番

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *paːl, *paːls, *pʰaːn, *pʰan, *ban): phonetic 釆 (biàn) + semantic 田 – "animal's footprint in the field"; Xu Shen interprets both components as the pictogram of an animal footprint. Original form of 蹯 (fán).
According to Tadashi Takada (高田忠周), it's the pictogram of some seeds on the palm of an open hand, which conveys the concept of "spreading". Original form of 播.
Neither Xu Shen nor Tadashi Takada interprets the bottom component as the pictogram of a field.
; “to do in turns; turn; time”
; “anime series”

Han compound

(Hakka, dialectal Cantonese) Classifier for quilts.


異

Ideogram (指事) – a man with a mask (田) over his face. Possible interpretations:
* Strange, bizarre — "uncommon".
* Different face — "different".
Compare 鬼 (“demon”), where the 田 also derives from a face or a mask. Compare also 禺, in which the top component represents either a mask or a monkey's face.
Alternatively, may be a pictogram (象形) of a person carrying something on his head, the original form of 戴 (“to carry on the head”).
Modern form is graphically 田 + 共, though this is not the etymology.

異好

异好


疾

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 疒 (“illness”) + 矢 (“arrow”).
The oracle glyph depicts a person being hit by an arrow.
Perhaps from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-(t)sik (“to burn, itch; angry”), to which 堲 (OC *ʔsiɡ, *ʔsɯɡ, *zɯɡ, “coaled part of a burning torch”) has also been connected. Outside of Sinitic, compare Tibetan ཚིག (tshig, “to burn, glow, be inflamed”), as well as perhaps Burmese ချစ် (hkyac, “burnt”) (STEDT).

cog

(obsolete or dialectal Hakka) to ache; to be painful


痎

(Hakka, dialectal Cantonese, Haifeng Min) itchy


盎

(Hakka) alternative form of 罌 /罂 (“bottle”)


盪

(Hakka) to slap with the palm of the hand


眠

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *miːn): semantic 目 (“eye”) + phonetic 民 (OC *min) – close your eyes and go to sleep.

Han compound

(archaic or Hakka, Siyi Yue) to lie down


睇

Related to Chepang धय्सा (dhəy-, “to concentrate; look at (especially when aiming)”), धेस्सा (dhes-, “to see clearly; to sight clearly (when aiming)”) (Schuessler, 2007).
Also compare Vietnamese thấy (“to see, to look, to find, to feel”).

cog

睇電視／睇电视 [Cantonese] ― tai² din⁶ si⁶ [Jyutping] ― to watch TV

睇電視／睇电视 [Teochew] ― toin² diang⁶ si⁶ [Peng'im] ― to watch TV

睇雜誌／睇杂志 [Cantonese] ― tai² zaap⁶ zi³ [Jyutping] ― to read a magazine

睇波 [Cantonese] ― tai² bo¹ [Jyutping] ― to watch a ball match, especially soccer

(Can we date this quote?), “普宁一夜”performed by CrazySix:

When I stepped out onto the street, I saw one motorcycle after another

ua² gian⁵ cug⁴ goi¹ lou⁷ koin² dioh⁸ zêg⁸ ziah⁴ bu¹ bu¹ cia¹

我行出街路睇着一隻一隻噗噗車

我行出街路睇着一只一只噗噗车

(Cantonese, Teochew, dialectal Hakka, Shehua) to look; to see; to view; to watch


睞

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *rɯːs): semantic 目 (“eye”) + phonetic 來 (OC *m·rɯːɡ).

Han compound

(literary or Hakka) to glance at; to look sideways at; to squint at


瞓

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic 目 (“eye”) + phonetic 訓.
From 睏／困 (kwan³).

It's so late, and you still haven't gone to bed?

咁夜仲唔去瞓？

咁夜仲唔去𰥛？

2023, “怪我只敢做好人”, 林夕 [Albert Leung] (lyrics), 林家謙 [Terence Lam] (music)performed by 林家謙 [Terence Lam]:

If I betray myself, how would I dare sleep?

joek⁶ ngo⁵ zi⁶ gei² bui³ bun⁶ ngo⁵ dik¹ waa⁶⁻², ngo⁵ zam² mo¹ gam² fan³

若我自己背叛我的話 我怎麼敢瞓

若我自己背叛我的话 我怎么敢𰥛


矣

我食飽矣

我食饱矣

(Mainland China Hokkien, Taiwanese Hokkien, dialectal Hakka) Sentence-final particle expressing completion, similar to 了 (le) in Standard Mandarin.


知

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (知):
* → Japanese: 知(ち) (chi)
* → Korean: 지(知) (ji)
* → Vietnamese: tri (知)

Han_dynasty#Western_Han
Warring States
oracle bone inscriptions

Originally the same character as 智, used interchangeably. In oracle bone inscriptions, ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 大 (“adult”) + 口 (“mouth”) + 子 (“child”) – to transmit knowledge. In the Warring States period, 大 corrupted into 矢 (OC *hliʔ) and became a sound component. In Western Han script the component 子 started being dropped, arriving at the modern form.
The two pronunciations are cognate. The word is possibly of Sino-Tibetan origin, compare Mizo hria, hriat (“to know”), Jingpho chye (“to know”), Tibetan རིག (rig, “to know”) (Schuessler, 2007). Cognate with 智 (OC *ʔl'es).

Han compound

(Hakka, including Changting, Xiaosanjiang, Shicheng) to hear; to listen


矺

The Cantonese, Hakka and Gan forms are possibly cognate with Min Nan 硩 (teh, “to press down on”), Eastern Min 矺 (dáh, “to press down on”) (Li, 2002).

(Cantonese, Hakka, Gan, Eastern Min) to press down on


砧

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ʔl'ɯm): semantic 石 + phonetic 占 (OC *ʔljem, *tjems).

Han compound

(Hakka) to hold one's hands in closed fists and to strike with phalanx


碌

From Zhuang lwg (“child; diminutive”) (HFC).


稅

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (稅):
* → Japanese: 税(ぜい) (zei)
* → Korean: 세(稅) (se)
* → Vietnamese: thuế (稅)

desctree

→ Thai: ส่วย (sùai)
→ Northern Thai: ᩈ᩠ᩅ᩠᩵ᨿ
→ Lao: ສ່ວຍ (suāi)
→ Lü: ᦉᦽᧈ (ṡoy¹)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *hljods): semantic 禾 + phonetic 兌 (OC *l'oːds).

Han compound

稅厝

税厝


穢

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *qʷads): semantic 禾 (“grain”) + phonetic 歲 (OC *sqʰʷads, *sqʰʷad).

Han compound

(dialectal Hakka, Malaysian Mandarin) disgusting; revolting


竇

老鼠竇

老鼠窦

雀竇

雀窦

1883, Adele Marion Fielde, “巢”, in A Pronouncing and Defining Dictionary of the Swatow Dialect, Arranged According to Syllables and Tones, Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, page 527:

客鳥巢

客鸟巢

打破伊個賊巢

打破伊个贼巢

(Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew, colloquial) hideout


笛

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *l'ɯːwɢ): semantic 竹 (“bamboo”) + phonetic 由 (OC *lɯw).
Cognate with 籥 (OC *lowɢ, “bamboo flute”) (Baxter, 1992).


笨

体
㤓
𢜘
賁
朌
坋
蕡
厚

1910, Ernest John Eitel, Immanuel Gottlieb Genähr, editors, A Chinese-English dictionary in the Cantonese dialect, Hongkong: Kelly & Walsh, Limited, page 719:

唔使咁笨

(dialectal Cantonese, Hakka, dated in standard Cantonese) thick


等

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (等):
* → Japanese: 等(とう) (tō)
* → Korean: 등(等) (deung)
* → Vietnamese: đẳng (等)

→ Proto-Turkic: *teŋ (“equal”) (see there for further descendants)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *tɯːʔ, *tɯːŋʔ): semantic 竹 (“bamboo”) + phonetic 寺 (OC *ljɯs).
竹 here refers to the bamboo strips used for writing (e.g. grading, classification) in ancient times. 寺 (OC *ljɯs) was originally used phonetically; the character was subsequently borrowed for another word with the same meaning, but with no phonetic resemblance to 寺.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tVŋ (“top; to rise; to raise”) (STEDT). Endoactive of 登 (OC *tɯːŋ, “to rise; to ascend”) (Schuessler, 2007).

liushu

OC *tɯːʔ, *tɯːŋʔ

inh

爾等

尔等

𠊎等

(literary or Hakka) Plural particle used after personal pronouns or nouns.


等

A medieval word, probably related to 待 (OC *dɯːʔ, “to wait”) (Wang, 1982).

c. 2004, “花樹下”, 古秀如 (lyrics), 謝宇威 (music), performed by 謝宇威:

Under flowering tree, [it] is blooming fully.

花樹下，開等滿滿个花。

花树下，开等满满个花。

(Hakka) Progressive particle, used after verbs to indicate the continuation of an action or a state.


箍

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *kʷaː): semantic 竹 (“bamboo”) + phonetic 㧜 (liè)

Han compound

Kho͘ saⁿ tō sī sì kho͘ saⁿ kiám saⁿ kho͘.

箍三就是四箍三減三箍。

箍三就是四箍三减三箍。

1989, 王明輝 [Wang Ming-hui], “台北帝國 [Taipei Empire]”, in 抓狂歌 [Songs of Madness], performed by 黑名單工作室 [Blacklist Studio]:

A Patriotic Lottery ticket sells for 5 bucks (NTD)

ài-kok chióng-koàn chi̍t tiuⁿ bōe gō͘ kho͘

愛國獎券一張賣五塊

爱国奖券一张卖五块

(Hakka, Hokkien, Teochew, Malaysian Cantonese) Classifier for money: yuan; dollar; buck; peso; ringgit; rupiah


糜

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *mral): phonetic 麻 (OC *mraːl) + semantic 米 (“rice”).

Han compound

(literary or Hakka, Southern Min, dialectal Eastern Min, Shehua) congee


紅

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ɡoːŋ): semantic 糸 (“silk”) + phonetic 工 (OC *koːŋ).
彤 (OC *l'uːŋ, “red”) could be a variant of 紅 (OC *ɡoːŋ) (Schuessler, 2007). May be related to 虹 (OC *kroːŋs, *ɡoːŋ, “rainbow”).
Originally referred to lighter shades of red; gradually replaced 赤 (chì, “red”) as the basic color term for "red".

Han compound

豬紅／猪红 [Cantonese] ― zyu¹ hung⁴ [Jyutping] ― pig blood tofu

雞紅／鸡红 [Cantonese]

(euphemistic, Cantonese, Hakka) blood tofu


細

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *snɯːls): semantic 糸 + phonetic 囟 (OC *snɯns). The right component is etymologically unrelated to 田 in which it was corrupted to after the Han dynasty.
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *z(j)əj (“little; small; tiny”) (STEDT); cognate with Jingpho zi (“small”), Tibetan ཟི (zi, “small”), Burmese သေး (se:, “small”).

inh

點解會咁細嘅？

点解会咁细嘅？

(literary or Cantonese, Gan, Hakka, Min) small; tiny; little

[Do you think that] you're still a child?

你仲細咩！

你仲细咩！

(literary or Cantonese, Hakka, Min) young; little


絚

For pronunciation and definitions of 絚 – see 緪.
(This character is a variant form of 緪).

zh-see

𰬌
恆
拫
緪
縆
緊
紅

GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified); † - only used for pulled objects as a resultative

我手頭絚。

我手头𰬌。

(Hakka, Southern Min) short of money; hard up


經

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *keːŋ, *keːŋs): semantic 糹 (“silk; thread”) + phonetic 巠 (OC *keːŋ).


緊

Possibly from earlier 近處／近处 (gan6-2 cyu3, gan6-2 syu3, “future marker expressing the imminent aspect”) (Kataoka, 2018).

zh-l

我讀緊書。

我读紧书。

佢著緊衫。

佢着紧衫。

(Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Nanning Pinghua) Grammatical particle used to express progressive aspect (an ongoing activity) which may undergo a change of state. Similar to the -ing form in English.


縮

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *sruɡ): semantic 糸 (“string, thread”) + phonetic 宿 (OC *suɡs, *suɡ).


繳

缴
缴
筊
徼
賭
檄
儌
九
局


罅

㙤/㙈/𱗫
𨻲/䖎/𱀸
𤗭/𤗑/𤗕
𥕕/𮀽/𱴭
鏬/鎼/𨩽/𨩝
𧇍
𦉏
𦉑
𨄥
𨽯
𰧩
𡨄
痚

2008, 陳逸豪, “天阿爸个心”, in 陳建中, transl., 不同凡響的頌讚, performed by 客家聖樂團:

chhṳ-lien chûng Kì oi su pûn ngài la yung ke ên-tién

試鍊中𥘹愛賜畀𠊎罅用个恩典

试炼中𥘹爱赐畀𠊎罅用个恩典


罌

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *qreːŋ): phonetic 賏 (OC *qreŋs, *qeŋ) + semantic 缶 (“pottery”).

Han compound

罂
*甖
罃/䓨
甇
盎

(Hakka, dialectal Cantonese) Classifier for bottles.


羯

→ English: Jie, Chieh

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *kad): semantic 羊 (“sheep; goat”) + phonetic 曷 (OC *ɡaːd).
; “wether”
: Alternatively, Wang (1982) relates this word to 割 (OC *kaːd, “to cut”).
; “Jie people”

Han compound

(Hakka) to castrate; to neuter; to emasculate


翻

→ Lü: ᦝᦱᧃᧈ (faan¹, “to translate”)

→ Thai: พัน (pan, “fasten around”)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *pʰan): phonetic 番 (OC *paːl, *paːls, *pʰaːn, *pʰan, *ban) + semantic 羽 (“wings”) – to flutter.


胰

(dialectal Mandarin, dialectal Hakka, Jin) soap


脣

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯ən³⁵/

/ʈ͡ʂʰu̯ən³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ɦljun): phonetic 辰 (OC *djɯn) + semantic 肉 (“flesh”).
Original meaning was apparently “edge”. Related to 漘 (OC *ɦljun, “bank of a river”), 宸 (OC *djɯn, “eave (i.e. edge of a roof)”) and 胗 (OC *kljɯnʔ, *klɯnʔ, “ulcer of the lip”) (Wang, 1982).
Further etymology is not clear. The various theories are:
* Schuessler (2007): Related to Lepcha ᰣᰌᰫᰯ (a-dul, “lips”) < root ᰌᰫᰯ (dul) (STEDT derives this from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-ts(j)ul (“lip; beak”)).
* Benedict (1972): Related to Tibetan མཆུ (mchu, “lips; beak of a bird”) (derived from the same Sino-Tibetan etymon in STEDT).

cog

路脣

路唇

耳仔脣

耳仔唇

(literary or Hakka, Southern Min) side; edge


脧

/t͡su̯eɪ̯⁵⁵/

/t͡su̯eɪ̯⁵⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ʔsluːl): semantic 肉 (“flesh; meat”) + phonetic 夋 (OC *sʰlun).

Han compound

(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese, Cantonese, Hakka) penis (of a young boy) (Classifier: 條／条 c)


脷

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic ⺼ (“meat”) + phonetic 利. Specialization of 利 (“benefit; profit”).
From 利 (“benefit; profit”), used as a euphemism for 舌 (“tongue”), which is homophonous to 折, 蝕 /蚀 (“to be at a loss”).
Alternatively, it may be from 舐 (OC *ɦljeʔ, “to lick”), preserving the Old Chinese initial *l- (Schuessler, 2007).

(Cantonese, dialectal Hakka) tongue (human or animal) (Classifier: 條／条 c)


腍

Possibly borrowed from one or several substrate languages; cf. Zhuang naemz (“soft; pulpy; thoroughly cooked”), Thai นุ่ม (nûm, “soft”) (Lian, 2001). Perhaps related to etymology 1.

cog

The beef brisket has been simmered until it is really tender.

啲牛腩炆到好腍。

(Cantonese, Hakka, Pinghua, Liuzhou Mandarin) soft; tender


腩

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *nuːmʔ): semantic 肉 (“meat; flesh”) + phonetic 南 (OC *nuːm).
May be related to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *s-n(u/a)m (STEDT); compare Tibetan སྣུམ (snum, “oil”), Lepcha ᰍᰪᰮᰗᰪ (numtsu).
For the "sirloin" sense, note similarities to Burmese နံ (nam, “flank; rib”).

Han compound

(chiefly Cantonese, Hakka) belly flesh; belly meat; sirloin; tenderloin


膣

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (膣):
* → Japanese: 膣(ちつ) (chitsu)
* → Korean: 질(膣) (jil)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic ⺼ (“flesh”) + phonetic 窒 (OC *tiːɡ, *tiɡ).

Han compound

(Hakka, Southern Min, vulgar) vulva; female genitalia; cunt (Classifier: 塊／块 mn-t)


舂

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 廾 (“both hands”) + 午 (“pestle”) + 臼 (“mortar”) – using both hands to pound with a mortar and pestle. See also the top component of 秦.

(Cantonese, Hakka, Southern Min, Shanghainese) to hit with a fist; to punch


舞

→ Vietnamese: múa

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *maʔ): abbreviated phonetic 無 (OC *ma) + semantic 舛 (“steps, feet in convergent direction”). This character was coined to preserve the original meaning of 無, which is "dancing"; hence, the upper component also adds part of the meaning. A conservative variant is 𦨅.
Perhaps related to Tibetan བྲོ (bro, “dance (noun)”), or related to 巫 (OC *ma, “shaman”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Han compound

The colleagues messed with the newbies big time.

di¹ san¹ zai² bei² tung⁴ si⁶ mou⁵⁻² dou³ to⁴ to⁴⁻² ning⁶.

啲新仔畀同事舞到陀陀擰。

啲新仔畀同事舞到陀陀拧。

always messed with by a bunch of things with no way out

chong teuˇ bun` rhid tai⁺ deu` sii⁺ cin mu´ doˇ mo gad mo sad

長透分一大兜事情舞著無結無煞

长透分一大兜事情舞着无结无煞

(Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien) to mess with; to play with; to tease


莫

Pictogram (象形) – the sun (日) sinking into the bushes (屮); dusk. Original form of 暮 (OC *maːɡs, “dusk”).
The bottom was later distorted into 大.
From 無 (OC *ma, “there is no”) + distributive suffix *-k (Schuessler, 2007). For the same type of derivation, see the relationship of 有 (OC *ɢʷɯʔ, “there is”) and 或 (OC *ɡʷɯːɡ, “some”).

𦶛
𦱤
䒬
勿
嘜
麥
賣
甭
⿰勿愛*

莫做聲！

莫做声！

moʔ⁵⁻²¹ ⁽ˢ⁻⁾lɛ²¹³⁻⁵³ nˡɛi²⁴²

Don't be too polite. / Make yourself at home.

mŏ̤h-sá̤-nê / [moʔ⁵⁻²¹ ⁽ˢ⁻⁾lɛ²¹³⁻⁵³ nˡɛi²⁴²]

莫細膩。

moʔ⁵⁻²¹ ⁽ˢ⁻⁾lɛ²¹³⁻⁵³ nˡɛi²⁴²

莫细腻。

你莫腿囉。

你莫腿啰。

Don't be panicked when conflagration happens

發生火災莫驚慌

发生火灾莫惊慌

莫為盜！莫為殺人！

莫为盗！莫为杀人！

In life, fully enjoy yourself when you are delighted; do not allow an empty goblet to face the moon.

Rénshēng déyì xū jìn huān, mò shǐ jīnzūn kōng duì yuè.

人生得意須盡歡，莫使金樽空對月。

人生得意须尽欢，莫使金樽空对月。

(literary or dialectal Mandarin, dialectal Cantonese, Gan, Hakka, Eastern Min, Xiang) do not; don't; must not


落

→ Ai-Cham: lau⁵

→ Thai: โละ (ló) (via Teochew loh⁸)

→ Vietnamese: lạc

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ɡ·raːɡ): semantic 艹 + phonetic 洛 (OC *ɡ·raːɡ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(k/g)la-k/y/t (“to fall”) (STEDT, Schuessler, 2007):
:within Sinitic, cognate to 露 (OC *ɡ·raːɡs) "dew", 下 (OC *ɡraːʔ, *ɡraːs, “down, below, to descend, to fall down”) , 陊 (OC *l'aːlʔ, *l'alʔ) "to collapse" and 阤 (OC *l'alʔ, *hljalʔ) "hillside, slope";
:outsides Sinitic, cognate to Mizo tla ~ tlâk (“to fall”) and thla ~ thlâk (“to drop”), Burmese ကျ (kya., “to fall”) and ချ (hkya., “to drop”).
Schuessler attributes OC *r-, instead of expected **l-, to possible Austroasiatic influence: compare Khmer [script needed] (gra'ka, “be low, debased”) < [script needed] (-ra'ka, “to fall, below, cover from above”). However, Matisoff (2003) identifies several ST etyma which display TB *(C‑)l- vs. OC *(C‑)r‑ correspondence (e.g. *l(j)a(k/ŋ) (“good, beautiful”) → 良 (OC *raŋ), *g/m-liŋ (“neck”) → 領 (OC *reŋʔ), etc.) and TB *(C‑)r- vs. OC *(C‑)l‑ (e.g. *g-rjum (“salt”) → 鹽 (OC *ɡ·lam)); so irregularities in correspondence do not necessarily indicate foreign influences.
Contemporary southern usage possibly reinforced by a Kra-Dai term. The term has been associated with Zhuang loengx (“to fall”).
Zhengzhang suggested that Pronunciation 2 was a result of loss of final consonant of the retained Old Chinese Pronunciation 1.

cog

He had already started to carry an umbrella before the rain even began to fall.

di¹ jyu⁵ jat¹ dik¹ dou¹ mei⁶ lok⁶ keoi⁵ ji⁵ ging¹ hai² dou⁶ lo² zyu⁶ baa² ze¹ haang⁴.

啲雨一滴都未落佢已經喺度攞住把遮行。

啲雨一滴都未落佢已经喺度𫽋住把遮行。

(transitive) (to move something to a lower place)

(Cantonese, Gan, Hakka, Huizhou, Min, Southern Pinghua, Wu, Xiang) to fall down; to rain or snow

(to move something to a lower place)
to fall down; to rain or snow


願

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (願):
* → Japanese: 願(がん) (gan)
* → Korean: 원(願) (won)
* → Vietnamese: nguyện (願)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ŋʷans): phonetic 原 (OC *ŋʷan) + semantic 頁.

Han compound

上願／上愿 [Meixian Hakka]

song¹ ngian⁴ [Hakka Transliteration Scheme]


著

→ English: tio

/ʈ͡ʂaʊ̯ɻʷ⁵⁵/

/ʈ͡ʂaʊ̯ɻʷ⁵⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *taʔ, *tas, *da, *taɡ, *daɡ): semantic 艸 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 者 (OC *tjaːʔ).
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ta-t (“to put; to place”). Cognate with Tibetan སྟད (stad, “to put on; to lay on”), སྟ་གོན (sta gon, “preparation; arrangement”), Burmese ထား (hta:, “to put; to place”). See also 署 (OC *djas, “to put, place”) (STEDT).

cog

着
着
𣋐
𣥧
囉
就
着
着

揀啊揀，揀著一個賣龍眼 / 揀啊揀，揀著一个賣龍眼 / 拣啊拣，拣着一个卖龙眼

kéng--ah kéng, kéng-tio̍h chi̍t ê bē lêng-géng

著獎／着奖 [Sixian Hakka] ― chho̍k-chióng [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ] ― to win a prize

我按呢講，著無？

我按呢讲，着无？

(Can we date this quote?), 《英語撮要》, page 46:

咁唔係着麽

咁唔系着么

著棋

着棋

(chiefly dialectal Hakka, Teochew, Wu) To play (chess)


藪

鶴藪／鹤薮 [Cantonese] ― hok⁶ dau³ [Jyutping] ― Hok Tau (a place in Hong Kong)

(Cantonese, Hakka) alternative form of 竇 /窦 (dòu, “nest; den; home”) (chiefly used in place names.)


蝕

He lost some twenty-odd thousand doing business five years ago.

keoi⁵ ng⁵ nin⁴ cin⁴ zou⁶ saang¹ ji³ sit⁶ zo² jaa⁶ gei² maan⁶.

佢五年前做生意蝕咗廿幾萬。

佢五年前做生意蚀咗廿几万。

(Cantonese, Hakka, Southern Min, Wu) to lose money


蝦

Compare Zhuang ha (“to intimidate; to bully”).

虾
鰕
𧎂
虾
虾
哈
㗇
謑
𫬗
虾
孲

(Cantonese, Hakka, Southwestern Mandarin, Zhongshan Min) to bully; to pick on


衫

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *sroːm): semantic 衣 + phonetic 彡 (OC *sroːm, *slom).

Han compound

一套衫

(literary or Cantonese, Hakka, Min, Pinghua) clothing; clothes (Classifier: 套 c; 軀／躯 mn)


衰

→ English: suay

→ Indonesian: soe

→ Thai: ซวย (suai)

Pictogram (象形) — a piece of clothing made from palm fibers to be used as a raincoat (original form of 蓑) (Ji Xusheng, 2004).
Compare Khmer រៀវ (riəw, “to diminish; to decrease”), Mizo zuai (“to decline (in diligence, enthusiasm, industry, etc.)”) (Schuessler, 2007).

cog

when luck is bad, you can’t even walk straight

人衰行路打倒褪

衰足五年

(Cantonese, Hakka, Min) to have bad luck

咁衰㗎！

咁衰都有！

做衰嘢

衰人

衰婆

(Cantonese, Hakka) bad; detestable; awful


裝

/t͡szʷæ̃³³⁴/

/t͡szʷæ̃³³⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ʔsraŋ, *ʔsraŋs): phonetic 壯 (OC *ʔsraŋs) + semantic 衣 (“clothes”).

Han compound

(Hakka) to get injured or damaged after being hit by something


詏

(Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew) to argue; to contend; to dispute; to debate


話

CJKV/code

Sino-Xenic (話):
* → Japanese: 話(わ) (wa)
* → Korean: 화(話) (hwa)
* → Vietnamese: thoại (話)

→ Lao: ວ່າ (wā)

→ Lü: ᦞᦱᧈ (vaa¹)

→ Shan: ဝႃႈ (wāa)

→ Thai: ว่า (wâa)

→ Zhuang: vah

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ɡroːds): semantic 言 (“word”) + phonetic 𠯑 (OC *ɡroːd). The right component is not related to 舌 (OC *ɦbljed, “tongue”).
Cognate with 曰 (OC *ɢʷad) according to Sagart (1999); if so, it is from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *grwas (“to speak; word”), whence Tibetan གྲོས་སྡུར་བྱེད་པ (gros sdur byed pa, “to consult; to discuss”) (STEDT).
; "episode"

cog

གྲོས་སྡུར་བྱེད་པ

使乜話俾佢聽呢。

使乜话俾佢听呢。

話緊佢自己

话紧佢自己

nei⁵ faai³ di¹ waa⁶ ngo⁵ zi¹ faat³ sang¹ me¹ si⁶.

你快啲話我知發生咩事。

你快啲话我知发生咩事。

都話啦！

都话啦！

That's what they say [at least, but actual matters may be different].

話就係噉話啫。

话就系噉话啫。

(Can we date this quote?), “Ah Lam 日記”, performed by 林子祥 [George Lam]:

I'm not saying that you're ugly, only that you're disgusting.

ngo⁵ m⁴ hai⁶ waa⁶ nei⁵ cau² joeng⁶⁻², zi² hai⁶ nei⁵ wat⁶ dat⁶.

我唔係話你醜樣，只係你核突。

我唔系话你丑样，只系你核突。

(Can we date this quote?), 十一點新聞, 本港台; 亞洲電視:

Oi, I already said, don't try to come up here any further. Go back down; what are you filming for?

wai³, waa⁶ zo², m⁴ hou² zoi³ soeng⁶ lei⁴ aa³. lok⁶ faan¹ heoi³ laa¹, jing² mat¹ je⁵.

喂，話咗，唔好再上嚟呀。落番去啦，影乜嘢。

喂，话咗，唔好再上嚟呀。落番去啦，影乜嘢。

(Cantonese, Gan, Hakka, Northern Min, Wu) to say; to refer to; to talk about

If you don't tell him off, he will continue to do it.

m⁴ waa⁶ keoi⁵ ne¹, keoi⁵ zau⁶ wui⁵ gai³ zuk⁶ zou⁶ lok⁶ heoi³.

唔話佢呢，佢就會繼續做落去。

唔话佢呢，佢就会继续做落去。

Don't complain (that I'm telling you that), ghosts are real.

nei⁵ m⁴ hou² waa⁶ aa³, zan¹ hai⁶ jau⁵ gwai² gaa³.

你唔好話呀，真係有鬼㗎。

你唔好话呀，真系有鬼㗎。

(Cantonese, Hakka, Gan, Wu) to tell someone off; to scold


識

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *tjɯɡs, *hljɯɡ): semantic 言 (“say”) + phonetic 戠 (OC *tjɯɡ).

Han compound

I don't know Mandarin. I don't know how to speak Mandarin.

ngo⁵ m⁴ sik¹ pou² tung¹ waa⁶⁻². ngo⁵ m⁴ sik¹ gong² pou² tung¹ waa⁶⁻².

我唔識普通話。我唔識講普通話。

我唔识普通话。我唔识讲普通话。

Chinese people really know how to eat (to appreciate, to be discerning, to enjoy, to be skilled, to savor). Chinese are good at business.

zung¹ gwok³ jan⁴ hou² sik¹ sik⁶. zung¹ gwok³ jan⁴ hou² sik¹ zou⁶ saang¹ ji³.

中國人好識食。中國人好識做生意。

中国人好识食。中国人好识做生意。

(Cantonese, Hakka, dialectal Wu) to recognise; to be familiar with; to know (especially someone or how to do something)


責

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ʔsreːɡ): phonetic 朿 (OC *sʰeɡs) + semantic 貝 (“cowry; money”) – tax; debt.
Top component now resembles 生 (without the diagonal stroke) – compare 青, 素.


賁

For pronunciation and definitions of 賁 – see 斑 (“spot; stripe; spotted; striped; mottled; etc.”).
(This character is a variant form of 斑).

zh-see

贲
贲
贲
贲
贲
贲
贲
贲
贲


走

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 夭 (“young, running man”) + 止 (“foot”) – a running man. The original version is 𧺆.
The top component (夭) is simplified to the unrelated 土. See also the top component of 去 and 赤.
As with 圭, there are two separate vertical strokes, not a single one.
Schuessler (2007) considers this to be part of a large Sino-Tibetan word family, including 搜 (OC *sru, “to move”), 速 (OC *sloːɡ, “quick”), 夙 (OC *suɡ, “morning”), 聳 (OC *sloŋʔ, “to excite”), 蔌 (OC *sloːɡ, “vegetables”), which derive from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-sow (“to arise; to awake”).

被難

to be killed in a disaster, political incident

(figurative) to learn to run before one can walk

未學行，先學走

未学行，先学走

c. 3rd century BCE, 韓非 [Han Fei], 韓非子 [Han Feizi]:

(literary or dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, Min, Wu) to run; to jog


起

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *kʰɯʔ): semantic 走 + phonetic 巳 (OC *ljɯʔ, *lɯs).
Perhaps from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kyi (“to lift, raise, awake”); cognate with Burmese ချီ (hkyi, “to lift”) (STEDT).

inh

起緊嘅線路

起紧嘅线路

呢棟樓係新起嘅。

呢栋楼系新起嘅。

(dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese, Gan, Hakka, Min, Pinghua, Wu, Xiang) to construct; to build


跋

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *boːd): semantic 足 (“foot”) + phonetic 犮 (OC *boːd).
Cognate with 茇 (OC *poːd, “roots of grass”) (Schuessler, 2007).


跌

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *l'iːɡ): semantic 足 (“foot”) + phonetic 失 (OC *hliɡ).
Note similarities in the Old Chinese pronunciation to Burmese လဲ (lai:, “to fall down”).

Han compound

跌咗個荷包

跌咗个荷包

荷包跌撇了

(Cantonese, Hakka, transitive) to drop; to lose


跍

(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese, Jilu, Jianghuai and Southwestern Mandarin, Hakka, Gan, Min, Wu, Xiang) to squat

obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese; Jianghuai and Southwestern Mandarin; obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese; Jianghuai and Southwestern Mandarin


踏

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *tʰuːb): semantic 足 (“foot”) + phonetic 沓 (OC *duːb).

Han compound

踏三 [Cantonese] ― daap⁶ saam¹ [Jyutping] ― quarter past

踏九 [Cantonese] ― daap⁶ gau² [Jyutping] ― three quarters past

踏正 [Cantonese] ― daap⁶ zeng³ [Jyutping] ― sharp

踏半 [Cantonese] ― daap⁶ bun³ [Jyutping] ― half past

踏七 [Cantonese] ― daap⁶ cat¹ [Jyutping] ― 35 minutes past

踏八個半字／踏八个半字 [Cantonese] ― daap⁶ baat³ go³ bun³ zi⁶ [Jyutping] ― around 42.5 minutes past

八點踏四／八点踏四 [Cantonese] ― baat³ dim² daap⁶ sei³ [Jyutping] ― twenty past eight

(Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, Teochew, Quanzhou and Xiamen Hokkien) Used before a number to indicate time, where the number is what the minute hand is pointing to on an analog clock.


踭

(chiefly Cantonese, Hakka) alternative form of 㬹 (“rear part of a limb; elbow or heel; heel of a shoe”)


轆

→ Thai: รอก (rɔ̂ɔk, “pulley”)

(to browse through): probably a semantic extension of “wheel”, via the use of a scroll wheel.

轆嚟轆去／辘嚟辘去 [Cantonese] ― luk¹ lai⁴ luk¹ heoi³ [Jyutping] ― to roll around

(Cantonese, Hakka) to roll; to turn over and over


轉

/ʈ͡ʂu̯än²¹⁴/

/ʈ͡ʂu̯än²¹⁴/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *tonʔ, *tons): semantic 車 (“carriage”) + phonetic 專 (OC *tjon).
Possibly related to:
* Old Tibetan འདྲུལ ('drul, “to transmit; to communicate”) (Schuessler, 2007), or
* Tibetan སྲུལ (srul, “to move to and fro; to stir”), Burmese ရွေ့ (rwe., “to move; to be displaced”), ရွှေ့ (hrwe., “to move or shift something”) (Starostin).
An allofam is perhaps *don (“round”). Compare Vietnamese tròn (“round; circle; entire; whole”), trọn (“fully; completely; all”), as well as the following Chinese words:
* 團 (OC *doːn, “ball; circle; lump”),
* 摶 (OC *doːn, *doːn, *donʔ, “to roll up into a ball”).
Derivative: 傳 (OC *tons, *don, *dons, “to relay; to pass on; to transfer; relay station; biography; record”).

och-l

转
返
转
转
转
撙
捘

轉來／转来 [Shanghainese] ― ⁵tsoe-le [Wugniu] ― to come back; to return

轉去／转去 [Shanghainese] ― ⁵tsoe-chi [Wugniu] ― to go back; to return

(Southwestern Mandarin, dialectal Cantonese, Hakka, Min, Wu) to return; to come or go back


轉

转
返
转
转
转
撙
捘

(Cantonese, dialectal Hakka, dialectal Min, dialectal Wu) hair whorl


遮

/t͡siɛ³³⁻³³⁵/

/t͡siɛ³³⁻³³⁵/

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *tjaː): semantic 辶 (“road”) + phonetic 庶 (OC *hljaɡs, “numerous”)
; “umbrella”

Han compound

𨖥
庶
這
這
者
即
則
迹
這
者
隻
呰

收起把遮

(Cantonese, Hakka) umbrella; parasol (Classifier: 把 c; 支 h)


遽

1976, “阿婆買咸菜”performed by 张少林 [Chong Sau Lin]:

愛買kiak kiak來

爱买kiak kiak来