什麼

ChineseEdit

	tenth (used in fractions)	dimi.
trad. (什麼/甚麼/什麽/甚麽)	什/甚	麼/麽
simp. (什么)	什	么
alternative forms	拾沒／拾没 obsolete 是物 obsolete 是勿 obsolete 是沒／是没 obsolete 甚物 obsolete 拾沒／拾没 obsolete 是物 obsolete 是勿 obsolete 是沒／是没 obsolete 甚物 obsolete 甚沒／甚没 obsolete 甚摩 obsolete 甚謨／甚谟 obsolete 什摩 obsolete

EtymologyEdit

Corruption of medieval 是物 (MC d͡ʑiᴇX mɨut̚, “why”) (Yuan et al., 1996: 318–324) or 什物 (MC d͡ʑiɪp̚ mɨut̚, “miscellaneous items”) (Norman, 1988; Zhang, 1982).

PronunciationEdit

Mandarin
(Pinyin): shénme, shéme, shěnme, shěme

(Zhuyin): ㄕㄣˊ ˙ㄇㄜ, ㄕㄜˊ ˙ㄇㄜ, ㄕㄣˇ ˙ㄇㄜ, ㄕㄜˇ ˙ㄇㄜ
Cantonese (Jyutping): sam⁶ mo¹
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): sím-mih

(Teochew, Peng'im): sim⁶ moh⁴ / se⁶ moh⁴
Wu (Wiktionary): ⁴seq-moq

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland and Taiwan)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shénme
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄣˊ ˙ㄇㄜ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shénme̊
  - Wade–Giles: shên²-mê⁵
  - Yale: shén-me
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shern.me
  - Palladius: шэньмэ (šɛnʹmɛ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂən³⁵ mə³/
- (Standard Chinese, common variant)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shéme
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄜˊ ˙ㄇㄜ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shéme̊
  - Wade–Giles: shê²-mê⁵
  - Yale: shé-me
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sher.me
  - Palladius: шэмэ (šɛmɛ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɤ³⁵ mə³/
- (Standard Chinese, variant)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shěnme
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄣˇ ˙ㄇㄜ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shěnme̊
  - Wade–Giles: shên³-mê⁵
  - Yale: shěn-me
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheen.me
  - Palladius: шэньмэ (šɛnʹmɛ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂən²¹⁴ mə⁴/
- (Standard Chinese, variant)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shěme
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄜˇ ˙ㄇㄜ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shěme̊
  - Wade–Giles: shê³-mê⁵
  - Yale: shě-me
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shee.me
  - Palladius: шэмэ (šɛmɛ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɤ²¹⁴ mə⁴/

Note: Many other variant pronunciations exist.

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: sam⁶ mo¹
  - Yale: sahm mō
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sam⁶ mo¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: sem⁶ mo¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐm²² mɔː⁵⁵/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sím-mih
  - Tâi-lô: sím-mih
  - Phofsit Daibuun: symmiq
  - IPA (Xiamen): /ɕim⁵³⁻⁴⁴ mĩʔ³²/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /ɕim⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ mĩʔ⁵/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /ɕim⁵³⁻⁴⁴ mĩʔ³²/
  - IPA (Taipei): /ɕim⁵³⁻⁴⁴ mĩʔ³²/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɕim⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ mĩʔ³²/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: sim⁶ moh⁴ / se⁶ moh⁴
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: sĭm moh / sṳ̆ moh
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sim³⁵⁻¹¹ moʔ²/, /sɯ³⁵⁻¹¹ moʔ²/

Note:

sim6 moh4 - Chaozhou, Shantou;
se6 moh4 - Jieyang.

Wu

(Shanghainese)
- Wiktionary: ⁴seq-moq
- Sinological IPA ^(key): /səʔ³³ mʊʔ⁴⁴/

PronounEdit

什麼

(interrogative) what
這是什麼？／这是什么？ ― Zhè shì shénme? ― What is this?

你平時喜歡做什麼？ [MSC, trad.]
你平时喜欢做什么？ [MSC, simp.]
Nǐ píngshí xǐhuān zuò shénme? [Pinyin]
What do you like doing in your spare time?

我不知道他是什麼人。 [MSC, trad.]
我不知道他是什么人。 [MSC, simp.]
Wǒ bù zhīdào tā shì shénme rén. [Pinyin]
I don't know what kind of person he is.
something
你想吃點什麼嗎？／你想吃点什么吗？ ― Nǐ xiǎng chī diǎn shénme ma? ― Would you like something to eat?
anything; whatever
我什麼都不知道。／我什么都不知道。 ― Wǒ shénme dōu bù zhīdào. ― I don't know anything

我什麼也不怕。／我什么也不怕。 ― Wǒ shénme yě bù pà. ― I'm not afraid of anything.

他可以想做什麼就做什麼。 [MSC, trad.]
他可以想做什么就做什么。 [MSC, simp.]
Tā kěyǐ xiǎng zuò shénme jiù zuò shénme. [Pinyin]
He can do whatever he wants.
(used to express surprise or anger) what
幹的是什麼事兒！／干的是什么事儿！ ― Gàn de shì shénme shìr! ― What a thing to do!
(used before an enumeration) thing like; such as; and so on; and what not
(used to express disapproval, disagreement)

SynonymsEdit

Dialectal synonyms of 什麼 (“what”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		何
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		什麼
Mandarin	Beijing	什麼, 嗎兒
	Taiwan	什麼
	Tianjin	嗎
	Chengde	什麼
	Tangshan	啥
	Cangzhou	什麼, 嗎
	Baoding	什麼
	Shijiazhuang	啥
	Chifeng	啥
	Hulunbuir (Hailar)	什麼, 啥
	Heihe	什麼, 啥
	Qiqihar	什麼, 啥
	Harbin	什麼, 啥
	Jiamusi	什麼, 啥
	Baicheng	啥
	Changchun	啥
	Tonghua	啥
	Shenyang	什麼, 啥
	Dandong	什麼, 啥
	Jinzhou	什麼, 啥
	Dalian	什麼
	Yantai	什麼
	Yantai (Muping)	麼, 麼個
	Qingdao	什麼
	Lijin	啥, 啥稿兒
	Weifang (Weicheng)	啥, 什麼
	Weifang (Fangzi)	什麼
	Weifang (Hanting)	什麼
	Changyi	什麼
	Gaomi	什麼
	Zhucheng	什麼
	Anqiu	什麼
	Changle	啥, 什麼
	Linqu	什麼
	Qingzhou	啥, 什麼嘎
	Shouguang	啥嘎
	Rizhao	什麼
	Wulian	什麼
	Jinan	麼兒, 麼, 什麼, 麼個
	Jining	什麼
	Luoyang	啥
	Wanrong	色
	Shangqiu	啥
	Yuanyang	什麼
	Zhengzhou	啥
	Lingbao	啥兒
	Xinyang	啥
	Baihe	啥
	Hanzhong	啥子
	Xi'an	什麼, 啥
	Baoji	啥, 咋麼
	Yinchuan	什麼, 啥
	Tianshui	啥
	Lanzhou	什麼, 啥
	Dunhuang	啥
	Xining	啥
	Hami	什麼, 啥
	Ürümqi	啥
	Wuhan	什麼, 麼事
	Yichang	什麼兒
	Xiangyang	什麼, 啥子
	Tianmen	什麼, 什麼的
	Hong'an	什麼, 麼事, 麼東西
	Chengdu	啥子
Nanchong	啥, 啥子
Dazhou	啥子
Hanyuan	啥, 啥子
Xichang	啥子
Zigong	啥子
Chongqing	啥子
Lhasa	啥子
Guiyang	哪樣
Zunyi	啷個, 啥子
Bijie	哪樣, 啷子
Liping	甚子
Zhaotong	什麼, 啥子
Dali	咋個
Kunming	什麼, 哪樣
Mengzi	哪樣
Guilin	什麼
Guilin (Lingui)	什麼
Guanyang	什麼
Liuzhou	什麼
Liuzhou (Luorong)	什麼
Jishou	什麼
Changde	麼得
Xiangtan (Jiangnan Industries Group koine)	麼子
Anqing	什麼, 麼東西
Xuzhou	什麼, 啥, 啥子
Fuyang	什麼, 啥
Wuhu	什麼
Yangzhou	什麼
Lianyungang	什麼
Lianshui	什麼
Nanjing	什麼
Hefei	什麼, 哄, 哄個
Nantong	甚呢
Malaysia	什麼
Singapore	什麼
Sokuluk (Gansu Dungan)	啥
Dagudi (Maliba)	什麼
Reshuitang (Longling)	什麼
Mae Salong (Lancang)	哪樣, 什麼
Mae Sai (Tengchong)	什麼
Cantonese	Guangzhou	乜嘢, 咩嘢, 乜, 咩
	Hong Kong	乜嘢, 咩嘢, 乜, 咩
	Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou)	咩嘢
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin Weitou)	乜嘢
	Hong Kong (Ting Kok)	咩嘢
	Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)	咩嘢
	Macau	乜嘢
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	乜嘢
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	乜嘢
	Guangzhou (Conghua)	乜嘢
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	乜嘢
	Foshan	乜嘢
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	乜嘢
	Foshan (Shunde)	乜嘢
	Foshan (Sanshui)	乜嘢
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	乜嘢
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	乜嘢
	Zhuhai (Qianshan)	乜嘢
	Zhuhai (Doumen, Shangheng Tanka)	乜
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	乜
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	乜嘢
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	乜
	Taishan	乜, 乜嘢
	Taishan (Guanghai)	乜, 乜嘎
	Kaiping (Chikan)	乜, 乜啊, 乜嘢
	Enping (Niujiang)	乜嘢
	Heshan (Yayao)	乜嘢
	Dongguan	乜嘢, 乜
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	乜嘢
	Shenzhen (Dapeng)	乜嘢, 乜
	Yangjiang	乜, 乜嘢
	Wuzhou	乜嘢
	Hepu (Lianzhou)	物底
	Guiping	乜嘢
	Mengshan (Xihe)	什麼
	Beiliu (Tangliao)	乜嘢
	Baise	乜嘢
	Qinzhou	乜嘢, 乜
	Qinzhou (Xiniujiao)	乜底
	Beihai	乜嘢
	Beihai (Nankang)	乜嘢
	Beihai (Yingpan)	乜底
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cô Tô)	乜嘢
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cát Bà)	乜嘢
	Hengzhou	哪門
	Fangchenggang (Fangcheng)	乜嘢
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	乜嘢, 咩
	Penang (Guangfu)	乜嘢, 咩
	Singapore (Guangfu)	乜嘢, 咩, 乜
	Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu)	乜嘢
	Móng Cái	乜嘢
	Yangon (Taishan)	乜
Gan	Nanchang	什哩
	Lichuan	什仔
	Pingxiang	咋個
Hakka	Meixian	麼個
	Xingning	麼個
	Dabu (Gaobei)	麼個
	Fengshun (Tangkeng)	麼個
	Fengshun (Fengliang)	麼個
	Fengshun (Pantian)	麼個
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	乜嘢
	Huiyang	麼個
	Huidong (Daling)	麼個
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	麼個
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	麼個
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	乜嘢
	Wuhua (Huacheng)	麼個
	Wengyuan	麼個
	Nanxiong (Zhuji)	什麼
	Shaoguan (Qujiang)	麼個
	Lianshan (Xiaosanjiang)	麼個
	Liannan	麼個
	Conghua (Lütian)	麼個
	Jiexi	麼個
	Luhe	麼個
	Changting	麼個, 什西哩, 什西
	Wuping	麼個, 麼事
	Wuping (Pingyu)	麼個
	Liancheng	麼個, 什麼
	Ninghua	什麼
	Yudu	子個
	Ruijin	咩, 唔幾
	Shicheng	什麼
	Shangyou (Shexi)	哪個, 哪項, 個哪, 哪
	Tonggu (Sandu)	麼個
	Ganzhou (Panlong)	什麼
	Dayu	什麼
	Taoyuan	麼個
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	麼個
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	麼個
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	麼個
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	麼個
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	麼個
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	麼個
	Nantou (Guoxing; Lufeng)	麼個
	Hong Kong	麼個
	Mengshan (Xihe)	麼個
	Luchuan	麼個
	Senai (Huiyang)	麼個
	Kuching (Hepo)	麼個
	Singkawang	麼個
	Pontianak (Meixian)	麼個
	Singapore (Dabu)	麼個
	Bangkok (Meixian)	麼個
	Bangkok (Fengshun)	麼個
Huizhou	Jixi	麼仂
Huizhou	Shexian	麼二
Jin	Taiyuan	甚
	Yangyuan	什麼, 啥, 咋, 甚
	Datong	啥
	Xinzhou	甚
	Lishi	甚
	Linfen	啥
	Changzhi	什麼
	Linhe	什麼, 甚
	Jining	甚
	Hohhot	甚
	Erenhot	什麼, 甚
	Pingshan	什麼兒
	Zhangjiakou	什麼
	Handan	什麼, 啥
	Linzhou	啥
	Suide	什麼, 甚
Jiuxing Yumin	Lanxi	啥哩
Min Bei	Jian'ou	孰事, 孰麼, 孰麼事
	Jian'ou (Dikou)	橘二, 橘二事
	Songxi	什麼事
	Jianyang	孰事
	Wuyishan	什麼事
	Pucheng (Shibei)	孰麼, 孰, 孰麼事, 孰事, 孰麼契, 孰契
Min Dong	Fuzhou	什乇, 什名, 什乇名, 面乇名
	Changle	什乇
	Fuqing	什乇, 乜乇
	Pingtan	什乇
	Yongtai	哪乇
	Gutian	乇, 什乇
	Fu'an	乜乇
	Ningde	哪乇
	Shouning	呢乇
	Zhouning	乜乇
	Fuding	哪乇
	Matsu	什乇
	Singapore (Fuqing)	什乇
Min Nan	Xiamen	什物, 啥物, 啥貨
	Xiamen (Tong'an)	什物
	Quanzhou	啥物, 乜
	Jinjiang	啥物
	Nan'an	什物
	Shishi	啥物
	Hui'an	什物
	Anxi	啥物
	Yongchun	啥物
	Dehua	啥物
	Zhangzhou	哪貨仔, 哪貨, 哪仔, 哪物仔, 哪物, 什物, 啥物, 啥貨
	Zhangzhou (Longhai)	啥物, 啥
	Zhangzhou (Changtai)	啥
	Hua'an	什物
	Nanjing	哪物
	Pinghe	啥物
	Zhangpu	啥貨
	Yunxiao	什物仔
	Zhao'an	什物
	Dongshan	什物
	Taipei	啥貨, 啥物, 啥
	Taipei (Wanhua)	啥物
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	啥
	Kaohsiung	啥, 啥貨, 啥物
	Kaohsiung (Cijin)	啥物, 啥
	Kaohsiung (Hongmaogang, Siaogang)	啥物, 啥
	Kaohsiung (Dalinpu, Siaogang)	啥物, 啥
	Yilan	啥貨, 啥物貨
	Changhua (Lukang)	啥物, 啥貨
	Taichung	啥, 啥貨
	Taichung (Wuqi)	啥物
	Tainan	啥物, 啥貨
	Taitung	啥物
	Hsinchu	啥, 啥物
	Kinmen	啥貨, 啥物, 什物, 物代
	Penghu (Magong)	啥貨, 物代
	Penang (Hokkien)	何物
	Singapore (Hokkien)	什物
	Manila (Hokkien)	啥物
	Medan (Hokkien)	何物
	Longyan	什物
	Datian	啥貨, 什物
	Chaozhou	乜個, 乜
	Shantou	乜個, 乜
	Shantou (Chenghai)	乜個
	Shantou (Chaoyang)	乜個
	Jieyang	乜個, 乜, 是乜
	Haifeng	乜個, 乜
	Bangkok (Teochew)	乜個
	Phnom Penh (Teochew)	乜個
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	乜個
	Singapore (Teochew)	乜個, 什乜, 底個
	Batam (Teochew)	乜個, 什乜, 底個
	Pontianak (Teochew)	乜個
	Leizhou	乜
	Wenchang	乜
	Haikou	乜, 個乜
	Qionghai	乜
	Singapore (Hainanese)	乜
Min Zhong	Yong'an	啥貨
	Sanyuan	啥貨
	Shaxian	啥貨
Zhongshan Min	Sanxiang	乜儗
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	門, 哪門
Southern Pinghua	Binyang (Xinqiao)	哪門
Waxiang	Guzhang (Gaofeng)	什個
Waxiang	Luxi (Lijiatian)	什家
Wu	Shanghai	啥, 啥個, 啥物事
	Shanghai (Chongming)	何
	Suzhou	啥, 啥個, 啥物事
	Wuxi	啥, 啥個, 啥物事, 啥物
	Danyang	點高
	Hangzhou	啥
	Ningbo	啥, 啥西
	Wenzhou	何乜
	Jinhua	待, 淡
Xiang	Changsha	麼子
	Loudi	麼子
	Shuangfeng	麼子
	Quanzhou	什麼
	Guanyang (Wenshi)	啥

Derived termsEdit

什麼話／什么话
什麼鬼／什么鬼 (shénmeguǐ)
幹什麼／干什么 (gàn shénme)
憑什麼／凭什么 (píng shénme)
沒什麼／没什么 (méishénme)
為什麼／为什么 (wèishénme)
關……什麼事／关……什么事 (guān...shénme shì)

DescendantsEdit

⇒ Translingual: Yiminaspis shenme

JapaneseEdit

Etymology 1Edit

Kanji in this term
什	麼
いん Hyōgaiji	も Hyōgaiji
irregular

Alternative spelling
恁麼

From spoken Middle Chinese 恁麼／恁么 (nyim^X muɑ, “what?”, archaic, literally “think + something tiny and insignificant”).^[1] The spelling shifted to include the Chinese synonym 什麼／什么 (modern Mandarin reading of shénme), while keeping the inmo reading for 恁麼／恁么, instead of the expected shūma reading for 什麼.

Imported into Japanese by Zen monks who had studied in China.^[1] Generally restricted to use by Zen practitioners.^[2]

Glyph originEdit

Orthographic borrowing from Mandarin 什麼／什么 (“what”). See the above Etymology section.

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): [ĩmːo̞]

PronounEdit

什(いん)麼(も) • (inmo)

(rare) what
天(てん)地(ち)と我(われ)と什(いん)麼(も)の交(こう)渉(しょう)かある。
Tenchi to ware to inmo no kōshō ka aru.
What is the relation between the universe and me?

Usage notesEdit

Generally followed by the possessive particle の (no) and used as an adnominal, with a meaning of what kind of.

Etymology 2Edit

Kanji in this term
什	麼
どんな
Hyōgaiji	Hyōgaiji
jukujikun

Glyph originEdit

Orthographic borrowing from Mandarin 什麼／什么 (“what”).

DefinitionsEdit

For pronunciation and definitions of 什麼 – see the following entry.

【どんな】

[adjective] how?; like what?; what kind of...?

[adjective] which one?

Alternative spellings
何様な, 何様, 甚麼

(This term, 什麼, is an alternative spelling (literary, obsolete) of the above term.)

ReferencesEdit

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
^ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ-1] 1.0 ^1.1 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

[DJR-2] 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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