Glyph originEdit
Phono-semantic compound (形聲): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 左
Etymology 1Edit
First attested in 《散語四十章》 (1877) as 唨. This word replaces earlier 嘵／哓 (hiu1) in standard Cantonese.
Probably from 著／着 (Cheung, 1997; Chan, 1998; Fan and Chan, 2022); the pronunciation may be due to influence from Mandarin zhuó (Chan, 1998) or colloquial tonal modification to a high-rising tone (Cheung, 1997).
Chan (1995) proposes that the original character is 𧇣 (MC d͡zuoH, “to go”); others (including Jimmy Pang and Chapman Chan) have similarly proposed 徂 (MC d͡zuo, “to go”) to be the original character. These derivations are phonologically and semantically problematic.
PronunciationEdit
DefinitionsEdit
咗
- (Cantonese) Used to emphasise an action which has been completed and whose result still applies to the present situation. It roughly translates to the past tense in English. [from 19th c.]
佢哋啱啱走咗。 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]- keoi5 dei6 ngaam1 ngaam1 zau2 zo2. [Jyutping]
- They left just now.
阿媽尋日煲咗湯。佢而家去咗超級市場買餸。 [Cantonese, trad.]
阿妈寻日煲咗汤。佢而家去咗超级市场买𩠌。 [Cantonese, simp.]- aa3 maa1 cam4 jat6 bou1 zo2 tong1. keoi5 ji4 gaa1 heoi3 zo2 ciu1 kap1 si5 coeng4 maai5 sung3. [Jyutping]
- My mum made soup yesterday. Now, she has gone grocery shopping in the supermarket.
- 食咗就冇 [Cantonese] ― sik6 zo2 zau6 mou5 [Jyutping] ― if you eat it there will not be any more
Dialectal synonyms of
了 (“(perfective particle)”)
[map]
| Variety
|
Location
|
Words
|
|---|
| Classical Chinese
|
矣1
|
|---|
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese)
|
了
|
|---|
| Mandarin
|
Beijing
|
了
|
|---|
| Taiwan
|
了
|
| Harbin
|
了
|
| Yantai (Muping)
|
了
|
| Jinan
|
了
|
| Luoyang
|
了
|
| Wanrong
|
嘮
|
| Xi'an
|
咧
|
| Yinchuan
|
了
|
| Ürümqi
|
咧
|
| Wuhan
|
了
|
| Chengdu
|
了
|
| Guiyang
|
了
|
| Guilin
|
了
|
| Liuzhou
|
了
|
| Xuzhou
|
了
|
| Yangzhou
|
了
|
| Nanjing
|
了
|
| Malaysia
|
了
|
| Singapore
|
了
|
| Cantonese
|
Guangzhou
|
咗, 嘵 obsolete
|
|---|
| Hong Kong
|
咗
|
| Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou)
|
咗
|
| Hong Kong (Kam Tin Weitou)
|
咗
|
| Hong Kong (Ting Kok)
|
耗
|
| Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)
|
好
|
| Macau
|
咗, 敲
|
| Guangzhou (Panyu)
|
咗
|
| Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)
|
咗
|
| Guangzhou (Conghua)
|
咗
|
| Foshan
|
咗
|
| Foshan (Sanshui)
|
咗
|
| Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)
|
咗
|
| Zhongshan (Shiqi)
|
哺
|
| Zhuhai (Qianshan)
|
咗
|
| Jiangmen (Xinhui)
|
誒, 咗
|
| Taishan
|
誒
|
| Kaiping (Chikan)
|
誒
|
| Enping (Niujiang)
|
誒
|
| Dongguan
|
敲
|
| Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)
|
好
|
| Shenzhen (Dapeng)
|
後, 咗
|
| Qingyuan
|
咗
|
| Fogang
|
咗
|
| Yingde (Hanguang)
|
咗
|
| Shaoguan
|
咗
|
| Shaoguan (Qujiang)
|
咗
|
| Renhua
|
咗
|
| Lechang
|
咗
|
| Zhaoqing (Gaoyao)
|
咗
|
| Xinxing
|
標
|
| Luoding
|
咗
|
| Yangjiang
|
都
|
| Nanning
|
嗮
|
| Nanning (Tanka)
|
嗮
|
| Wuzhou
|
啊
|
| Hepu (Lianzhou)
|
了
|
| Guiping
|
畢
|
| Guiping (Mule)
|
開, 了
|
| Pingnan
|
開
|
| Guigang (Gangcheng)
|
開
|
| Guigang (Pingdong)
|
開, 了
|
| Beihai
|
了
|
| Beihai (Nankang)
|
了
|
| Beihai (Yingpan)
|
了
|
| Beihai (Qiaogang - Cô Tô)
|
了, 咗
|
| Beihai (Qiaogang - Cát Bà)
|
咗
|
| Fangchenggang (Fangcheng)
|
了, 咗
|
| Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)
|
咗
|
| Singapore (Guangfu)
|
咗
|
| Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu)
|
咗
|
| Móng Cái
|
了, 咗
|
| Gan
|
Nanchang
|
了
|
|---|
| Lichuan
|
了
|
| Hakka
|
Meixian
|
了
|
|---|
| Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)
|
拋, 阿
|
| Dongguan (Qingxi)
|
開
|
| Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)
|
開
|
| Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)
|
開
|
| Wuhua (Shuizhai)
|
哩
|
| Wuhua (Huacheng)
|
哩
|
| Wuhua (Changbu)
|
哩
|
| Wuhua (Mianyang)
|
哩
|
| Yudu
|
了
|
| Hong Kong
|
開
|
| Senai (Huiyang)
|
開
|
| Kuching (Hepo)
|
了
|
| Huizhou
|
Jixi
|
了
|
|---|
| Jin
|
Taiyuan
|
咾
|
|---|
| Xinzhou
|
咾
|
| Jiuxing Yumin
|
Lanxi
|
了
|
|---|
| Min Bei
|
Jian'ou
|
了
|
|---|
| Min Dong
|
Fuzhou
|
了, 𡅏
|
|---|
| Min Nan
|
Penang (Hokkien)
|
了
|
|---|
| Singapore (Hokkien)
|
了
|
| Manila (Hokkien)
|
了, 咯
|
| Chaozhou
|
了
|
| Shantou
|
了
|
| Johor Bahru (Teochew)
|
了
|
| Southern Pinghua
|
Nanning (Tingzi)
|
了
|
|---|
| Wu
|
Shanghai
|
仔, 了
|
|---|
| Shanghai (Chongming)
|
仔
|
| Suzhou
|
仔
|
| Hangzhou
|
得, 了
|
| Ningbo
|
仔
|
| Wenzhou
|
爻
|
| Jinhua
|
了
|
Etymology 2Edit
PronunciationEdit
DefinitionsEdit
咗
- A chant sound made while working.
CompoundsEdit
