爾爾

Chinese

		thus; so; like that thus; so; like that; you; thou	thus; so; like that thus; so; like that; you; thou
trad. (爾爾)		爾	爾
simp. (尔尔)		尔	尔

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): ěr'ěr

  (Zhuyin): ㄦˇ ㄦˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ji⁵ ji⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: ěr'ěr [Phonetic: érěr]
    • Zhuyin: ㄦˇ ㄦˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ěr-ěr
    • Wade–Giles: êrh³-êrh³
    • Yale: ěr-ěr
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: eeleel
    • Palladius: эрэр (erɛr)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀɤɻ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ˀɤɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ji⁵ ji⁵
    • Yale: yíh yíh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ji⁵ ji⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: yi⁵ yi⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiː¹³ jiː¹³/

Adjective

爾爾

1. (literary) so-so (clarification of this definition is needed)

Derived terms

• 不過爾爾／不过尔尔 (bùguò'ěr'ěr)
• 聊復爾爾／聊复尔尔

 

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): niā-niā / nā-niā / nǐ-liǎ

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• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese, Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: niā-niā
    • Tâi-lô: niā-niā
    • Phofsit Daibuun: niaxnia
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /niã²²⁻²¹ niã²²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /niã³³⁻¹¹ niã³³/
    • IPA (Singapore): /nia²²⁻²¹ nia²²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /niã³³⁻²¹ niã³³/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: nā-niā
    • Tâi-lô: nā-niā
    • Phofsit Daibuun: naxnia
    • IPA (Xiamen): /nã²²⁻²¹ niã²²/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: nǐ-liǎ
    • Tâi-lô: nǐ-liǎ
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /nĩ²² lia²²/

Adverb

爾爾

1. (Southern Min) Modal particle at the end of a phrase: just; simply; that's all; nothing more; is all

Synonyms

• 云爾 (yún'ěr) (literary)
• 但定 (nā-tiāⁿ) (Min Nan)
• 定定 (Hakka)
• 罷了／罢了
• 而已 (éryǐ)

 

Further reading

• “Entry #10687”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.