IlocanoEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Proto-Philippine *sahuq (words, speech).

PronunciationEdit

  • Hyphenation: sa‧o

NounEdit

sao

  1. speech
  2. (linguistics) language
    Iniiloko a sao
    Ilocano language
  3. word

Derived termsEdit

JapaneseEdit

RomanizationEdit

sao

  1. Rōmaji transcription of さお

MandarinEdit

RomanizationEdit

sao

  1. Nonstandard spelling of sāo.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of sǎo.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of sào.

Usage notesEdit

  • English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

TagalogEdit

PronunciationEdit

  • Hyphenation: sa‧o
  • IPA(key): /saˈʔo/, [sɐˈʔo]}

NounEdit

saó

  1. (nautical) mooring cable or chains; cable for mooring ships to the pier when at anchor

VietnameseEdit

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle Vietnamese ſao.

Attested in Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經) as (MC lɑu) (modern SV: lao), so the older form of the word was likely *C-raːw (where *C is nonspecific consonant).

AdverbEdit

sao (, , 𡫡)

  1. why
    Synonyms: răng, tại sao, vì sao
    Sao nó bảo không đến?
    Why did he say he wouldn’t come?
  2. how
    Synonyms: răng, làm sao
    Sao tao biết được?
    How should I know?
    Sao làm được hay vậy?
    How did you do that?
  3. what; what is it; what now
    Synonyms: làm sao, , cái gì
    Sao?
    Sao trăng gì !?
    Wut?
    The hell you mean, "wut"?
  4. whatever
    Sao cũng được.
    Whatever / Anything will do.
See alsoEdit
Vietnamese demonstratives
Laurence Thompson (1965), Vietnamese Grammar
Unspecified Close to the
speaker or
newly introduced
Remote,
already identified
PLACE
đ- (first register)
đâu
‘wherever’
đây
‘here’
đấy
‘there’
REFERENCE
n- (second register)
nào
‘whichever’
này
‘this’
nọ
‘that’
PROPORTION
b- (first register)
bao
‘to whatever extent’
bây
‘to this extent’
bấy
‘to that extent’
MANNER
s- (first register)
v- (second register)
sao
‘however’
vầy
‘this way’
vậy
‘that way’
Nguyễn Phú Phong (1992), “Vietnamese Demonstratives Revisited”
D
(Indefinite)
D1
(Proximal)
D2
(Medial)
D3
(Distal)
+NOM(inal) đâu
place-what
đây
place-this
đấy
place-that1
±NOM(inal) đó
(place-)that1
kia
(place-)that2
–NOM(inal) nào
what
nầy
this
nấy/ấy
that1
nọ
that2

AdjectiveEdit

sao

  1. problematic, bad
    sao lắm không?
    Is it very bad?
    Không sao đâu.
    No problem.
Derived termsEdit
Derived terms

Etymology 2Edit

From Middle Vietnamese ſao, from Proto-Vietic *k-raːw. Cognate with Muong khao. Might represent a Kra-Dai or Austronesian substratum, compare Proto-Tai *t.naːwᴬ (star), Proto-Hlai *ɾaːw (star) and Proto-Austronesian *qajaw (day).

It is a semantic loan from English star, in the senses of “celebrity; actor”.

Alternative formsEdit

  • (Northeastern Vietnam) thao

NounEdit

(classifier , ngôi) sao (𬁖 - ⿰日牢, 𣋀, 𣇟, 𤚧)

  1. star (luminous celestial body)
  2. asterisk
    toán saoan "asterisked" math problem (marked with an asterisk); a difficult math problem

NounEdit

(classifier ngôi) sao (𬁖 - ⿰日牢, 𣋀, 𣇟, 𤚧)

  1. star (celebrity)
  2. star (actor)
See alsoEdit

West MakianEdit

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

sao

  1. (transitive) to burn
  2. (transitive) to roast (over fire)

ConjugationEdit

Conjugation of sao (action verb)
singular plural
inclusive exclusive
1st person tasao masao asao
2nd person nasao fasao
3rd person inanimate isao dasao
animate
imperative nasao, sao fasao, sao

ReferencesEdit

  • James Collins (1982) Further Notes Towards a West Makian Vocabulary[1], Pacific linguistics
  • Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours[2], Pacific linguistics (as sao and saw)