乜

Translingual edit

Han character edit

乜 (Kangxi radical 5, 乙+1, 2 strokes, cangjie input 心弓 (PN) or 心尸 (PS) or 難心弓 (XPN), four-corner 4771₂, composition ⿻乛乚 or ⿻𠃌乚)

Derived characters edit

𦘮, 𤘗, 𠬫, 𭑫, 𭴂, 𮓲

References edit

Kangxi Dictionary: page 83, character 18
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 166
Dae Jaweon: page 168, character 1
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 49, character 9
Unihan data for U+4E5C

Chinese edit

Etymology 1 edit

trad.		乜
simp. ^#		乜

From 物 (MC mjut) (Lien, 2013; Chor and Lam, 2023).

Also compare Zhuang maz (“what”).

Pronunciation edit

Mandarin
(Pinyin): miē (mie¹)
(Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄝ
Cantonese
(Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): mat¹
(Taishan, Dictionary): mot²
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): mih
(Teochew, Peng'im): mih⁴ / mêh⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: miē
  - Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄝ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: mie
  - Wade–Giles: mieh¹
  - Yale: myē
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mhie
  - Palladius: ме (me)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi̯ɛ⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: mat¹
  - Yale: māt
  - Cantonese Pinyin: mat⁷
  - Guangdong Romanization: med¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɐt̚⁵/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Dictionary: mot²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ᵐbᵘɔt̚⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: mih
  - Tâi-lô: mih
  - Phofsit Daibuun: miq
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /mĩʔ⁵/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /mĩʔ³²/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: mih⁴ / mêh⁴
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: mih / meh
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /miʔ²/, /meʔ²/

Note: mêh4 - Jieyang.

Definitions edit

乜

(Cantonese, Southern Min) what
要啲乜？ [Cantonese] ― jiu³ di¹ mat¹? [Jyutping] ― What do you want?
愛乜個？／爱乜个？ [Teochew] ― ain³ mih⁴ gai⁵? [Peng'im] ― What do you want?
(Cantonese) anything; everything
乜都得 [Cantonese] ― mat¹ dou¹ dak¹ [Jyutping] ― anything goes
(Cantonese) why; how come
乜你咁傻㗎？ [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]
mat¹ nei⁵ gam³ so⁴ gaa³? [Jyutping]
How come you're so stupid?
(Cantonese) Used at the beginning of a question to give a rhetorical effect.
乜你未食飯㗎？ [Cantonese, trad.]
乜你未食饭㗎？ [Cantonese, simp.]
mat¹ nei⁵ mei⁶ sik⁶ faan⁶ gaa⁴? [Jyutping]
So you haven't eaten yet?
乜仲未有佢嘅消息咩？ [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]
mat¹ zung⁶ mei⁶ jau⁵ keoi⁵ ge³ siu¹ sik¹ me¹? [Jyutping]
So we still don't have any news about him?

Usage notes edit

In Teochew, when used to mean "what", this word should always be immediately followed by a noun. Otherwise, use 乜個／乜个.

Synonyms edit

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
Northern Min	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
Eastern Min	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
Southern Min	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, 啥物仔, 啥貨仔
	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
	Ho Chi Minh City (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
Central Min	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

Dialectal synonyms of 為什麼 (“why”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		何為, 何以, 何, 何故, 緣何, 胡, 奚, 曷, 胡為
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		為什麼, 為何, 因何, 何以
Mandarin	Beijing	為什麼, 幹嗎, 幹什麼
	Taiwan	為什麼
	Tianjin	為嘛
	Harbin	為啥
	Yantai (Muping)	為麼, 為麼個
	Jinan	為麼兒, 為麼, 幹麼兒, 為什麼
	Xi'an	為啥, 因啥
	Yinchuan	為啥
	Lanzhou	為啥
	Xining	為啥
	Ürümqi	為啥
	Wuhan	做麼事, 為麼事
	Chengdu	為啥子, 做啥子
	Guiyang	為哪樣, 為些哪樣
	Guilin	為什麼
	Liuzhou	為什麼
	Xiangtan (Jiangnan Industries Group koine)	為什麼
	Xuzhou	為啥, 擁啥, 擁什麼
	Yangzhou	甚們事, 做事, 做啥, 為甚們 formal
	Nanjing	為什麼
	Hefei	怎搞, 怎搞的
	Malaysia	為什麼, 做什麼, 做麼
	Singapore	為什麼, 做什麼, 做麼
Cantonese	Guangzhou	點解, 做乜, 做乜嘢, 為乜, 為乜為物, 做乜事幹, 因乜事幹, 因乜解究, 因乜緣故, 何解, 乜, 咩
	Hong Kong	點解, 做乜, 做乜嘢, 做咩, 為乜, 為咩, 做乜事幹, 因乜事幹, 因乜解究, 因咩解究, 因乜緣故, 何解, 乜, 咩
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin Weitou)	做乜嘢
	Macau	為乜嘢
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	點解
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	整乜嘢
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	做乜嘢
	Foshan	點解
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	點解
	Foshan (Shunde)	為乜嘢
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	因乜嘢, 點解
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	為乜嘢
	Zhuhai (Qianshan)	為乜嘢
	Zhuhai (Doumen, Shangheng Tanka)	點解
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	點解
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	點解
	Taishan	幾何, 幾解, 做乜, 為乜, 乜頭路
	Kaiping (Chikan)	幾解
	Enping (Niujiang)	做乜
	Dongguan	點解, 做乜嘢, 做乜, 為乜嘢
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	點解
	Shenzhen (Dapeng)	點解
	Yangjiang	為乜, 為乜事, 做乜, 做乜事, 做乜嘢
	Hepu (Lianzhou)	為物底
	Qinzhou	為乜嘢, 為乜
	Qinzhou (Xiniujiao)	為乜底
	Beihai	為乜嘢
	Beihai (Nankang)	做乜嘢
	Beihai (Yingpan)	為乜底
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cô Tô)	做乜嘢, 為乜
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cát Bà)	做乜嘢
	Fangchenggang (Fangcheng)	做乜嘢, 為乜
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	點解
	Singapore (Guangfu)	點解
	Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu)	做乜嘢
	Móng Cái	點解, 為乜
	Yangon (Taishan)	幾解
Gan	Nanchang	為什哩
Gan	Pingxiang	為咋個, 為咋哩, 做咋個, 做咋哩, 何解
Hakka	Meixian	做麼個
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	做乜嘢, 做嘢
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	做麼個
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	做麼個
	Zhongshan (Wuguishan)	仰解, 做乜嘢
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	為乜嘢
	Conghua (Lütian)	為麼個
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	做麼個
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	做麼個
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	做麼個
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	做麼個
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	做麼個
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	做麼個
	Hong Kong	做麼個
Jin	Taiyuan	為甚, 因為甚, 幹什
Jin	Xinzhou	𠰻們
Northern Min	Jian'ou	為孰事, 做孰事
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	蔣其, 蔣講, 做什乇, 做什名, 幹乜勢, 傒勢
	Changle	傒勢
	Fuqing	介計
	Yongtai	蔣其
	Gutian	做什乇
	Fu'an	做乜乇
	Ningde	做乇
	Shouning	做呢乇
	Zhouning	做乜乇
	Fuding	做哪乇
	Matsu	為什乇, 蔣其, 蔣講, 做什乇, 傒勢
Southern Min	Xiamen	為什物, 按怎, 物代, 敢咧, 創什物
	Quanzhou	按怎, 物代
	Jinjiang	為啥物
	Zhangzhou	按怎
	Zhao'an	為甚物
	Dongshan	為甚物
	Taipei	為啥物, 是按怎
	Penang (Hokkien)	何物事, 做物事, 做物
	Singapore (Hokkien)	按怎
	Manila (Hokkien)	敢哪, 敢哪誌
	Chaozhou	做呢
	Shantou	做呢
	Shantou (Chaoyang)	做呢
	Singapore (Teochew)	做呢
	Leizhou	作乜, 因乜
	Wenchang	作乜, 因乜, 怎作
	Haikou	作乜, 作個乜, 作乜物, 因乜, 因個乜
	Singapore (Hainanese)	作乜
Zhongshan Min	Shaxi (Longdu)	為乜嘢
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	做門, 做哪門, 為哪門
Waxiang	Guzhang (Gaofeng)	為什個
Wu	Shanghai	啥體, 為啥, 啥講究, 為啥體, 啥個講究, 啥道理, 為啥道理, 啥個路道, 啥個緣故
	Shanghai (Chongming)	為何, 做何
	Suzhou	為啥, 為點啥, 做啥, 啥體, 為啥體
	Danyang	為點高, 做點高
	Hangzhou	為啥
	Wenzhou	妝乜, 為何呢, 為乜事幹
	Jinhua	為淡事幹, 為待西
Xiang	Changsha	為麼子, 何解
	Xiangtan	奚解
	Loudi	嗎介
	Shuangfeng	為麼子, 做麼子

Compounds edit