佬

佬 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+6, 8 strokes, cangjie input 人十大心 (OJKP), four-corner 2421₁, composition ⿰亻老)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 100, character 9
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 548
• Dae Jaweon: page 212, character 5
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 144, character 2
• Unihan data for U+4F6C

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声): semantic 亻 (“man; person”) + phonetic 老 (OC *ruːʔ).

Found in certain southern dialects (chiefly Cantonese) as the colloquial word for “man” (for example, in the term 肥佬). Probably related to Zhuang raeuz ~ laeuz (“we; also a demonym: Rau peoples”), a widespread Tai word meaning “we; people” (Proto-Tai *rawᴬ).

First attested in 1678 in the following passage from Guangdong Xinyu:

Also compare Proto-Hmong *ʔljuwᴮ (“male”) (White Hmong lau (“male”)), Proto-Katuic *-law (“man”), as well as Lao ລາວ (lāo, “Lao < people”), Thai ลาว (laao).

佬

1. (chiefly Cantonese, dialectal Wu, often slightly derogatory) (adult) man; guy; fellow; chap (Classifier: 個／个 c)

   差佬 [Cantonese]  ―  caai¹ lou²   ―  cop; policeman

   鄉巴佬／乡巴佬  ―  xiāngbalǎo  ―  hick; villager

   天上九頭鳥，地上湖北佬 [MSC, trad.]
   天上九头鸟，地上湖北佬 [MSC, simp.]

   tiānshàng jiǔtóuniǎo, dìshàng Húběi lǎo

   Heaven above nine-headed birds, Earth below Hubei folk (meaning Hubei people are clever/crafty)

   • 從前有個王子佢懵懵下，有一日，佢變咗個佬。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     从前有个王子佢懵懵下，有一日，佢变咗个佬。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 2004, 《麥兜菠蘿油王子》 (McDull, Prince de la Bun)

     cung⁴ cin⁴ jau⁵ go³ wong⁴ zi² keoi⁵ mung² mung² haa⁵, jau⁵ jat¹ jat⁶, keoi⁵ bin³ zo² go³ lou².

     Once upon a time, there was a prince who was a fool. One day, he became a middle-aged guy.

   • 所以我一直覺得對這些封建佬只能重拳出擊。 [MSC, trad.]
     所以我一直觉得对这些封建佬只能重拳出击。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2020 December 1, 千叶真名 (username), answer to the question “如何看待山东一成年公民疑似被亲属雇佣「假警察」强制送到戒网瘾机构，进行非法拘禁和强制「医疗」？”, on Zhihu

     Suǒyǐ wǒ yīzhí juéde duì zhèxiē fēngjiànlǎo zhǐnéng zhòngquánchūjī.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. (Cantonese, in compounds) brother

   大佬、二佬 [Cantonese]  ―  daai⁶ lou², ji⁶ lou²   ―  most eldest brother, second eldest brother

   細佬／细佬 [Cantonese]  ―  sai³ lou²   ―  younger brother

• In Cantonese, when it is used as a standalone word, it usually refers to a middle-aged man.
• Mainly used as a colloquial suffix to denote “-er”.

佬

1. Only used in 侾佬 (“large”).

佬

1. (Southern Min) to cheat; to swindle

• “佬”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

(Hyōgai kanji)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

• Go-on: りょう (ryō)^{←れう (reu, historical)}
• Kan-on: りょう (ryō)^{←れう (reu, historical)}
• Kun: おおきい (ōkii)

佬: Hán Nôm readings: lão

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

• Nom Foundation