冇

Translingual

Han character

冇 (Kangxi radical 13, 冂+2, 4 strokes, cangjie input 大月 (KB) or 難大月 (XKB), four-corner 4022₇, composition ⿸𠂇冂)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 128, character 35
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 96, character 17
• Unihan data for U+5187

Chinese

Wikipedia has an article on:

• 冇 (Cantonese)

Glyph origin

From the removal of the two inner strokes from 有 (“to have”).

Attested at least since 1672, in 《星餘筆記》 by 王鉞:

Etymology 1

From 無 (MC mju, “to not have”). In some varieties, such as Cantonese and Xiang, there seems to be fusion or analogy with 有 (MC hjuwX, “to have”) (Chan, 1998; Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation

Definitions

冇

1. (dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese, dialectal Gan, Hakka, dialectal Wu, Xiang) to not have; to not exist

   • 你冇女朋友？梗係唔信啦！……或者有。你唔知啫。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     你冇女朋友？梗系唔信啦！……或者有。你唔知啫。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 陳慧嫻, 紅茶館

     nei⁵ mou⁵ neoi⁵ pang⁴ jau⁵? gang² hai⁶ m⁴ seon³ laa¹!...... waak⁶ ze² jau⁵. nei⁵ m⁴ zi¹ ze¹.

     You don't have a girlfriend? Of course I don't believe you! ... Maybe you do have one, but you just don't know it.

   冇理由㗎。 [Cantonese]  ―  mou⁵ lei⁵ jau⁴ gaa³.   ―  Impossible.

2. (dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese, Xiang) have not; did not (do something) (indicating non-completion of a verb)

   我冇同佢講。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   我冇同佢讲。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   ngo⁵ mou⁵ tung⁴ keoi⁵ gong².

   I did not tell him.

   佢幾個月都冇嚟。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   佢几个月都冇嚟。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   keoi⁵ gei² go³ jyut⁶ dou¹ mou⁵ lai⁴.

   He hasn't come for a few months.

3. (dialectal Cantonese, Nanning Pinghua) not (negator)

Usage notes

• Originally from Cantonese, many Mandarin speakers now understand the meaning of this character.

Synonyms

Compounds

Etymology 2

Compare Saek (phoong^C2, “hollow; hole (in a tree, bamboo)”), Proto-Bahnaric *pɔːŋ (“hollow; flattened”) (Schuessler, 2007).

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

Definitions

冇

1. (Min, Hakka) empty; hollow; spongy; not sturdy

   冇柴 [Hokkien]  ―  phàⁿ-chhâ [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  porous wood

2. (Min, Hakka) unreliable; undependable; casual
3. (Southern Min) extravagant; generous

   冇手 [Hokkien]  ―  phàⁿ-chhiú [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  generous

4. (Hakka) insufficient; lacking

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Definitions

冇

1. (Cantonese) Contraction of 唔好 (m⁴ hou², “don't”).

   冇煩我！／冇烦我！ [Cantonese]  ―  mou² faan⁴ ngo⁵!   ―  Don't annoy me!

Synonyms

See also

• 好冇

Etymology 4

From etymology 1, with rising intonation.

Pronunciation

Definitions

冇

1. (Cantonese, uncommon or dated) Used at the end of questions to ask if one has done something yet.

   Synonym: 未 (mei⁶)

   食咗飯冇？／食咗饭冇？ [Cantonese]  ―  sik⁶ zo² faan⁶ mou²?   ―  Have you eaten?

   • (Can we date this quote?), 郊遊前　準備好　聯繫方法要知道, 通訊事務管理局 [Communications Authority]:

     我哋收到喇，你又收到冇？ [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

     ngo⁵ dei⁶ sau¹ dou^3-2 laa³, nei⁵ jau⁶ sau¹ dou^3-2 mou²?

     We've received it. What about you?

References

• “冇”, 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–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), B00004
• zi.tools

Vietnamese

Han character

冇: Hán Nôm readings: mậu

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