咩

咩 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 口廿手 (RTQ), four-corner 6805₁, composition ⿰口羊)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 186, character 13
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3540
• Dae Jaweon: page 405, character 34
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 622, character 5
• Unihan data for U+54A9

Onomatopoeic.

咩

1. baa! (the bleating of a sheep)

   可以給東東買個冰淇淋咩？ [MSC, trad.]
   可以给东东买个冰淇淋咩？ [MSC, simp.]

   From: 蛋仔派對

   Kěyǐ gěi Dōngdōng mǎi gè bīngqílìn miē?

   Could you buy Dong-dong an ice cream, mie?

Contraction of 乜嘢.

咩 (Cantonese)

1. what

   你叫咩名呀？ [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

   nei⁵ giu³ me¹ meng^4-2 aa³?

   What's your name?

   欸！喺度諗緊咩呀？ [Cantonese, trad.]
   欸！喺度谂紧咩呀？ [Cantonese, simp.]

   From: 陳慧嫻, 紅茶館

   e¹! hai² dou⁶ nam² gan² me¹ aa³?

   Hey, so what are you thinking about?

   咩呀？ [Cantonese]  ―  me¹ aa³?   ―  What do you want?/What is it?

   美國餐有咩好食啫。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   美国餐有咩好食啫。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   mei⁵ gwok³ caan¹ jau⁵ me¹ hou² sik⁶ ze¹.

   What's so good about American food anyway?

   冇咩好睇 [Cantonese]  ―  mou⁵ me¹ hou² tai²   ―  not worth seeing

   冇咩癮 [Cantonese, trad.]
   冇咩瘾 [Cantonese, simp.]

   mou⁵ me¹ jan⁵

   uninteresting

2. which
3. why; how come
4. Used as a dummy subject or object when it can be deduced from context.

There are at least two proposals:

• From 唔 (m4, “not”) + 呢 (ni1, “interrogative particle”) > mi1 > me1 (Yiu, 2021).
• From etymology 2 “what” (Chor and Lam, 2023).

咩

1. (Cantonese, obsolete) A sentence-final particle used to make unbiased yes/no questions.

   • 佢係即刻答你咩 [Cantonese, trad.]
     佢系即刻答你咩 [Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 1874, Nicholas B. Dennys, A Handbook of the Canton Vernacular of the Chinese Language, page 113

     keoi⁵ hai⁶ zik¹ hak¹ daap³ nei⁵ me¹

     Did he tell you immediately?

2. (Cantonese) A sentence-final particle used to make yes/no questions, often with a doubtful or surprising tone.

   你一陣出街咩？冇聽你講過嘅。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   你一阵出街咩？冇听你讲过嘅。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   nei⁵ jat¹ zan⁶ ceot¹ gaai¹ me¹? mou⁵ teng¹ nei⁵ gong² gwo³ ge².

   You're going out later? I didn't hear you mention that.

3. (Cantonese) A sentence-final particle used in yes/no rhetorical questions to express negation.

   咁多功課，咁快做得完咩？ [Cantonese, trad.]
   咁多功课，咁快做得完咩？ [Cantonese, simp.]

   gam³ do¹ gung¹ fo³, gam³ faai³ zou⁶ dak¹ jyun⁴ me¹?

   There's so much homework. Can it be done that quickly?

   • 若論死者復生、你未讀過摩西荆棘篇所載咩、卽係眞神對摩西話、我係亞伯拉罕嘅神、以撒嘅神、雅各嘅神。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     若论死者复生、你未读过摩西荆棘篇所载咩、即系真神对摩西话、我系亚伯拉罕嘅神、以撒嘅神、雅各嘅神。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 1872, 《馬可傳福音書（廣東土白）》 (The Gospel of Mark: Cantonese Vernacular) 12:26

     joek⁶ leon⁶ sei² ze² fuk⁶ sang¹, nei⁵ mei⁶ duk⁶ gwo³ mo¹ sai¹ ging¹ gik¹ pin¹ so² zoi³ me¹, zik¹ hai⁶ zan¹ san⁴ deoi³ mo¹ sai¹ waa⁶, ngo⁵ hai⁶ aa³ baak³ laai¹ hon² ge³ san⁴, ji⁵ saat³ ge³ san⁴, ngaa⁵ gok³ ge³ san⁴.

     And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?

• → English: meh

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

咩

1. A sentence-final particle used to make unbiased yes/no questions.

   • 此筆是爾箇麽 [Teochew, trad.]
     此笔是尔个么 [Teochew, simp.]

     From: 1841, William Dean, First Lessons in the Tie-chiw Dialect, “Words and Phrases”

     zi² big⁴ si⁶ le² gai⁵ mêh⁴ [Peng'im]

     Is this your pencil

   • 有在嗎？ [Teochew, trad.]
     有在吗？ [Teochew, simp.]

     From: 1883, Adele Marion Fielde, Dictionary of the Swatow dialect

     u⁶ do⁶ mê⁷? [Peng'im]

     Was it there?

   • 暝昏豈會得到，咩？ [Teochew, trad.]
     暝昏岂会得到，咩？ [Teochew, simp.]

     From: 1884, William Ashmore, Primary Lessons in Swatow Grammar

     mê⁵ heng¹ ka² oi⁶ dig⁴ gao³, mê⁷? [Peng'im]

     Can I get there by evening?

   • 伊敢去否？ [Teochew, trad. and simp.]

     From: 1886, Lim Hiong Seng, Handbook of the Swatow Vernacular

     i¹ gan² khe³ mê⁷? [Peng'im]

     Does he dare to go?

   • 爾聽我會見否？ [Teochew, trad.]
     尔听我会见否？ [Teochew, simp.]

     From: 1886, Lim Hiong Seng, Handbook of the Swatow Vernacular

     le² tian¹ ua² oi⁵ gin³ mê⁷? [Peng'im]

     Can you hear me?

   • 你知𱑿？ [Teochew, trad. and simp.]

     From: 1959, 李永明, 潮州方言, Beijing: 中華書局, page 259

     le² zai¹ mê⁷? [Peng'im]

     Do you know?

• 張靜芬 (2020) “《汕頭話讀本》中的兩類中性問句的句末標記”, in 清華學報, →DOI

(Hyōgai kanji)

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• On (unclassified): び (bi)、み (mi)

咩 • (mi) (hangeul 미, revised mi, McCune–Reischauer mi)

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

咩: Hán Nôm readings: mã, me

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

• Nom Foundation