唔

Translingual

Han character

唔 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+7, 10 strokes, cangjie input 口一一口 (RMMR) or 難口一一口 (XRMMR), four-corner 6106₁, composition ⿰口吾)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 193, character 5
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3741
• Dae Jaweon: page 413, character 11
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 627, character 2
• Unihan data for U+5514

Chinese

Etymology 1

Belongs to the *m- series of negatives; see 無 (OC *ma, “no”) for more. Cognate with the syllabic negative 毋 (m̄, m̀) in Hokkien and Hakka.

Pronunciation

Definitions

唔

1. (Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka) not (negator)

   唔好意思，我唔記得。 [Guangzhou Cantonese, trad.]
   唔好意思，我唔记得。 [Guangzhou Cantonese, simp.]

   m⁴ hou² ji³ si¹, ngo⁵ m⁴ gei³ dak¹.

   Sorry, I don't remember.

   你知唔知道游水池喺邊度呀？ [Guangzhou Cantonese, trad.]
   你知唔知道游水池喺边度呀？ [Guangzhou Cantonese, simp.]

   nei⁵ zi¹ m⁴ zi¹ dou³ jau⁴ seoi² ci⁴ hai² bin¹ dou⁶ aa³?

   Do you know where the swimming pool is?

Synonyms

Usage notes

• Cantonese 唔 is the direct equivalent of Standard Chinese 不 (bù), but there are fixed phrases where 不 cannot be substituted with 唔. For example, 不可以 (bùkěyǐ) is equivalent to 唔可以 (m4 ho2 ji5) but 不如 (bùrú) cannot become *唔如.
• See also 不#Usage notes.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Definitions

唔

1. Used to express agreement or permission: mhm; uh-huh

   「噉樣得唔得呀？」「唔。」 [Cantonese, trad.]
   「噉样得唔得呀？」「唔。」 [Cantonese, simp.]

   “gam² joeng^6-2 dak¹ m⁴ dak¹ aa³?” “m⁴.”

   "Is this OK?" "Uh-huh."

2. Used to express surprise.
3. Alternative form of 嗯: Used to express doubt.
4. (Cantonese) Used to express hesitation or thinking: hmm

   唔……不如去嗰間餐廳吖！ [Cantonese, trad.]
   唔……不如去嗰间餐厅吖！ [Cantonese, simp.]

   m⁴...... bat¹ jyu⁴ heoi³ go² gaan¹ caan¹ teng¹ aa¹!

   Hmm... let's go to that restaurant!

Etymology 3

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

Definitions

唔

1. Only used in 咿唔 (yīwú, “sound of recitation”).

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

Definitions

唔

1. (obsolete) Alternative form of 寤 (wù, “to wake”)

References

• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A00591
• “唔”, 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–

Japanese

Kanji

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

1. reading voice

Readings

• Go-on: ぐ (gu)
• Kan-on: ご (go)

Compounds

• 咿唔(いご) (igo)

Korean

Hanja

唔 • (o) (hangeul 오)

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Vietnamese

Han character

唔: Hán Nôm readings: ngô

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