嚟

Translingual

Han character

嚟 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+15, 18 strokes, cangjie input 口竹竹水 (RHHE), composition ⿰口黎)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 213, character 11
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 4533
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 700, character 5
• Unihan data for U+569F

Chinese

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声) : semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 黎 (lai4)

Etymology

Vernacular reading of 來／来.

Pronunciation

Definitions

嚟 (Cantonese)

1. to come; to arrive

   我想嚟探你。 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

   ngo⁵ soeng² lai⁴ taam³ nei⁵.

   I'd like to come and visit you.

2. to bring

   嚟多一碗叉燒飯。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   嚟多一碗叉烧饭。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   lai⁴ do¹ jat¹ wun² caa¹ siu¹ faan⁶.

   Bring me another bowl of rice with barbecue pork.

3. to; for (expresses purpose)

   我買咗啲雞蛋嚟整蛋撻。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   我买咗啲鸡蛋嚟整蛋挞。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   ngo⁵ maai⁵ zo² di¹ gai¹ daan^6-2 lai⁴ zing² daan⁶ taat¹.

   I bought some eggs to make egg tarts.

4. Used to indicate that an event has just occurred

   你睇完戲嚟呀？ [Cantonese, trad.]
   你睇完戏嚟呀？ [Cantonese, simp.]

   nei⁵ tai² jyun⁴ hei³ lai⁴ aa⁴?

   Did you just watch a movie?

   • 你去邊處黎 [Cantonese, trad.]
     你去边处黎 [Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 1828, Robert Morrison, Vocabulary of the Canton Dialect, part III, section I

     nei⁵ heoi³ bin¹ cyu³ lai⁴

     Where have you been?

5. Used to emphasize that the identity of the subject is the object

   邊個嚟㗎？／边个嚟㗎？ [Cantonese]  ―  bin¹ go³ lai⁴ gaa³?   ―  Who is this?

   咩嚟？ [Cantonese]  ―  me¹ lai⁴?   ―  (highly informal) What's that?

   呢隻係狗嚟嘅。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   呢只系狗嚟嘅。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   ne¹ zek³ hai⁶ gau² lai⁴ ge³.

   This is a dog.

   貓嚟㗎。／猫嚟㗎。 [Cantonese]  ―  maau¹ lai⁴ gaa³.   ―  It's a cat.

   佢工程師嚟㗎。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   佢工程师嚟㗎。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   keoi⁵ gung¹ cing⁴ si¹ lai⁴ gaa³.

   They are an engineer.

   • 如果問我社工係咩嚟，我會覺得好似一個「補給站」。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     如果问我社工系咩嚟，我会觉得好似一个「补给站」。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 2017, 小婉婉, 《P牌社工蝦碌碌：社福界小薯仔嘅讀書＋實習手記》, page 43

     jyu⁴ gwo² man⁶ ngo⁵ se⁵ gung¹ hai⁶ me¹ lai⁴, ngo⁵ wui⁵ gok³ dak¹ hou² ci⁵ jat¹ go³ “bou² kap¹ zaam⁶”.

     If you ask me what a social worker is, I would think it is like a depot.

6. Used before a verb to express volition.

   等我嚟做啦。 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

   dang² ngo⁵ lai⁴ zou⁶ laa¹.

   Wait for me to do it.

7. (of events) to occur

Usage notes

• Cantonese 嚟 is the direct equivalent of Modern Standard Chinese's 來／来 (lái), but there are some fixed phrases where 來 cannot be substituted with 嚟. For example, 出來／出来 (chūlái) is equivalent to 出嚟 but 原來如此／原来如此 (yuánláirúcǐ) cannot become *原嚟如此.

Synonyms

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

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Readings

• On (unclassified): り (ri)