sao

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word sao. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word sao, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say sao in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word sao you have here. The definition of the word sao will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofsao, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: Appendix:Variations of "sao"

Ilocano

Etymology

From Proto-Philippine *sahuq (“words, speech”).

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: sa‧o

Noun

sao

  1. speech
  2. (linguistics) language
    Iniiloko a sao
    Ilocano language
  3. word

Derived terms

Derived terms
  • agsao (“to speak; to talk”)
  • isao (“to say; to express”)
  • kasao (“speaker”)
  • makisao (“to speak; to talk; to converse”)
  • saoen (“to speak; to utter”)
  • sao-sao (“rumor; hearsay; idle talk”)

Japanese

Romanization

sao

  1. Rōmaji transcription of さお

Mandarin

Romanization

sao

  1. Nonstandard spelling of sāo.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of sǎo.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of sào.

Usage notes

  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Tagalog

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sauq. Compare Kapampangan sau, Tausug sāw, and Malay sauh. Doublet of sawo.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /saˈʔo/,
  • Hyphenation: sa‧o

Noun

saó (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜂ) (nautical)

  1. mooring cable or chains; cable for mooring ships to the pier when at anchor

Further reading

  • “sao”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle Vietnamese ſao.

Attested in Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經) as 牢 (MC law) (modern SV: lao), so the older form of the word was *C-raːw (where *C is nonspecific consonant). Even after the sound change *C-r- > /ʂ/ had taken place sometime before 17th century, the use of the phonogram 牢 (MC law) continued, so this morpheme was still commonly spelled such in Nôm texts in the 19th-early 20th century.

Most likely a part of the r-series of demonstratives alongside rày, ri, rứa and ru.

Adverb

sao • (牢, 哰, 𣋀, 𫳵)

  1. why
    Synonyms: răng, tại sao, vì sao
    Sao nó bảo không đến?
    Why did he say he wouldn’t come?
    • 19th century, Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Tale of Lục Vân Tiên
      公浪昆篤𠖈詩
      牢空結伴麻𠫾𠓨塲
      Công rằng: "Con dốc xuống thi,
      Sao không kết bạn mà đi vào trường?"
      Công said: "You are here to take the examination,
      So why don't you find some companion to go along with?"
  2. how
    Synonyms: răng, làm sao
    Sao tao biết được?
    How should I know?
    Sao làm được hay vậy?
    How did you do that?
    • 14th century, Mạc Đĩnh Chi, Giáo tử phú 敎子賦:
      姉㛪庄𧡊
      𡥵丐能𣋀
      Chị em chẳng thấy,
      Con cái hay sao.
      Not caring about one's siblings,
      Nor knowing how one's children are.
    • 15th century, Nguyễn Trãi, “述興 Thuật hứng 2”, in Quốc âm thi tập (國音詩集):
      固身𪰛谷可𬈋牢
      Có thân thì cóc khá làm sao.
      How could I manage when I'm on my own?
  3. what; what is it; what now
    Synonyms: làm sao, gì, cái gì
    Sao?
    Sao trăng gì !?
    Wut?
    The hell you mean, "wut"?
  4. whatever
    Sao cũng được.
    Whatever / Anything will do.
See also
Vietnamese demonstratives
Laurence Thompson (1965), Vietnamese Grammar
Unspecified Close to the
speaker or
newly introduced		 Remote,
already identified
PLACE
đ- (first register) 		đâu
‘wherever’ 		đây
‘here’ 		đấy
‘there’
REFERENCE
n- (second register) 		nào
‘whichever’ 		này
‘this’ 		nọ
‘that’
PROPORTION
b- (first register) 		bao
‘to whatever extent’ 		bây
‘to this extent’ 		bấy
‘to that extent’
MANNER
s- (first register)
v- (second register) 		sao
‘however’ 		vầy
‘this way’ 		vậy
‘that way’
Nguyễn Phú Phong (1992), “Vietnamese Demonstratives Revisited”
D•
(Indefinite)		 D1
(Proximal)		 D2
(Medial)		 D3
(Distal)
+NOM(inal) đâu
place-what 		đây
place-this 		đấy
place-that1
±NOM(inal) đó
(place-)that1 		kia
(place-)that2
–NOM(inal) nào
what 		nầy
this 		nấy/ấy
that1 		nọ
that2
Vietnamese demonstratives (alternative version)
Proximal
(*-iː) 		Distal 1
(*-iːʔ) 		Distal 2
(*-əːʔ) 		Distal 3/
Remote
(*-ɔːʔ) 		Interrogative
(rime was a rounded
back vowel)
Place, attributive1
n- 		ni
nì
này 		nấy nớ nọ nào
Place, nominal2
đ- 		đây đí
đấy 		— đó đâu
Manner
r- 		ri
rày 		— rứa — ru
sao3
Extent 14
b- 		bây bấy — — bao
Extent 25
v- 		vầy vậy — — —
1 Originally can only follow a nominal (being used attributively), hence nơi này (“this place; here”), nơi nào (“where”) (no longer completely true in the modern language).
2 Can be used on its own/is itself nominal, hence đây (“here”), đâu (“where”).
3 From earlier *C-raːw (where *C is nonspecific consonant).
4 Placed before the head: bây nhiêu (“this much”), bấy nhiêu (“that much”), bao nhiêu (“how much”).
5 Placed after the head: nhanh vầy (“this fast”), nhanh vậy (“that fast/so fast”).


Adjective

sao • (牢, 哰, 𣋀, 𫳵)

  1. problematic, bad
    Có sao lắm không?
    Is it very bad?
    Không sao đâu.
    No problem.
Derived terms
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Middle Vietnamese ſao, from Proto-Vietic *k-raːw. Cognate with Muong khao. Might represent a Kra-Dai or Austronesian substratum, compare Proto-Tai *t.naːwᴬ (“star”), Proto-Hlai *ɾaːw (“star”) and Proto-Austronesian *qajaw (“day”).

It is a semantic loan from English star, in the senses of “celebrity; actor”.

Alternative forms

  • (Northeastern Vietnam) thao

Noun

(classifier vì, ngôi) sao • (𣇟, 牢, 𣋀, 𬁖)

  1. star (luminous celestial body)
  2. asterisk
    toán sao ― an "asterisked" math problem (marked with an asterisk); a difficult math problem

Noun

(classifier ngôi) sao • (𣇟, 牢, 𣋀, 𬁖)

  1. star (celebrity)
  2. star (actor)
See also
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Sino-Vietnamese word from 抄.

Verb

sao

  1. (rarely used in isolation) to duplicate; to copy
See also
Derived terms

Etymology 4

Sino-Vietnamese word from 炒.

Verb

sao

  1. (chiefly of medical ingredients) to dry with heat in a pan

West Makian

Pronunciation

Verb

sao

  1. (transitive) to burn
  2. (transitive) to roast (over fire)

Conjugation

Conjugation of sao (action verb)
singular plural
inclusive exclusive
1st person tasao masao asao
2nd person nasao fasao
3rd person inanimate isao dasao
animate
imperative nasao, sao fasao, sao

References

  • James Collins (1982) Further Notes Towards a West Makian Vocabulary‎, Pacific linguistics
  • Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎, Pacific linguistics (as sao and saw)
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia