偶爾

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Chinese

accidental; image; pair
accidental; image; pair; mate
 
thus; so; like that
thus; so; like that; you; thou
 
trad. (偶爾) 偶 爾
simp. (偶尔) 偶 尔

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 偶 爾
Reading # 2/2 1/1
Initial (聲) 疑 (31) 日 (38)
Final (韻) 侯 (137) 支 (11)
Tone (調) Departing (H) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division (等) I III
Fanqie 五遘切 兒氏切
Baxter nguwH nyeX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/ŋəuH/ /ȵiᴇX/
Pan
Wuyun 		/ŋəuH/ /ȵiɛX/
Shao
Rongfen 		/ŋəuH/ /ȵʑjɛX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/ŋəwH/ /ȵiə̆X/
Li
Rong 		/ŋuH/ /ȵieX/
Wang
Li 		/ŋəuH/ /ȵʑǐeX/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/ŋə̯uH/ /ȵʑie̯X/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		òu ěr
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		ngau6 ji5

Adverb

偶爾

  1. now and then; from time to time; sometimes
    我偶爾去健身房。 [MSC, trad.]
    我偶尔去健身房。 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ ǒu'ěr qù jiànshēnfáng.
    I go to the gym every now and then.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 有時 (“sometimes; at times; now and then”)
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 有時, 有時候, 偶爾, 間或
Northeastern Mandarin Beijing 晃晃兒
Taiwan 有時候
Singapore 有時候
Jilu Mandarin Jinan 有時候
Central Plains Mandarin Xi'an 有時候兒
Xuzhou 時早晚兒, 時不早晚兒, 時不時
Southwestern Mandarin Chengdu 久不久, 時不時
Cantonese Guangzhou 有陣時, 間中, 間或, 耐不耐, 耐唔耐, 耐耐, 耐時, 耐中, 耐唔中, 久時久, 久唔久, 久不久
Hong Kong 有時, 有陣時, 有時候, 間中, 間唔中, 間唔時, 耐唔耐, 耐耐, 耐不耐, 耐唔時, 久唔久, 久不久, 一時時, 時不時
Dongguan 耐不耐, 久久
Gan Nanchang 有時間
Pingxiang 有時會
Hakka Meixian 間中, 下把仔, 成下仔
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 有成時, 成時, 成擺, 一半下
Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 有成時, 下把仔, 有時節, 成時, 成下仔, 成擺
Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) 有成時, 成時, 下把, 成下, 成擺, 一半下
Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) 有成時, 成半下, 成時, 下把, 下把下, 成下, 成擺, 一半下
Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) 有成時, 成時, 下把, 成下, 成擺, 一半下
Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) 有時務, 一半下, 一半時務, 一半擺
Southern Min Xiamen 有時陣, 有當時, 拄陣, 拄時陣
Quanzhou 有時陣, 拄陣, 拄時陣
Shishi 有陣
Zhangzhou 有時陣, 有時仔, 有當時
Tainan 有當時仔, 有時陣, 拄時陣, 拄著仔, 有時仔 GT, 有時 GT, 罕罕仔 GT
Singapore (Hokkien) 有當時, 有時陣
Manila (Hokkien) 有時陣, 有陣仔, 有陣時, 有陣
Southern Pinghua Nanning (Tingzi) 耐耐
Wu Shanghai 有常時, 有辰光, 常時, 難板, 有常
Shanghai (Chongming) 有常時, 有辰光
Hangzhou 有時光
Note GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

Antonyms

Adjective

偶爾

  1. occasional; infrequent; intermittent; irregular

Japanese

Kanji in this term
偶 爾
ぐう
Grade: S 		じ
Jinmeiyō
on'yomi

Etymology

From 偶(ぐう) (gū, “by chance”) + 爾(じ) (ji, “situation”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

偶(ぐう)爾(じ) • (gūji) †-nari

  1. by accident; by chance
    • 1911, Inazō Nitobe, 修(しゅう)養(よう) (Shūyō) [Cultivation of the mind]:
      これは自(じ)分(ぶん)の専(せん)門(もん)学(がく)の余(よ)暇(か)に、ただ偶(ぐう)爾(じ)の随(ずい)感(かん)随(ずい)想(そう)を述(の)べたるに過(す)ぎざれば、
      Kore wa jibun no senmongaku no yoka ni, tada gūji no zuikan-zuisō o nobetaru ni sugizareba,
      (please add an English translation of this example)

Inflection

Classical conjugation of "偶爾なり" (ナリ活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形) 偶爾なら ぐうじなら guuzinara
Continuative (連用形) 偶爾に
偶爾なり		 ぐうじに
ぐうじなり		 guuzini
guuzinari
Terminal (終止形) 偶爾なり ぐうじなり guuzinari
Attributive (連体形) 偶爾なる ぐうじなる guuzinaru
Realis (已然形) 偶爾なれ ぐうじなれ guuzinare
Imperative (命令形) 偶爾なれ ぐうじなれ guuzinare
Key constructions
Negative 偶爾ならず ぐうじならず guuzinarazu
Contrasting conjunction 偶爾なれど ぐうじなれど guuzinaredo
Causal conjunction 偶爾なれば ぐうじなれば guuzinareba
Conditional conjunction 偶爾ならば ぐうじならば guuzinaraba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge) 偶爾なりき ぐうじなりき guuzinariki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge) 偶爾なりけり ぐうじなりけり guuzinarikeri
Adverbial 偶爾に ぐうじに guuzini
Without auxiliary verb.
With auxiliary verb.

Adjective

偶(ぐう)爾(じ) • (gūji) †-tari (adnominal 偶(ぐう)爾(じ)とした (gūji to shita) or 偶(ぐう)爾(じ)たる (gūji taru), adverbial 偶(ぐう)爾(じ)と (gūji to) or 偶(ぐう)爾(じ)として (gūji to shite))

  1. by accident; by chance

Inflection

Classical conjugation of "偶爾たり" (タリ活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形) 偶爾たら ぐうじたら guuzitara
Continuative (連用形) 偶爾と
偶爾たり		 ぐうじと
ぐうじたり		 guuzito
guuzitari
Terminal (終止形) 偶爾たり ぐうじたり guuzitari
Attributive (連体形) 偶爾たる ぐうじたる guuzitaru
Realis (已然形) 偶爾たれ ぐうじたれ guuzitare
Imperative (命令形) 偶爾たれ ぐうじたれ guuzitare
Key constructions
Negative 偶爾たらず ぐうじたらず guuzitarazu
Contrasting conjunction 偶爾たれど ぐうじたれど guuzitaredo
Causal conjunction 偶爾たれば ぐうじたれば guuzitareba
Conditional conjunction 偶爾たらば ぐうじたらば guuzitaraba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge) 偶爾たりき ぐうじたりき guuzitariki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge) 偶爾たりけり ぐうじたりけり guuzitarikeri
Adverbial 偶爾と ぐうじと guuzito
Without auxiliary verb.
With auxiliary verb.

References

  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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