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simplified

traditional

See also

Contents

[edit] Translingual

Stroke order
爱-bw.png

[edit] Han character

(radical 87 +6, 10 strokes, cangjie input 月月大水 (BBKE))

  1. love, be fond of, like

[edit] References


[edit] Cantonese

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɔːi˧/

[edit] Hanzi

(traditional , jyutping oi3, Yale ngoi3, oi3)

  1. love

[edit] Mandarin

simplified

traditional

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Hanzi

(traditional , pinyin ài (ai4), Wade-Giles ai4)

[edit] Noun

(simplified, Pinyin ài, traditional )

  1. (Beginning Mandarin) love

[edit] Verb

(simplified, Pinyin ài, traditional )

  1. (Beginning Mandarin) to love; to be fond of
    ni ai ta ma? "Do you love her/him?"
    ta ai shuohua. "He likes to talk."
    wo bu ai chi zhurou. "I don't like to eat pork."

[edit] Usage notes

When used for people, ài usually refers to romantic love. When used like this, older Mandarin speakers often describe the use of this term as overly 肉麻 (ròumá, adj. something that gives you the creeps, disgusting). For this reason, the word trad. 喜歡, simpl. 喜欢 (xǐhuān, to like) might be used instead. Using the word xǐhuān literally means like, but when used in a romantic context (especially boyfriend/girlfriend), it actually means love. However, younger Mandarin speakers seem to have been influenced somewhat by Western culture, and are now using the verb ài much more often than was socially acceptable in the past.

[edit] Compounds

[edit] References

  • Shao, Jingmin (ed.) (2000). HSK Dictionary (HSK汉语水平考试词典) (in Mandarin/English). Shanghai: Huadong Teachers College Publishers. ISBN 7561720785.

[edit] Min Nan

simplified

traditional

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: [ ai˨˩ ]

[edit] Noun

(simplified, POJ ài, traditional )

  1. love

[edit] Verb

(simplified, POJ ài, traditional )

  1. to love; to like; to be fond of
  2. want; must; need

[edit] See also

  • (Mandarin) (yào) want; must; need