了

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See also: 瞭

Template:character info/new Template:character info/new

Translingual

Stroke order
2 strokes
Stroke order

Han character

了 (Kangxi radical 6, 亅+1, 2 strokes, cangjie input 弓弓 (NN), four-corner 17207, composition ⿱乛亅)

Derived characters

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 85, character 11
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 226
  • Dae Jaweon: page 173, character 20
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 48, character 6
  • Unihan data for U+4E86

Chinese

trad. 了/瞭*
simp. 了
瞭 – sense “clear”

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 了
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script
s10990
Transcribed ancient scripts
L16444
L16445
L16446
L16447
L16448
L16449
L16450
References:

Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including:

  • Shuowen Jiezi (small seal),
  • Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions),
  • Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and
  • Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).
Characters in the same phonetic series (了) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
釕 *teːwʔ
了 *reːwʔ

Pictogram (象形) – a baby wrapped in a blanket, with only the head visible. Compare with 子, where the arms are visible.

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Etymology 1

Verb “to finish; to be completed” > perfective aspect particle (了₁, weakened form) > change-of-state modal particle (了₂).

Two kinds of particle uses of 了 can be distinguished: the perfective aspect particle after verbs (conventionally written as 了₁) and the sentence-final modal particle (了₂). It is generally accepted (Wu, 1998) that these two uses of 了 are derived from the concrete verb “to finish”. The grammaticalisation of this verb had become common in the Tang Dynasty, initially in the form of ‹verb + (object) + perfective 了› to indicate the completion of an action.

The perfective particle subsequently underwent further grammaticalisation to become the sentence-final change-of-state modal particle; Liu (1985) has demonstrated that this last step may have involved the coalescence of sentence-final 了 with 也 in certain Mandarin dialects, as the pronunciations of 了₁ and 了₂ are distinct in these lects, with 了₂ rhyming with 也.

This word is cognate with Thai แล้ว (lɛ́ɛo, “to be finished; already; then, afterwards”), Lao ແລ້ວ (lǣu, “to finish; to be completed; perfective particle”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Pronunciation 1

Note: liǎo - in poetry, songs.
Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 了

  1. Used after a verb to indicate perfective aspect (action completion).
    我吃了一個蘋果。 [MSC, trad.]
    我吃了一个苹果。 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ chī le yī ge píngguǒ. [Pinyin]
    I ate an apple. / I have eaten an apple.
  2. Used at the end of a sentence to indicate a change of state.
    他是大學生了。／他是大学生了。  ―  Tā shì dàxuéshēng le.  ―  He has become a student / He is a student now.
  3. Used at the end of a sentence to inform the beginning of an action.
    我走了。  ―  Wǒ zǒu le.  ―  I'm leaving now.
Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 了 (“(perfective particle)”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese 矣1
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 了
Northeastern Mandarin Beijing 了
Taiwan 了
Harbin 了
Malaysia 了
Singapore 了
Jilu Mandarin Jinan 了
Jiaoliao Mandarin Yantai (Muping) 了
Central Plains Mandarin Luoyang 了
Wanrong 嘮
Xi'an 咧
Xuzhou 了
Lanyin Mandarin Yinchuan 了
Ürümqi 咧
Southwestern Mandarin Chengdu 了
Wuhan 了
Guiyang 了
Guilin 了
Liuzhou 了
Jianghuai Mandarin Nanjing 了
Yangzhou 了
Cantonese Guangzhou 咗, 嘵 obsolete
Hong Kong 咗
Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou) 咗
Hong Kong (Kam Tin Weitou) 咗
Hong Kong (Ting Kok) 耗
Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau) 好
Macau 咗, 敲
Guangzhou (Panyu) 咗
Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu) 咗
Guangzhou (Conghua) 咗
Foshan 咗
Foshan (Sanshui) 咗
Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming) 咗
Zhongshan (Shiqi) 哺
Zhuhai (Qianshan, Xiangzhou) 咗
Jiangmen (Xinhui) 誒, 咗
Taishan 誒
Kaiping (Chikan) 誒
Enping (Niujiang) 誒
Dongguan 敲
Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an) 好
Shenzhen (Dapeng) 後, 咗
Qingyuan 咗
Fogang 咗
Yingde (Hanguang) 咗
Shaoguan 咗
Shaoguan (Qujiang) 咗
Renhua 咗
Lechang 咗
Zhaoqing (Gaoyao) 咗
Xinxing 標
Luoding 咗
Yangjiang 都
Nanning 嗮
Nanning (Tanka) 嗮
Wuzhou 啊
Hepu (Lianzhou) 了
Guiping 畢
Guiping (Mule) 開, 了
Pingnan 開
Guigang (Gangcheng) 開
Guigang (Pingdong) 開, 了
Beihai 了
Beihai (Nankang) 了
Beihai (Yingpan) 了
Beihai (Qiaogang - Cô Tô) 了, 咗
Beihai (Qiaogang - Cát Bà) 咗
Fangchenggang (Fangcheng) 了, 咗
Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu) 咗
Singapore (Guangfu) 咗
Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu) 咗
Móng Cái 了, 咗
Gan Nanchang 了
Lichuan 了
Hakka Meixian 了
Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua) 拋, 阿
Dongguan (Qingxi) 開
Shenzhen (Shatoujiao) 開
Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui) 開
Wuhua (Shuizhai) 哩
Wuhua (Huacheng) 哩
Wuhua (Changbu) 哩
Wuhua (Mianyang) 哩
Yudu 了
Hong Kong 開
Senai (Huiyang) 開
Kuching (Hepo) 了
Huizhou Jixi 了
Jin Taiyuan 咾
Xinzhou 咾
Jiuxing Yumin Lanxi 了
Northern Min Jian'ou 了
Eastern Min Fuzhou 了, 𡅏
Southern Min Penang (Hokkien) 了
Singapore (Hokkien) 了
Manila (Hokkien) 了, 囉
Chaozhou 了
Shantou 了
Johor Bahru (Teochew) 了
Southern Pinghua Nanning (Tingzi) 了
Wu Shanghai 仔, 了
Shanghai (Chongming) 仔
Suzhou 仔
Hangzhou 得, 了
Hangzhou (Yuhang) 得, 了
Ningbo 仔
Wenzhou 爻
Jinhua 了
Usage notes
  • (perfective aspect particle): Most of the time, 了 is translated by a past tense. But it can also indicate that one action is completed before another.
    你吃了以後叫我。 [MSC, trad.]
    你吃了以后叫我。 [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ chī le yǐhòu jiào wǒ. [Pinyin]
    Call me when you are done eating.
  • (change of state particle): When used as the change of state particle, 了 can be translated by “now”, “already” or “not anymore”.
    我會說中文了。／我会说中文了。  ―  Wǒ huì shuō zhōngwén le.  ―  I can speak Chinese now. (I couldn't before.)
    我喝醉了。  ―  Wǒ hēzuì le.  ―  I'm drunk.
    沒有紙了。／没有纸了。  ―  Méiyǒu zhǐ le.  ―  There's no paper anymore.
  • In a question, 了 is put before the particle 嗎／吗 (ma).
Compounds

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Pronunciation 2

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Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 了

  1. to be finished; to be completed
  2. to end; to finish
  3. to understand; to comprehend
    了解  ―  liǎojiě  ―  to understand; to realize
  4. clear; plain; understandable
  5. bright; intelligent; smart
  6. (in negative sentences) completely; utterly; entirely
  7. Used with 不 (bù) or 得 (de) after verbs to express possibility.
Compounds

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Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 了 – see 潦.
(This character is the second-round simplified form of 潦).
Notes:

(deprecated template usage)

Japanese

Kanji

了

(Jōyō kanji)

Readings

Compounds

Noun

了(りょう) • (ryō) 

  1. end
  2. (art works): concluded

Proper noun

了(さとる) • (Satoru) 

  1. a male given name

Korean

Hanja

了 • (ryo>yo) (hangeul 료>요)

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Vietnamese

Han character

了: Hán Việt readings: liễu (盧(lô)鳥(điểu)切(thiết))[1][2][3], kiết[3]
了: Nôm readings: lểu[1][2][4][5], lẽo[1][2][3], liễu[1][2][5], lẻo[1][2], léo[1][4], líu[1][4], lếu[3][4], sáu[1], lèo[1], tréo[2]

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Nguyễn (2014).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Nguyễn et al. (2009).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Trần (2004).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Hồ (1976).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Taberd & Pigneau de Béhaine (1838).
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