From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
U+4F6C, 佬
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4F6C

[U+4F6B]
CJK Unified Ideographs
[U+4F6D]

Translingual[edit]

Han character[edit]

(Kangxi radical 9, +6, 8 strokes, cangjie input 人十大心 (OJKP), four-corner 24211, composition )

References[edit]

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 100, character 9
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 548
  • Dae Jaweon: page 212, character 5
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 144, character 2
  • Unihan data for U+4F6C

Chinese[edit]

trad.
simp. #

Glyph origin[edit]

Phono-semantic compound (形聲形声) : semantic (man; person) + phonetic (OC *ruːʔ).

Etymology 1[edit]

Found in certain southern dialects (chiefly Cantonese) as the colloquial word for “man” (for example, in the term 肥佬). Probably related to Zhuang raeuz ~ laeuz (we; also a demonym: Rau peoples), a widespread Tai word meaning “we; people” (Proto-Tai *rawᴬ).

First attested in 1678 in the following passage from Guangdong Xinyu:

廣州平人賤稱 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
广州平人贱称 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
Guǎngzhōu wèi píngrén yuē lǎo, yì yuē liáo, jiànchēng yě. [Pinyin]
People in Guangzhou call “common people” lau or leu (derogatory).

Also compare Proto-Hmong *ʔljuwᴮ (male) (White Hmong lau (male)), Proto-Katuic *-law (man), as well as Lao ລາວ (lāo, Lao < people), Thai ลาว (laao).

Pronunciation[edit]


Note:
  • lou2 - usual pronunciation;
  • lou5, liu4 - only used in 仡佬.

Definitions[edit]

  1. (chiefly Cantonese, dialectal Wu, often slightly derogatory) (adult) man; guy; fellow; chap (Classifier: c)
    [Cantonese]  ―  caai1 lou2 [Jyutping]  ―  cop; policeman
    鄉巴乡巴  ―  xiāngbalǎo  ―  hick; villager
    天上九頭鳥地上湖北 [MSC, trad.]
    天上九头鸟地上湖北 [MSC, simp.]
    tiānshàng jiǔtóuniǎo, dìshàng Húběi lǎo [Pinyin]
    Heaven above [has] nine-headed birds, [but] Earth below [has] Hubei folk (meaning Hubei people are clever/crafty)
Usage notes[edit]
  • In Cantonese, when it is used as a standalone word, it usually refers to a middle-aged man.
  • Mainly used as a colloquial suffix to denote “-er”.
Synonyms[edit]

Compounds[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]


Definitions[edit]

  1. Only used in 侾佬 (“large”).

Etymology 3[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]


Definitions[edit]

  1. (Southern Min) to cheat; to swindle

Compounds[edit]

References[edit]

Japanese[edit]

Kanji[edit]

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

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

Readings[edit]

Vietnamese[edit]

Han character[edit]

: Hán Nôm readings: lão

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

References[edit]