冇

Character	冇 U+5187, 冇
Name	CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5187
Block	CJK Unified Ideographs
← 円 [U+5186] [U+5188] 冈 →

Translingual

Etymology

From the removal of the two inner strokes from 有 ‎(“to have”).

Han character

冇 (radical 13 冂+2, 4 strokes, cangjie input 大月 (KB) or X大月 (XKB), four-corner 4022₇, composition ⿱𠂇冂)

References

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 128, character 35
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 96, character 17
• Unihan data for U+5187

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Chinese

Etymology 1

simp. and trad.		冇
alt. forms		無／无

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): mǎo, mǒu (mao³, mou³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄠˇ, ㄇㄡˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mou⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: mǎo
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄠˇ
    • Wade-Giles: mao³
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mao
    • IPA ^(key): /mɑʊ̯²¹⁴/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: mǒu
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄡˇ
    • Wade-Giles: mou³
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: moou
    • IPA ^(key): /moʊ̯²¹⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: mou⁵
    • Yale: móuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mou⁵
    • IPA ^(key): /mou̯¹³/

Verb

冇 (dialectal, chiefly Cantonese)

1. to not have

   你冇女朋友？梗係唔信啦！……或者有。你唔知啫。 [Cantonese, trad.]

   你冇女朋友？梗系唔信啦！……或者有。你唔知啫。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   From: 陳慧嫻, 紅茶館

   Nei⁵ mou⁵ neoi⁵ pang⁴ jau⁵? Gang² hai⁶ m⁴ seon³ laa¹!...... Waak⁶ ze² jau⁵. Nei⁵ m⁴ zi¹ ze¹. [Jyutping]

   You don't have a girlfriend? Of course I don't believe you! ... Maybe you do have one, but you just don't know it.

2. to not exist

   冇理由㗎。 [Cantonese]  ―  Mou⁵ lei⁵ jau⁴ gaa³. [Jyutping]  ―  Impossible.

Usage notes

• Originally from Cantonese, the meaning of this character is now passively understood by many Mandarin speakers.

Synonyms

• (chiefly Mandarin) 沒／没 (méi), 沒有／没有 (méiyǒu)

Etymology 2

simp. and trad.		冇

Pronunciation

• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): phang

  (Meixian, Guangdong): pang⁴

• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): phàⁿ

  (Teochew, Peng'im): pan³

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• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: phang
    • Hakka Romanization System: pang
    • Hagfa Pinyim: pang⁴
    • IPA: /pʰaŋ⁵⁵/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: pang⁴
    • IPA: /pʰaŋ⁵³/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: phàⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: phànn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: phvax
    • IPA (Taipei): /pʰã¹¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /pʰã²¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: pan³
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: phàⁿ
    • IPA ^(key): /pʰã²¹³/

Adjective

冇

1. (Min Nan, Hakka) empty, hollow, spongy, not sturdy

   冇柴 [Min Nan]  ―  phàⁿ-chhâ [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  porous wood

2. (Min Nan, Hakka) unreliable, undependable, casual
3. (Min Nan) extravagant, generous

   冇手 [Min Nan]  ―  phàⁿ-chhiú [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  generous

4. (Hakka) insufficient, lacking

References

• Hanyu Da Cidian 3.0 (in Mandarin), Hong Kong: Commercial Press, 2007, ISBN 9789620702778

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Vietnamese

Han character

冇 (mậu)

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