昨夜

Chinese

		yesterday	night
simp. and trad. (昨夜)		昨	夜

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zuóyè

  (Zhuyin): ㄗㄨㄛˊ ㄧㄝˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zok³ je⁶ / zok⁶ je⁶
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): cha-iā

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zuóyè
    • Zhuyin: ㄗㄨㄛˊ ㄧㄝˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: zuóyè
    • Wade–Giles: tso²-yeh⁴
    • Yale: dzwó-yè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzwoyeh
    • Palladius: цзое (czoje)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡su̯ɔ³⁵ jɛ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zok³ je⁶ / zok⁶ je⁶
    • Yale: jok yeh / johk yeh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzok⁸ je⁶ / dzok⁹ je⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: zog³ yé⁶ / zog⁶ yé⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɔːk̚³ jɛː²²/, /t͡sɔːk̚² jɛː²²/

Note: zok6 je6 - prescribed.

• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: cha-iā
    • Tâi-lô: tsa-iā
    • Phofsit Daibuun: za'ia
    • Sinological IPA (Xiamen): /t͡sa⁴⁴⁻²² ia²²/
    • Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sa³³ ia⁴¹/
    • Sinological IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡sa⁴⁴⁻²² ia²²/
    • Sinological IPA (Taipei): /t͡sa⁴⁴⁻³³ ia³³/
    • Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sa⁴⁴⁻³³ ia³³/

---

• Middle Chinese: dzak yaeH

Rime
Character	昨	夜
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	從 (15)	以 (36)
Final (韻)	鐸 (103)	麻 (100)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	III
Fanqie	在各切	羊謝切
Baxter	dzak	yaeH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/d͡zɑk̚/	/jiaH/
Pan Wuyun	/d͡zɑk̚/	/jiaH/
Shao Rongfen	/d͡zɑk̚/	/iaH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/d͡zak̚/	/jiaH/
Li Rong	/d͡zɑk̚/	/iaH/
Wang Li	/d͡zɑk̚/	/jĭaH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/d͡zʱɑk̚/	/i̯aH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	zuó	yè
Expected Cantonese Reflex	zok6	je6

Noun

昨夜

1. last night

   • 昨夜見軍帖，可汗大點兵，軍書十二卷，卷卷有爺名。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     昨夜见军帖，可汗大点兵，军书十二卷，卷卷有爷名。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 《木蘭詩》 (Ballad of Mulan); translation by Jack Yuan

     Zuóyè jiàn jūntiě, kèhán dà diǎnbīng, jūnshū shí'èr juǎn, juǎn juǎn yǒu yé míng. [Pinyin]

     Last night I saw the army notice, the Khan is calling a great draft – A dozen volumes of battle rolls, each one with my father's name.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 昨晚 (“last night”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		昔者, 昨夜
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		昨晚, 昨夜
Northeastern Mandarin	Harbin	夜下黑兒, 夜黑家
	Singapore	昨晚
Central Plains Mandarin	Wanrong	夜黑間
	Xi'an	夜黑, 夜黑咧
Lanyin Mandarin	Ürümqi	夜兒黑裡
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	昨晚些, 昨天晚些
	Guiyang	昨晚上
Cantonese	Guangzhou	琴晚, 尋晚, 琴晚黑, 尋晚黑
	Hong Kong	琴晚, 尋晚
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin; Weitou)	昨晚黑
	Macau	尋晚
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	琴晚
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	尋晚夜
	Guangzhou (Conghua)	昨晚
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	昨晚
	Foshan	琴晚
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	琴晚
	Foshan (Shunde)	琴晚
	Foshan (Sanshui)	琴晚
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	琴日夜晚
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	昨晚
	Zhuhai (Qianshan, Xiangzhou)	琴晚
	Zhuhai (Shangheng, Doumen; Tanka)	尋晚
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	昨晚
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	尋晚
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	昨晚
	Taishan	昨晚
	Kaiping (Chikan)	昨晚晚黑
	Enping (Niujiang)	住日晚
	Heshan (Yayao)	昨晚
	Dongguan	昨晚
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	昨晚
	Singapore (Guangfu)	琴晚, 尋晚
Hakka	Meixian	秋晡夜
	Huizhou (Huicheng; Bendihua)	昨晚黑
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	參晚夜
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	昨晚日晚夜
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	參日晚
	Guangzhou (Lütian, Conghua)	查晡夜
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	昨暗晡
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	昨暗晡
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	昨暗晡
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	昨暗晡
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	昨暗晡
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	昨暗夜
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	昨暝晡
Southern Min	Xiamen	昨暝
	Quanzhou	昨暝
	Hui'an	昨暝
	Zhangzhou	昨暝
	Zhao'an	昨昏
	Tainan	昨暝, 昨暗
	Penang (Hokkien)	昨暝
	Singapore (Hokkien)	昨暝
	Manila (Hokkien)	昨暗
	Chaozhou	昨暝, 昨眠囝
	Shantou	昨暝
	Shantou (Chaoyang)	昨暝
	Jieyang	昨暝, 昨暝暗
	Singapore (Teochew)	昨暝
	Leizhou	昨暝, 昨暝昏
	Haikou	昨暝, 昨晡暝昏
	Singapore (Hainanese)	昨暝
Puxian Min	Putian	夙暝
	Xianyou	夙暝
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	崇麻昏
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	昨夜
Wu	Jinhua	昨夜, 昨日兒夜頭
Xiang	Hengyang	昨夜巴

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (昨夜):

• → Japanese: 昨(さく)夜(や) (sakuya)
• → Korean: 작야(昨夜) (jagya)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
昨	夜
さく Grade: 4	や Grade: 2
kan'on

From Middle Chinese 昨夜 (MC dzak yaeH).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sa̠kɯ̟ja̠]
• (Tokyo) さくや [sàkúꜜyà] (Nakadaka – [2])

Noun

昨(さく)夜(や) • (sakuya) 

1. (formal) last night

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
昨	夜
ゆうべ
Grade: 4	Grade: 2
jukujikun

Shift from 夕べ (yūbe, “evening”), which has an additional 平板型 (heiban-gata) or [0] accent pitch.

The kanji spelling is from sakuya above.

Cognate with Northern Amami Ōshima ゆぶぃ (yubï, “last night”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [jɯ̟ːbe̞]
• (Tokyo) ゆうべ [yùúbéꜜ] (Odaka – [3])

Noun

昨夜(ゆうべ) • (yūbe) ^{←ゆふべ (yufube)?}

1. (colloquial) last night

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
昨	夜
ゆんべ
Grade: 4	Grade: 2
jukujikun

/juɸube/ → */juːbe/ → /junbe/ → /jumbe/

Shift from yūbe above.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [jɯ̟̃mbe̞]
• (Tokyo) ゆんべ [yùńbéꜜ] (Odaka – [3]) as a noun
• (Tokyo) ゆんべ [yùńbé] (Heiban – [0]) when used adverbially

Noun

昨夜(ゆんべ) • (yunbe) 

1. (archaic, colloquial) last night, yestereve, yesternight

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
昨	夜
よべ
Grade: 4	Grade: 2
jukujikun

The kanji spelling is from sakuya above.

Noun

昨夜(よべ) • (yobe) 

1. (archaic, obsolete) last night, yestereve, yesternight

Etymology 5

Kanji in this term
昨	夜
よんべ
Grade: 4	Grade: 2
jukujikun

/jobe/ → */joːbe/ → /jonbe/ → /jombe/

Shift from yobe above.

The kanji spelling is from sakuya above.

Noun

昨夜(よんべ) • (yonbe) 

1. (archaic, obsolete) last night, yestereve, yesternight

Etymology 6

Kanji in this term
昨	夜
きそ
Grade: 4	Grade: 2
jukujikun

For pronunciation and definitions of 昨夜 – see the following entry.

【昨日きそ】 [noun] last night [noun] yesterday

(This term, 昨夜, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

See also

Related terms

• 一(いっ)昨(さく)夜(や) (issakuya)
• 昨日(きのう)の夜(よ) (kinō no yo)
• 今宵(こよい) (koyoi)
• 前(ぜん)夜(や) (zen'ya)
• 夜(や)来(らい) (yarai)

Coordinate terms

Japanese temporal nouns: 時 (“time”)

		日 (“day”)	週 (“week”)	月 (“month”)	年 (“year”)	暁 (“morning”)	朝 (“morning”)	夕 (“evening”)	晩 (“evening”)	夜 (“night”)
Every		毎日, 日日	毎週	毎月, 月月	毎年, 年年		毎朝		毎晩	毎夜
Every other			隔週	隔月	隔年
Whole		日間, 日中, 終日	週間	月間	年間, 年中, 終年					夜間, 夜中, 終夜
Half		半日		半月	半年
Absolute	−3	一昨昨日, 一昨々日			一昨昨年, 再昨年
	−2	一昨日	先々週	先々月	一昨年		一昨朝		一昨晩	一昨夜
	−1	昨日	先週, 昨週	先月, 後月, 去月, 昨月	去年, 昨年, 旧年	昨暁	昨朝	昨夕	昨晩	昨夜
	0	今日, 本日	今週	今月, 本月	今年, 本年	今暁	今朝	今夕	今晩, 今宵	今夜
	+1	明日	来週, 次週	来月	来年, 明年		明朝		明晩	明夜
	+2	明後日	再来週	再来月	再来年, 明後年
	+3	明明後日, 弥の明後日
	+4	弥の明後日, 明明後日, 明明明後日
Relative	−2	前前日	前前週	前前月	前前年
	−1	前日	前週	前月	前年			前夕		前夜
	0	当日, 同日	当週	当月	当年, 同年					当夜
	+1	翌日	翌週	翌月	翌年		翌朝			翌晩
	+2	翌翌日	翌翌週	翌翌月	翌翌年

Usage note: 前 and 翌 may be repeated further or instead use the 々 iteration mark

References

• “〈昨夜〉”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026