From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.
U+4F6C, 佬
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4F6C

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

Translingual

Han character

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

References

  • 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

trad.
simp. #

Glyph origin

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

Etymology 1

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


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

Definitions

  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
  • 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

Compounds

Etymology 2

Pronunciation


Definitions

  1. Only used in 侾佬 (“large”).

Etymology 3

Pronunciation


Definitions

  1. (Southern Min) to cheat; to swindle

Compounds

References

Japanese

Kanji

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

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

Readings

Vietnamese

Han character

: 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