Japanese

Romanization

sao

1. rōmaji reading of さお

Mandarin

Romanization

sao

1. Nonstandard spelling of sāo.
2. Nonstandard spelling of sǎo.
3. Nonstandard spelling of sào.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Tagalog

Noun

saó

1. (nautical) mooring cable or chains

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [s̪aːw˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂaːw˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʂaːw˧˥]

Etymology 1

From Middle Vietnamese ſao

Adverb

sao ‎(吵, 牢, 𡫡)

1. why

Derived terms

• không sao
• làm sao
• tại sao
• vì sao

Etymology 2

From Middle Vietnamese ſao, from Proto-Vietic *k-raːw

Noun

(classifier vì, ngôi) sao ‎(𣋀, 𣇟, 𤚧)

1. star

Derived terms

• dấu sao ‎(“asterisk”)
• sao mới ‎(“nova”)
• sao siêu mới ‎(“supernova”)

See also

• tinh