Translingual

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

Chinese

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

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

   Nei⁵mou⁵ 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

Pronunciation

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

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}}.