唉

See also: 誒

唉 U+5509, 唉 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5509 ← 唈 [U+5508] CJK Unified Ideographs 唊 → [U+550A]

Translingual

Han character

唉 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+7, 10 strokes, cangjie input 口戈人大 (RIOK), four-corner 6303₄, composition ⿰口矣)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 192, character 4
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3701
• Dae Jaweon: page 411, character 12
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 635, character 6
• Unihan data for U+5509

Chinese

trad.		唉
simp. #		唉

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (矣) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
唉	*qʰlɯː, *qɯː, *qrɯː, *qrɯːʔ
埃	*qlɯː
欸	*qɯː, *qʰrɯːs
娭	*qɯː, *qʰlɯ
挨	*qlɯːʔ, *qrɯː, *qrɯːʔ
騃	*ŋrɯːʔ, *sɢrɯʔ
俟	*sɢrɯʔ, *ɡlɯl
竢	*sɢrɯʔ
涘	*sɢrɯʔ
誒	*qʰlɯ
矣	*ɢlɯʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *qʰlɯː, *qɯː, *qrɯː, *qrɯːʔ): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 矣 (OC *ɢlɯʔ).

Pronunciation 1

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): āi (ai¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄞ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): aai¹ / oi¹
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): ái
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): ai / ài / haih

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: āi
    • Zhuyin: ㄞ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ai
    • Wade–Giles: ai¹
    • Yale: āi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ai
    • Palladius: ай (aj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀaɪ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)
    • Jyutping: aai¹ / oi¹
    • Yale: āai / ōi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: aai¹ / oi¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ai¹ / oi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /aːi̯⁵⁵/, /ɔːi̯⁵⁵/

Note: The zero initial /∅-/ is commonly pronounced with a ng-initial /ŋ-/ in some varieties of Cantonese, including Hong Kong Cantonese.

• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ái
    • Hakka Romanization System: ai^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ai³
    • Sinological IPA: /ai̯³¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ai
    • Tâi-lô: ai
    • Phofsit Daibuun: ay
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /ai⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ai³³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ài
    • Tâi-lô: ài
    • Phofsit Daibuun: aix
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /ai²¹/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ai⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: haih
    • Tâi-lô: haih
    • Phofsit Daibuun: haiq
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /haiʔ³²/

Definitions

唉

1. interjection or grunt of agreement; yes; right
2. sighing interjection; ah; alas

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): ài (ai⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄞˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): aai¹ / oi¹
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): ái
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): haih

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: ài
    • Zhuyin: ㄞˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ài
    • Wade–Giles: ai⁴
    • Yale: ài
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ay
    • Palladius: ай (aj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀaɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)
    • Jyutping: aai¹ / oi¹
    • Yale: āai / ōi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: aai¹ / oi¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ai¹ / oi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /aːi̯⁵⁵/, /ɔːi̯⁵⁵/

Note: The zero initial /∅-/ is commonly pronounced with a ng-initial /ŋ-/ in some varieties of Cantonese, including Hong Kong Cantonese.

• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ái
    • Hakka Romanization System: ai^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ai³
    • Sinological IPA: /ai̯³¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: haih
    • Tâi-lô: haih
    • Phofsit Daibuun: haiq
    • IPA (Xiamen): /haiʔ³²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /haiʔ⁵/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /haiʔ³²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /haiʔ³²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /haiʔ³²/

Definitions

唉

1. interjection or grunt of agreement; yes; right
2. sighing interjection; ah; alas
3. interjection expressing sadness, disappointment, regret, etc.; ah; alas

   • 亞父受玉斗，置之地，拔劍撞而破之，曰：“唉！豎子不足與謀。奪項王天下者，必沛公也，吾屬今為之虜矣。” [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     亚父受玉斗，置之地，拔剑撞而破之，曰：“唉！竖子不足与谋。夺项王天下者，必沛公也，吾属今为之虏矣。” [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

     Yàfù shòu yùdǒu, zhì zhī dì, bájiàn zhuàng ér pò zhī, yuē: “Ài! Shùzǐ bùzú yǔ móu. Duó Xiàngwáng tiānxià zhě, bì Pèigōng yě, wúshǔ jīn wéi zhī lǔ yǐ.” [Pinyin]

     Fan Zeng put the jade dippers on the ground, drew his sword and smashed them to pieces. “Alas!” he said, “Advice is wasted on a fool! It must be the governor of Pei who will snatch the empire out of our hands, and upon that very day all of us shall be enslaved by him.”

Compounds

• 唉吔
• 唉呀
• 唉唷 (āiyō)
• 唉聲嘆氣 / 唉声叹气 (āishēngtànqì)
• 唉聲歎氣 / 唉声叹气 (āishēngtànqì)

Japanese

Kanji

唉

(Hyōgai kanji)

1. alas

Readings

• Go-on: い (i)、き (ki)
• Kan-on: あい (ai)、かい (kai)
• Kun: ああ (ā)、あくび (akubi)、おくび (okubi)、ああおお (āō)、いやいやこたえる (iyaiyakotaeru)

Korean

Hanja

唉 • (ae) (hangeul 애, revised ae, McCune–Reischauer ae, Yale ay)

1. ask
2. answer

Tày

Verb

唉 (transliteration needed)

1. Nôm form of hảy (“to cry”).
2. Nôm form of háy (“to work, to toil”).

References

• Dương Nhật Thanh; Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003), Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày [A Dictionary of (chữ) Nôm Tày]‎ (in Tày and Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học xã hội [Social Sciences Publishing House]

Vietnamese

Han character

唉: Hán Nôm readings: ai, hãy, hởi, hỡi, hễ, hĩ, hơi

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