sao
Mandarin
Romanization
sao
Usage notes
- Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
Tagalog
Etymology
From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sauq. Compare Kapampangan sau, Tausug sāw, and Malay sauh. Doublet of sawo.
Pronunciation
- (Standard Tagalog) IPA(key): /saˈʔo/ [sɐˈʔo]
- Rhymes: -o
- Syllabification: sa‧o
Noun
saó (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜂ) (nautical)
Further reading
- “sao”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
Vietnamese
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [saːw˧˧]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [ʂaːw˧˧] ~ [saːw˧˧]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [ʂaːw˧˧] ~ [saːw˧˧]
Audio (Hồ Chí Minh City) (file)
Etymology 1
From Middle Vietnamese ſao.
Attested in Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經) as 牢 (MC law) (modern SV: lao), so the older form of the word was *C-raːw (where *C is nonspecific consonant). Even after the sound change *C-r- > /ʂ/ had taken place sometime before 17th century, the use of the phonogram 牢 (MC law) continued, so this morpheme was still commonly spelled such in Nôm texts in the 19th-early 20th century.
Most likely a part of the r-series of demonstratives alongside rày, ri, rứa and ru.
Adverb
- why
- 19th century, Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Tale of Lục Vân Tiên
- 公浪昆篤𠖈詩
牢空結伴麻𠫾𠓨塲- Công rằng: "Con dốc xuống thi,
Sao không kết bạn mà đi vào trường?" - Công said: "You are here to take the examination,
So why don't you find some companion to go along with?"
- Công rằng: "Con dốc xuống thi,
- 19th century, Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Tale of Lục Vân Tiên
- how
- Synonyms: răng, làm sao
- Sao tao biết được?
- How should I know?
- Sao làm được hay vậy?
- How did you do that?
- 14th century, Mạc Đĩnh Chi, Giáo tử phú 敎子賦:
- 姉㛪庄𧡊
𡥵丐能𣋀- Chị em chẳng thấy,
Con cái hay sao. - Not caring about one's siblings,
Nor knowing how one's children are.
- Chị em chẳng thấy,
- 15th century, Nguyễn Trãi, “述興 Thuật hứng 2”, in Quốc âm thi tập (國音詩集):
- 固身𪰛谷可𬈋牢
- Có thân thì cóc khá làm sao.
- How could I manage when I'm on my own?
- what; what is it; what now
- whatever
- Sao cũng được.
- Whatever / Anything will do.
See also
Vietnamese demonstratives | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laurence Thompson (1965), Vietnamese Grammar | |||||||||||||||||||
Unspecified | Close to the speaker or newly introduced | Remote, already identified | |||||||||||||||||
PLACE đ- (first register) |
đâu ‘wherever’ |
đây ‘here’ |
đấy ‘there’ | ||||||||||||||||
REFERENCE n- (second register) |
nào ‘whichever’ |
này ‘this’ |
nọ ‘that’ | ||||||||||||||||
PROPORTION b- (first register) |
bao ‘to whatever extent’ |
bây ‘to this extent’ |
bấy ‘to that extent’ | ||||||||||||||||
MANNER s- (first register) v- (second register) |
sao ‘however’ |
vầy ‘this way’ |
vậy ‘that way’ | ||||||||||||||||
Nguyễn Phú Phong (1992), “Vietnamese Demonstratives Revisited” | |||||||||||||||||||
D• (Indefinite) | D1 (Proximal) | D2 (Medial) | D3 (Distal) | ||||||||||||||||
+NOM(inal) | đâu place-what |
đây place-this |
đấy place-that1 |
||||||||||||||||
±NOM(inal) | đó (place-)that1 |
kia (place-)that2 | |||||||||||||||||
–NOM(inal) | nào what |
nầy this |
nấy/ấy that1 |
nọ that2 |
Proximal (*-iː) |
Distal 1 (*-iːʔ) |
Distal 2 (*-əːʔ) |
Distal 3/ Remote (*-ɔːʔ) |
Interrogative (rime was a rounded back vowel) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Place, attributive1 n- |
ni nì này |
nấy | nớ | nọ | nào |
Place, nominal2 đ- |
đây | đí đấy |
— | đó | đâu |
Manner r- |
ri rày |
— | rứa | — | ru sao3 |
Extent 14 b- |
bây | bấy | — | — | bao |
Extent 25 v- |
vầy | vậy | — | — | — |
1 Originally can only follow a nominal (being used attributively), hence nơi này (“this place; here”), nơi nào (“where”) (no longer completely true in the modern language). 2 Can be used on its own/is itself nominal, hence đây (“here”), đâu (“where”). 3 From earlier *C-raːw (where *C is nonspecific consonant). 4 Placed before the head: bây nhiêu (“this much”), bấy nhiêu (“that much”), bao nhiêu (“how much”). 5 Placed after the head: nhanh vầy (“this fast”), nhanh vậy (“that fast/so fast”). |
Adjective
- problematic, bad
- Có sao lắm không?
- Is it very bad?
- Không sao đâu.
- No problem.
Etymology 2
From Middle Vietnamese ſao, from Proto-Vietic *k-raːw. Cognate with Muong khao. Might represent a Kra-Dai or Austronesian substratum, compare Proto-Tai *t.naːwᴬ (“star”), Proto-Hlai *ɾaːw (“star”) and Proto-Austronesian *qajaw (“day”).
It is a semantic loan from English star, in the senses of “celebrity; actor”.
Alternative forms
- (Northeastern Vietnam) thao
Noun
See also
- chòm sao
- dấu sao
- sao băng
- sao chổi
- sao Diêm Vương
- sao Hải Vương
- sao Hoả
- sao Hôm
- sao Kim
- sao Mai
- sao Mộc
- sao mới
- sao Rua
- sao siêu mới
- sao Thiên Vương
- sao Thổ
- sao Thuỷ
- sao Tua
- sao xẹt
- siêu sao
Etymology 3
Sino-Vietnamese word from 抄.
Etymology 4
Sino-Vietnamese word from 炒.
West Makian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈs̪a.o/