之乎者也
Chinese
| possessive particle: 's | interrogative particle: ? | ‑ist, ‑er (person); person (who does something) | affirmative particle: indeed | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (之乎者也) | 之 | 乎 | 者 | 也 | |
| simp. #(之乎者也) | 之 | 乎 | 者 | 也 | |
Etymology
The four common particles in Classical Chinese.
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Pinyin): zhīhūzhěyě
- (Zhuyin): ㄓ ㄏㄨ ㄓㄜˇ ㄧㄝˇ
- Cantonese (Jyutping): zi1 fu4 ze2 jaa5
- Hakka (Changting, Changting Pinyin): zhï1 fu1 zha3 ya3
- Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): ze1 hu7 zia2 ia2
- Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): 1tsy-hu-tse-ye
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: zhīhūzhěyě [Phonetic: zhīhūzhéyě]
- Zhuyin: ㄓ ㄏㄨ ㄓㄜˇ ㄧㄝˇ
- Tongyong Pinyin: jhihhujhěyě
- Wade–Giles: chih1-hu1-chê3-yeh3
- Yale: jr̄-hū-jě-yě
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyhujeeyee
- Palladius: чжихучжэе (čžixučžɛje)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ xu⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂɤ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ jɛ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: zi1 fu4 ze2 jaa5
- Yale: jī fùh jé yáh
- Cantonese Pinyin: dzi1 fu4 dze2 jaa5
- Guangdong Romanization: ji1 fu4 zé2 ya5
- Sinological IPA (key): /t͡siː⁵⁵ fuː²¹ t͡sɛː³⁵ jaː¹³/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Hakka
- (Changting)
- Changting Pinyin: zhï1 fu1 zha3 ya3
- Sinological IPA: /t͡ʃʐ̩³³ fu³³ t͡ʃa⁴²⁻³³ ia⁴²/
- (Changting)
- Southern Min
- (Teochew)
- Peng'im: ze1 hu7 zia2 ia2
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tsṳ hū tsiá iá
- Sinological IPA (key): /t͡sɯ³³⁻²³ hu¹¹ t͡sia⁵²⁻³⁵ ia⁵²⁻²¹/
- (Teochew)
- Wu
- Middle Chinese: tsyi hu tsyaeX yaeX
- Old Chinese
- (Baxter–Sagart): /*tə ɢˤa tAʔ lAjʔ/
- (Zhengzhang): /*tjɯ ɢaː tjaːʔ laːlʔ/
Idiom
之乎者也
- (metonymic) unintelligible speech or article filled with archaisms; pedantic expressions; grandiloquent speech; semi-incomprehensible talk
- 他對人說話，總是滿口之乎者也，教人半懂不懂的。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
- From: 魯迅 Lu Xun, 《孔乙己》 Kung I-chi, 1919; translation by Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang.
- Tā duìrén shuōhuà, zǒngshì mǎnkǒu zhīhūzhěyě, jiào rén bàn dǒng bùdǒng de. [Pinyin]
- He used so many archaisms in his speech, it was impossible to understand half he said.
他对人说话，总是满口之乎者也，教人半懂不懂的。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]
References
- 周存 [Zhōu, Cún], editor (2023), “之乎者也”, in 长汀话词典 CHANGTINGHUA CIDIAN [Dictionary of Changting Dialect] (overall work in Hakka and Mandarin), Guangzhou: 世界图书出版有限公司 [World Book Publishing Co., Ltd.], →ISBN, page 807.