sao
Ilocano
Etymology
From Proto-Philippine *sahuq (“words, speech”).
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: sa‧o
Noun
sao
- speech
- (linguistics) language
- Iniiloko a sao
- Ilocano language
- word
Derived terms
Japanese
Romanization
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
Anagrams
Vietnamese
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [saːw˧˧]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [ʂaːw˧˧] ~ [saːw˧˧]
- (Saigon) IPA(key): [ʂaːw˧˧] ~ [saːw˧˧]
Audio (Saigon): (file)
Etymology 1
Attested as ſao in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651).
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
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”).
6 Originally, these demonstratives might have been used to assert that something is visible and/or verifiable. They have been bleached quite thoroughly and currently are usually used like other distal demonstratives. The biggest trace of their evidentiality might be in their usage as final particles, often in reduced forms cơ/cờ: [t]ừ đấy về tới Hà Nội, còn những ba cái cầu nữa cơ mà! ("From there to Hanoi, there're still three more bridges to cross!") (Ba ngày luân lạc, 1943) and their (pretty much) obligatory use when locating an object: Không phải cái này mà là cái kia. ("Not this one, that one.")
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Adjective
- problematic, bad
- Có sao lắm không?
- Is it very bad?
- Không sao đâu.
- No problem.
Derived terms
Etymology 2
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”).
Attested as ſao in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651).
It is a semantic loan from English star, in the senses of “celebrity; actor”.
Alternative forms
- (Northeastern Vietnam) thao
Noun
(classifier vì, ngôi) sao • (𣇟, 牢, 𣋀, 𬁖)
- star (luminous celestial body)
- (by extension) asterisk
- toán sao ― an "asterisked" math problem (marked with an asterisk); a difficult math problem
Noun
(classifier ngôi) sao • (𣇟, 牢, 𣋀, 𬁖)
Derived terms
See also
Etymology 3
Sino-Vietnamese word from 抄.
Verb
sao
See also
Etymology 4
Sino-Vietnamese word from 炒.
Verb
sao
West Makian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈs̪a.o/
Verb
sao
Conjugation
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| inclusive | exclusive | |||
| 1st person | tasao | masao | asao | |
| 2nd person | nasao | fasao | ||
| 3rd person | inanimate | isao | dasao | |
| animate | ||||
| imperative | nasao, sao | fasao, sao | ||