About
The character "唔" is a relatively late formation in Chinese writing, created as a phonetic character to represent specific sounds in spoken language. Its structure combines the mouth radical "口" with the phonetic component "吾" (wú), clearly indicating its function related to speech and sound. Historically, it was not a standard character in classical texts but emerged to transcribe colloquial expressions and dialectal words, particularly in southern Chinese varieties. Its primary use is to represent syllabic nasal sounds like "m" or "ng", often functioning as an interrogative particle or part of a negative imperative, as seen in the Cantonese "唔好" (don't). In modern usage, it also serves as an onomatopoeic character for humming or hesitation in written dialogue.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
我唔係學生。
我今日唔去學校。
佢話佢唔識游水。
你點解唔早啲講呢？
我唔明白你嘅意思。
佢唔單只遲到，重冇做功課。
我唔係好確定去唔去得成。
你唔好以為唔出聲就冇人知。