什麼

See also: 什麽, 甚麼, 甚麽, and 什么

Chinese

tenth (used in fractions) dimi.
trad. (什麼/甚麼/什麽/甚麽) 什/甚 麼/麽
simp. (什么) 什 么
alternative forms
 
拾沒/拾没 obsolete
是物 obsolete
是勿 obsolete
是沒/是没 obsolete
甚物 obsolete
拾沒/拾没 obsolete
是物 obsolete
是勿 obsolete
是沒/是没 obsolete
甚物 obsolete
甚沒/甚没 obsolete
甚摩 obsolete
甚謨/甚谟 obsolete
什摩 obsolete

Etymology

Corruption of medieval 是物 (MC dzyeX mjut, “why”) (Yuan et al., 1996: 318–324) or 什物 (MC dzyip mjut, “miscellaneous items”) (Norman, 1988; Zhang, 1982), perhaps influenced by 何物 (OC *ɡaːl mɯd, “what”).

Pronunciation


Note: Many other variant pronunciations exist.
Note:
  • sim6 moh4 - Chaozhou, Shantou;
  • se6 moh4 - Jieyang.
    • Wu
      • (Shanghai):
        • Wugniu: 7seq-moq
        • MiniDict: seh入 moh
        • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): 4seq-moq
        • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /səʔ³³ moʔ⁴⁴/

Pronoun

什麼

  1. (interrogative) what
    這是什麼?/这是什么?  ―  Zhè shì shénme?  ―  What is this?
    你平時喜歡做什麼? [MSC, trad.]
    你平时喜欢做什么? [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ píngshí xǐhuān zuò shénme? [Pinyin]
    What do you like doing in your spare time?
    我不知道他是什麼人。 [MSC, trad.]
    我不知道他是什么人。 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ bù zhīdào tā shì shénme rén. [Pinyin]
    I don't know what kind of person he is.
  2. something
    你想吃點什麼嗎? [MSC, trad.]
    你想吃点什么吗? [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ xiǎng chī diǎn shénme ma? [Pinyin]
    Would you like something to eat?
  3. anything; whatever
    我什麼都不知道。 [MSC, trad.]
    我什么都不知道。 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ shénme dōu bù zhīdào. [Pinyin]
    I don't know anything
    我什麼也不怕。/我什么也不怕。  ―  Wǒ shénme yě bù pà.  ―  I'm not afraid of anything.
    他可以想做什麼就做什麼。 [MSC, trad.]
    他可以想做什么就做什么。 [MSC, simp.]
    Tā kěyǐ xiǎng zuò shénme jiù zuò shénme. [Pinyin]
    He can do whatever he wants.
  4. (used to express surprise or anger) what
    幹的是什麼事兒! [MSC, trad.]
    干的是什么事儿! [MSC, simp.]
    Gàn de shì shénme shìr! [Pinyin]
    What a thing to do!
  5. (used before an enumeration) thing like; such as; and so on; and what not
  6. (used to express disapproval, disagreement)

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • ⇒ Translingual: Yiminaspis shenme

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
什 麼
いん
Hyōgaiji
も
Hyōgaiji
irregular
Alternative spelling
恁麼

From spoken Middle Chinese 恁麼/恁么 (nyimX muɑ, “what?”, archaic).[1] The spelling shifted to include the Chinese synonym 什麼/什么 (modern Mandarin reading of shénme), while keeping the inmo reading for 恁麼/恁么, instead of the expected *shūma reading for 什麼.

Imported into Japanese by Zen monks who had studied in China.[1] Generally restricted to use by Zen practitioners.[2]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ĩmːo̞]

Pronoun

什(いん)麼(も) • (inmo) 

  1. (rare) what
    天(てん)地(ち)と我(われ)と什(いん)麼(も)の交(こう)渉(しょう)かある。
    Tenchi to ware to inmo no kōshō ka aru.
    What is the relation between the universe and me?
Usage notes

Generally followed by the possessive particle の (no) and used as an adnominal, with a meaning of what kind of.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
什 麼
どんな
Hyōgaiji Hyōgaiji
jukujikun

Orthographic borrowing from Mandarin 什麼/什么 (“what”).

Definitions

For pronunciation and definitions of 什麼 – see the following entry.
【どんな】
[adjective] how?; like what?; what kind of...?
[adjective] which one?
Alternative spellings
何様な, 何様, 甚麼
(This term, 什麼, is an alternative spelling (literary, obsolete) of the above term.)

References

  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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