之乎者也

Chinese

		possessive particle: 's	interrogative particle: ?	‑ist, ‑er (person); person (who does sth)	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
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): ze¹ hu⁷ zia² ia²
• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ¹tsy-hu-tse-ye

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• 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⁾/
• 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/
• 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/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ¹tsy-hu-tse-ye
    • MiniDict: tsy^平 hu tse yae
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹tsr-hu-tse-hhie
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡sz̩⁵⁵ hu³³ t͡se³³ ɦie²¹/

Idiom

之乎者也

1. (metonymically) 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.]
     他对人说话，总是满口之乎者也，教人半懂不懂的。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     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.