愛睏藥仔

Chinese

FWOTD – 12 October 2023

		sleepy	medicine
trad. (愛睏藥仔)		愛睏	藥仔
simp. (爱困药仔)		爱困	药仔

Pronunciation

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): ài-khùn-io̍h-á

---

• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ài-khùn-io̍h-á
    • Tâi-lô: ài-khùn-io̍h-á
    • Phofsit Daibuun: ae'quon'ioiq'ar
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ai²¹⁻⁴¹ kʰun²¹⁻⁴¹ iɤ(ʔ)⁴⁻³³ a⁴¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /ai¹¹⁻⁵³ kʰun¹¹⁻⁵³ io(ʔ)⁴⁻³³ a⁵³/

Noun

愛睏藥仔

1. (Taiwanese Hokkien, pharmacology) sleeping pill; hypnotic

   • 我用指指比喙叫伊較細聲咧：「伊食愛睏藥仔較重眠，我倒久跤會捾水，坐咧順紲踢跤。」 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
     我用指指比喙叫伊较细声咧：「伊食爱困药仔较重眠，我倒久跤会捾水，坐咧顺绁踢跤。」 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

     From: 2022, 林美麗, 院之囚，籠中鳥──觀察室五日

     Góa ēng kí-cháiⁿ pí chhùi kiò i khah sè-siaⁿ--leh: “I chia̍h ài-khùn-io̍h-á khah tāng-bîn, góa tó kú kha ē kōaⁿ-chúi, chē-teh sūn-sòa that kha.” [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     I put my finger on my lips to ask them [the nurse] to speak more quietly: "He [my husband] took sleeping pills and needs to sleep a lot. If I lie down for too long, my legs swell up; when I sit, I can conveniently kick my legs.

   • 每一暗　喔每一暗　窒愛睏藥仔 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
     每一暗　喔每一暗　窒爱困药仔 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

     From: 2022, 亦辰兒 [Henry] (lyrics and music), 發發發大財, performed by 曾瑋中 [Kuljelje Salevelev]

     múi chi̍t àm, o͘h múi chi̍t àm, that ài-khùn-io̍h-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     Every night, oh every night, I stuff myself with sleeping pills

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 安眠藥 (“sleeping pill; hypnotic”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		安眠藥, 催眠藥
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	安眠藥
Central Plains Mandarin	Wanrong	安眠藥
Cantonese	Hong Kong	安眠藥
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	安眠藥
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	安眠藥
	Pingtung (Wuluo, Ligang; S. Sixian)	愛睡目藥
	Kaohsiung (Meinong; S. Sixian)	安眠藥
	Kaohsiung (Shanlin; S. Sixian)	安眠藥
Southern Min	Zhao'an	安眠藥
	Kaohsiung	愛睏藥仔
	Kaohsiung (Dalinpu, Siaogang)	愛睏藥仔
	Tainan (Anping)	愛睏藥仔
	Penang (Hokkien)	睏藥
Wu	Suzhou	安眠藥
	Hangzhou	安眠藥

Further reading

• “愛睏藥仔”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.