阿莎力

Chinese

	phonetic
trad. (阿莎力)	阿	莎	力
simp. ^#(阿莎力)	阿	莎	力
alternative forms	阿莎利阿沙力阿殺力／阿杀力阿煞力

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese あっさり (assari) into Taiwanese Hokkien, and from Taiwanese Hokkien into Taiwanese Mandarin. Taiwanese Hakka may have borrowed directly from Japanese or via Taiwanese Hokkien.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): āshālì

(Zhuyin): ㄚㄕㄚㄌㄧˋ
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): à-sa-lí
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): a-sá-lih / a̍t-sá-lih

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: āshālì
  - Zhuyin: ㄚㄕㄚㄌㄧˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: ashalì
  - Wade–Giles: a¹-sha¹-li⁴
  - Yale: ā-shā-lì
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ashalih
  - Palladius: ашали (ašali)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀä⁵⁵ ʂä⁵⁵ li⁵¹/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: à-sa-lí
  - Hakka Romanization System: a^ˇ sa li^ˋ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: a² sa⁴ li³
  - Sinological IPA: /a¹¹ sa⁵⁵ li³¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: a-sá-lih
  - Tâi-lô: a-sá-lih
  - Phofsit Daibuun: asafliq
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /a⁴⁴⁻³³ sa⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ liʔ³²/
  - IPA (Taipei): /a⁴⁴⁻³³ sa⁵³⁻⁴⁴ liʔ³²/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: a̍t-sá-lih
  - Tâi-lô: a̍t-sá-lih
  - Phofsit Daibuun: adsafliq
  - IPA (Taipei): /at̚⁴⁻³² sa⁵³⁻⁴⁴ liʔ³²/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /at̚⁴⁻³² sa⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ liʔ³²/

Adjective

阿莎力

(Taiwan) unfussy; decisive; unhesitant (whether as a personality trait or in a particular instance); assertive in generosity or agreement
- 入來到伊感覺歡喜為止，伊 tō 自然離開，chiâⁿ a-sá-lih，bē ku-ku-mo͘-mo͘。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
  入来到伊感觉欢喜为止，伊 tō 自然离开，chiâⁿ a-sá-lih，bē ku-ku-mo͘-mo͘。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]
  From: 1996, Taibunun, 麵粉廠ê鬼仔
  Ji̍p-lâi kàu i kám-kak hoaⁿ-hí ûi-chí, i tō chū-jiân lī-khui, chiâⁿ - a-sá-lih, bē - ku-ku-mo͘-mo͘. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
  [Ketury] comes in until she feels happy; then she will naturally leave. She is very decisive, not at all fussy.
- 若我 ê 作法 tō khah a-sah-lih，kā 作--落-去。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
  若我 ê 作法 tō khah a-sah-lih，kā 作--落-去。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]
  From: 2005, TÂI-BÛN THONG-SÌN, 訪問台灣獨立建國聯盟主席黃昭堂
  Nā góa ê chò-hoat tō khah a-sah-lih, kā chò--lo̍h-khì. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
  If it were up to me, we'd be decisive and just do it.
- 佢做事情盡阿莎力。 [Sixian Hakka, trad.]
  佢做事情尽阿莎力。 [Sixian Hakka, simp.]
  From: 2011, Council for Hakka Affairs, 客語外來語（含原閩客國(語)互借詞）
  Kì cho sṳ-chhìn chhin à-sa-lí. [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]
  He's never hesitant when he does things.
- 阿莎力　莎喲娜拉　拖沙感情傷害愈深 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
  阿莎力　莎哟娜拉　拖沙感情伤害愈深 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]
  From: 2014, 詹雅雯, 愛情阿莎力
  a-sá-lih, sa-ió͘-ná-lah, thoa-soa kám-chêng siong-hāi lú chhim [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
  Let's not be fussy, goodbye, dragging on with love hurts deeper
- 這不是我不夠阿莎力　也不是我不夠有勇氣 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
  这不是我不够阿莎力　也不是我不够有勇气 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]
  From: 2016, 黃偉霖, 是因為太愛你
  che m̄-sī góa bô-kàu a-sá-lih, iā m̄-sī góa bô-kàu ū ióng-khì [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
  It isn't that I'm too fussy [literally, not unfussy enough], and it's not that I don't have enough courage
- 伊氣phu̍t-phu̍t、大細聲罵蔡英文政府 gâu 拖沙、做代誌無at-sá-lih。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
  伊气phu̍t-phu̍t、大细声骂蔡英文政府 gâu 拖沙、做代志无at-sá-lih。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]
  From: 2017, 李南衡, 好好鱟刣kah屎流, in 《台灣教會公報》, issue 3413, page 25
  I khì-phu̍t-phu̍t, tōa-sè-siaⁿ mē Chhòa Eng-bûn chèng-hú gâu thoa-soa, chò tāi-chì bô at-sá-lih. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
  He [Uncle Hok] was enraged, furiously chiding the Tsai Ing-wen government for having the habit of procrastinating and being indecisive in doing things.
- 阿莎利一杯乎乾啦 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
  阿莎利一杯乎干啦 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]
  From: 2019, 七郎, lyrics by 陳明陽, 歌聲酒伴
  a-sá-lih chi̍t poe hō͘ ta--lah [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
  Don't be hesitant, bottoms up!
- 多謝臺中教育大學臺灣語文學系楊允言教授一下聽講我 beh 做臺語 ê 研究，就足a̍t-sá-lih ê kā「台語文Concordancer程式」ê 資料寄予我，予我做研究 koh較利便。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
  多谢台中教育大学台湾语文学系杨允言教授一下听讲我 beh 做台语 ê 研究，就足a̍t-sá-lih ê kā「台语文Concordancer程式」ê 资料寄予我，予我做研究 koh较利便。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]
  From: 2021, 王品程 [Pin-Cheng Wang], 華臺語斷定副詞研究 [A Study on Assertive Adverbs in Mandarin and Taigi] (bachelor’s thesis), National Taiwan University, page ii
  To-siā Tâi-tiong Kàu-io̍k Tāi-ha̍k Tâi-oân gí-bûn ha̍k-hē Iûⁿ Ún-giân kàu-siū chi̍t-ē thiaⁿ-káng góa beh chò Tâi-gí ê gián-kiù, chiū chiok a̍t-sá-lih - ê - kā “Tâi-gí-bûn Concordancer têng-sek” ê chu-liāu kià hō͘ góa, hō͘ góa chò gián-kiù koh-khah lī-piān. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
  Thanks to Professor Iûⁿ Ún-giân from the Department of Taiwanese Languages and Literature at the National Taichung University of Education, who, without a second thought, sent me the data from the "Written Taiwanese Concordancer Program" once he heard that I wanted to do research on Taiwanese, so that I can do my research more conveniently.
- 彈了袂 bái，介 A-SA-LIH。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
  弹了袂 bái，介 A-SA-LIH。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]
  From: 2022, Soo Jū-hông, post on Twitter [1]
  Tôaⁿ liáu bē - bái, kài - A-SA-LIH. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
  Well played — real crisp!

References

董忠司, editor (2001), 臺灣閩南語辭典 [Dictionary of Taiwanese Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Taipei: 五南圖書出版公司, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 4.
“阿莎力”, 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.