sao

See also: Appendix:Variations of "sao"

Ilocano

Etymology

From Proto-Philippine *sahuq (“words, speech”).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: sa‧o

Noun

sao

1. speech
2. (linguistics) language

   Iniiloko a sao

   Ilocano language

3. word

Derived terms

Derived terms

• agsao (“to speak; to talk”)
• isao (“to say; to express”)
• kasao (“speaker”)
• makisao (“to speak; to talk; to converse”)
• saoen (“to speak; to utter”)
• sao-sao (“rumor; hearsay; idle talk”)

Japanese

Romanization

sao

1. Rōmaji transcription of さお

Mandarin

Romanization

sao

1. Nonstandard spelling of sāo.
2. Nonstandard spelling of sǎo.
3. Nonstandard spelling of sào.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Tagalog

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *sauq. Compare Kapampangan sau, Tausug sāw, and Malay sauh. Doublet of sawo.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /saˈʔo/ [sɐˈʔo]
• Rhymes: -o
• Syllabification: sa‧o

Noun

saó (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜂ) (nautical)

1. mooring cable or chains; cable for mooring ships to the pier when at anchor

Further reading

• “sao”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Anagrams

• aso

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [saːw˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂaːw˧˧] ~ [saːw˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʂaːw˧˧] ~ [saːw˧˧]

• Audio (Saigon):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle Vietnamese ſao.

Attested in Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經) as 牢 (MC law) (modern SV: lao), so the older form of the word was *C-raːw (where *C is nonspecific consonant). Even after the sound change *C-r- > /ʂ/ had taken place sometime before 17th century, the use of the phonogram 牢 (MC law) continued, so this morpheme was still commonly spelled such in Nôm texts in the 19th-early 20th century.

Most likely a part of the r-series of demonstratives alongside rày, ri, rứa and ru.

Adverb

sao • (牢, 哰, 𣋀, 𫳵)

1. why

   Synonyms: răng, tại sao, vì sao

   Sao nó bảo không đến?

   Why did he say he wouldn’t come?

   • 19th century, Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Tale of Lục Vân Tiên

     公浪昆篤𠖈詩
     牢空結伴麻𠫾𠓨塲

     Công rằng: "Con dốc xuống thi,
     Sao không kết bạn mà đi vào trường?"

     Công said: "You are here to take the examination,
     So why don't you find some companion to go along with?"

2. how

   Synonyms: răng, làm sao

   Sao tao biết được?

   How should I know?

   Sao làm được hay vậy?

   How did you do that?

   • 14th century, Mạc Đĩnh Chi, Giáo tử phú 敎子賦:

     姉㛪庄𧡊
     𡥵丐能𣋀

     Chị em chẳng thấy,
     Con cái hay sao.

     Not caring about one's siblings,
     Nor knowing how one's children are.

   • 15th century, Nguyễn Trãi, “述興 Thuật hứng 2”, in Quốc âm thi tập (國音詩集):

     固身𪰛谷可𬈋牢

     Có thân thì cóc khá làm sao.

     How could I manage when I'm on my own?

3. what; what is it; what now

   Synonyms: làm sao, gì, cái gì

   Sao?
   Sao trăng gì !?

   Wut?
   The hell you mean, "wut"?

4. whatever

   Sao cũng được.

   Whatever / Anything will do.

See also

Vietnamese demonstratives

	Proximal (*-iː)	Distal 1 (*-iːʔ)	Distal 2 (*-əːʔ)	Distal 3/ Remote (*-ɔːʔ)	Interrogative (rime was a rounded back vowel)
Place, attributive1 n-	ni nì này/nầy nây	nấy	nớ	nọ (nó)	nào
Place, nominal2 đ-	đây	đấy (ấy)	—	đó	đâu
Manner r-	ri rày	—	rứa	—	ru sao3
Extent 14 b-	bây	bấy	—	—	bao
Extent 25 v-	vầy	vậy	—	—	—
1 Originally can only follow a nominal (being used attributively), hence nơi này (“this place; here”), nơi nào (“where”) (no longer completely true in the modern language). 2 Can be used on its own/is itself nominal, hence đây (“here”), đâu (“where”). 3 From earlier *C-raːw (where *C is nonspecific consonant). 4 Placed before the head: bây nhiêu (“this much”), bấy nhiêu (“that much”), bao nhiêu (“how much”). 5 Placed after the head: nhanh vầy (“this fast”), nhanh vậy (“that fast/so fast”).
Visibility/evidentiality6
	Distal (ngang)			Remote (huyền)
Northern-Southern	kia (cơ)			kìa (cờ)
Central	tê			tề
6 Originally, these demonstratives might have been used to assert that something is visible and/or verifiable. They have been bleached quite thoroughly and currently are usually used like other distal demonstratives. The biggest trace of their evidentiality might be in their usage as final particles, often in reduced forms cơ/cờ: [t]ừ đấy về tới Hà Nội, còn những ba cái cầu nữa cơ mà! ("From there to Hanoi, there're still three more bridges to cross!") (Ba ngày luân lạc, 1943).

Adjective

sao • (牢, 哰, 𣋀, 𫳵)

1. problematic, bad

   Có sao lắm không?

   Is it very bad?

   Không sao đâu.

   No problem.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• không sao

 

Etymology 2

From Middle Vietnamese ſao, from Proto-Vietic *k-raːw. Cognate with Muong khao. Might represent a Kra-Dai or Austronesian substratum, compare Proto-Tai *t.naːwᴬ (“star”), Proto-Hlai *ɾaːw (“star”) and Proto-Austronesian *qajaw (“day”).

It is a semantic loan from English star, in the senses of “celebrity; actor”.

Alternative forms

• (Northeastern Vietnam) thao

Noun

(classifier vì, ngôi) sao • (𣇟, 牢, 𣋀, 𬁖)

1. star (luminous celestial body)
2. asterisk

   toán sao ― an "asterisked" math problem (marked with an asterisk); a difficult math problem

Noun

(classifier ngôi) sao • (𣇟, 牢, 𣋀, 𬁖)

1. star (celebrity)
2. star (actor)

See also

• tinh

Derived terms

• chòm sao
• dấu sao
• sao băng
• sao chổi
• sao Diêm Vương
• sao Hải Vương
• sao Hoả
• sao Hôm
• sao Kim
• sao Mai
• sao Mộc
• sao mới
• sao Rua
• sao siêu mới
• sao Thiên Vương
• sao Thổ
• sao Thuỷ
• sao Tua
• sao xẹt
• siêu sao

 

Etymology 3

Sino-Vietnamese word from 抄.

Verb

sao

1. (rarely used in isolation) to duplicate; to copy

See also

Derived terms

• sao chép

 

Etymology 4

Sino-Vietnamese word from 炒.

Verb

sao

1. (chiefly of medical ingredients) to dry with heat in a pan

West Makian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈs̪a.o/

Verb

sao

1. (transitive) to burn
2. (transitive) to roast (over fire)

Conjugation

Conjugation of sao (action verb)
		singular	plural
			inclusive	exclusive
1st person		tasao	masao	asao
2nd person		nasao	fasao
3rd person	inanimate	isao	dasao
	animate
imperative		nasao, sao	fasao, sao

References

• James Collins (1982) Further Notes Towards a West Makian Vocabulary‎^[1], Pacific linguistics
• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[2], Pacific linguistics (as sao and saw)