問候

See also: 问候

Chinese

		to ask	wait
trad. (問候)		問	候
simp. (问候)		问	候

Etymology

“to swear”: In profanities in most of the Chinese dialects, the relatives of the person being sworn at is usually involved, e.g. 肏你媽／肏你妈 (cào nǐ mā, literally “fuck your mother”) in Mandarin, and 冚家鏟／冚家铲 (ham6 gaa1 caan2, literally “may your whole family drop dead”) in Cantonese.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): wènhòu

(Zhuyin): ㄨㄣˋ ㄏㄡˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): man⁶ hau⁶
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): mun-heu
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): būn-hāu / būn-hō͘ / būn-hiō

(Teochew, Peng'im): meng⁷ hao⁷
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶men-gheu

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wènhòu
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄣˋ ㄏㄡˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wùnhòu
  - Wade–Giles: wên⁴-hou⁴
  - Yale: wèn-hòu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wennhow
  - Palladius: вэньхоу (vɛnʹxou)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /wən⁵¹⁻⁵³ xoʊ̯⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: man⁶ hau⁶
  - Yale: mahn hauh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: man⁶ hau⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: men⁶ heo⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɐn²² hɐu̯²²/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mun-heu
  - Hakka Romanization System: mun heu
  - Hagfa Pinyim: mun⁴ heu⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /mun⁵⁵ heu̯⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: būn-hāu
  - Tâi-lô: būn-hāu
  - Phofsit Daibuun: buxnhau
  - IPA (Taipei): /bun³³⁻¹¹ hau³³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bun³³⁻²¹ hau³³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /bun²²⁻²¹ hau²²/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: būn-hō͘
  - Tâi-lô: būn-hōo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: buxnho
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /bun²²⁻²¹ hɔ²²/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: būn-hiō
  - Tâi-lô: būn-hiō
  - Phofsit Daibuun: buxnhioi
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /bun⁴¹⁻²² hio⁴¹/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: meng⁷ hao⁷
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: mṳ̄ng hāu
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɯŋ¹¹ hau¹¹/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁶men-gheu
  - MiniDict: men^去 gheu
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³men-hheu
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /mən²² ɦɤ⁴⁴/

Verb

問候

to send one's regards; to send one's respects; to greet; to ask how someone is; to show concern to someone
謝謝你的問候啊。 [MSC, trad.]
谢谢你的问候啊。 [MSC, simp.]
Xièxiè nǐ de wènhòu a. [Pinyin]
Thanks for your concern.

春風送來春天的問候。 [MSC, trad.]
春风送来春天的问候。 [MSC, simp.]
Chūnfēng sòng lái chūntiān de wènhòu. [Pinyin]
Spring greets us with its warm breeze.

還活著，謝謝問候。 [MSC, trad.]
还活着，谢谢问候。 [MSC, simp.]
Hái huó zhe, xièxie wènhòu. [Pinyin]
Still living, thanks for asking.
(colloquial, euphemistic) to say offensive or vulgar words to someone; to swear at someone
問候全家／问候全家 ― wènhòu quánjiā ― to swear [at someone] (literally, “to send one's regards to someone's entire family”)

Synonyms

(to send one's respects):

edit

咨問 / 咨问 (zīwèn) (literary)
問 / 问 (wèn) (literary, or in compounds)
問好 / 问好 (wènhǎo)
問安 / 问安 (wèn'ān) (formal, to an elder)
問訊 / 问讯 (wènxùn)
打招呼 (dǎ zhāohū)
招呼 (zhāohū)
拍招呼 (Hokkien)
相借問 / 相借问 (Hokkien, Hakka)
請安 / 请安 (qǐng'ān) (historical, to an elder)
起居 (qǐjū) (historical)