全然

Chinese

		all; whole; entire all; whole; entire; every; complete	adverbial suffix; ‑ly
trad. (全然)		全	然
simp. #(全然)		全	然

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): quánrán

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄖㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cyun⁴ jin⁴
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): choân-jiân / choân-liân

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: quánrán
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄖㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cyuánrán
    • Wade–Giles: chʻüan²-jan²
    • Yale: chywán-rán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chyuanran
    • Palladius: цюаньжань (cjuanʹžanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn³⁵ ʐän³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: cyun⁴ jin⁴
    • Yale: chyùhn yìhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsyn⁴ jin⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: qun⁴ yin⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰyːn²¹ jiːn²¹/
    • Homophones:

      edit edit 傳言／传言 全然

• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: choân-jiân
    • Tâi-lô: tsuân-jiân
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zoanjieen
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡suan²³⁻³³ ziɛn²³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡suan¹³⁻²² d͡ziɛn¹³/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taipei, Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: choân-liân
    • Tâi-lô: tsuân-liân
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zoanlieen
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡suan²⁴⁻¹¹ liɛn²⁴/
    • IPA (Singapore): /t͡suan²⁴⁻²¹ liɛn²⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Quanzhou): /t͡suan²⁴⁻²² liɛn²⁴/

Adverb

全然

1. completely; entirely; utterly

   我對此事全然不知。 [MSC, trad.]
   我对此事全然不知。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ duì cǐ shì quánrán bù zhī. [Pinyin]

   I know absolutely nothing about this matter.

Synonyms

• 完全 (wánquán)
• 簡直／简直 (jiǎnzhí) (chiefly in exaggerations)
• 純／纯
• 純然／纯然
• 純粹／纯粹 (chúncuì)
• 貼准 (⁷tiq-tsen) (Wu)
• 逕直／迳直 (jìngzhí) (literary)

 

Derived terms

• 全然敗壞／全然败坏 (quánrán bàihuài)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (全然):

• → Japanese: 全然(ぜんぜん) (zenzen)
• → Korean: 전연(全然) (jeonyeon)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
全	然
ぜん Grade: 3	ぜん Grade: 4
goon	kan’on

Alternative forms

• (emphatic) 全(ぜん)っ然(ぜん) (zenzzen)

Etymology

Borrowed from written Chinese 全然 (quánrán) in the early 1800s from 白話小説 (hakuwa shōsetsu, literally “white-speech novels”), a genre using more colloquial styles, initially with furigana indicating a reading of まったく (mattaku, “completely”).

First cited to a text from 1823, with the ぜんぜん (zenzen) reading became more common starting from the late 1890s.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぜんぜん [zèńzéń] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) ぜんぜん​ [zèńzéńꜜ] (Odaka – [4])
• (Tokyo) ぜんぜ​ん [zèńzéꜜǹ] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [d͡zẽ̞nd͡zẽ̞ɴ]

• Audio

  (file)

Adverb

全(ぜん)然(ぜん) • (zenzen) 

1. [from late 1890s] (not) at all (with negative verb)

   Synonym: (Hakata) いっちょん (itchon)

   Antonym: よく (yoku, “frequently, often”)

   私(わたし)は料(りょう)理(り)など全(ぜん)然(ぜん)しない。自(じ)信(しん)がないからね。

   Watashi wa ryōri nado zenzen shinai. Jishin ga nai kara ne.

   I don't cook at all, since I lack the confidence.

   「わかった？」 「いや、全(ぜん)然(ぜん)。」

   “Wakatta?” “Iya, zenzen.”

   "Got it?"   "Nope, not at all."

   • 2009 March 9, Tsugumi Ohba with Obata, Takeshi, “12(じゅうに)ページ 10(じゅう)と２(に) [Page 12: 10 and 2]”, in BAKUMAN(バクマン)。 [Bakuman.], volume 2 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN:

     高(たか)木(ぎ)は今(いま)からあたしとの結(けっ)婚(こん)考(かんが)えてる？

     Takagi wa ima kara atashi to no kekkon kangaeteru?

     Takagi, are you planning to marry me?

     全(ぜん)然(ぜん)

     Zenzen

     Not at all

2. [from 1950] (colloquial) totally, completely (with affirmative verb)

   Synonyms: 全く (mattaku), 非常に, とても

   全(ぜん)然(ぜん)違(ちが)う話(はなし)

   zenzen chigau hanashi

   a completely different story

See also

• 余(あま)り (amari): (with negative verbs) very often, all that much
• 時(とき)々(どき) (tokidoki): sometimes, at times, occasionally

References

• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.

Korean

Hanja in this term
全	然

Adverb

全然 • (jeonyeon) (hangeul 전연)

1. Hanja form^? of 전연 (“completely”).