奴才

Chinese

		slave	ability; talent; endowment ability; talent; endowment; gift; an expert; only (then); only if; just
trad. (奴才)		奴	才
simp. #(奴才)		奴	才
alternative forms		奴材

Etymology

“first person pronoun of eunuchs and officials”

Calque of Manchu ᠠᡥᠠ (aha)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): núcái

  (Zhuyin): ㄋㄨˊ ㄘㄞˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): nou⁴ coi⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): nù-chhòi / nùng-chhòi
• Eastern Min (BUC): nù-chài
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): lô͘-châi

  (Teochew, Peng'im): nou⁵ cai⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: núcái → núcai (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Zhuyin: ㄋㄨˊ ㄘㄞˊ → ㄋㄨˊ ˙ㄘㄞ (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Tongyong Pinyin: núcåi
    • Wade–Giles: nu²-tsʻai⁵
    • Yale: nú-tsai
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: nu.tsair
    • Palladius: нуцай (nucaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /nu³⁵ t͡sʰaɪ̯³⁵/ → /nu³⁵ t͡sʰaɪ̯³/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: nou⁴ coi⁴
    • Yale: nòuh chòih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: nou⁴ tsoi⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: nou⁴ coi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /nou̯²¹ t͡sʰɔːi̯²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: nù-chhòi / nùng-chhòi
    • Hakka Romanization System: nuˇ coiˇ / nungˇ coiˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: nu² coi² / nung² coi²
    • Sinological IPA: /nu¹¹ t͡sʰoi̯¹¹/, /nuŋ¹¹ t͡sʰoi̯¹¹/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: nù-chài
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /nˡu⁵³⁻³³ ^(t͡sʰ-)ʒai⁵³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lô͘-châi
    • Tâi-lô: lôo-tsâi
    • Phofsit Daibuun: lozaai
    • IPA (Xiamen): /lɔ²⁴⁻²² t͡sai²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /lɔ²⁴⁻²² t͡sai²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /lɔ¹³⁻²² t͡sai¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /lɔ²⁴⁻¹¹ t͡sai²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /lɔ²³⁻³³ t͡sai²³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: nou⁵ cai⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: nôu tshâi
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /nou⁵⁵⁻¹¹ t͡sʰai⁵⁵/

Noun

奴才

1. slave; servant; flunkey
   • 1930, Hu Shih, “介紹我自己的思想 (Introducing My Thought)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     爭你們個人的自由，便是為國家爭自由！爭你們自己的人格，便是為國家爭人格！自由平等的國家不是一群奴才建造得起來的！ [MSC, trad.]
     争你们个人的自由，便是为国家争自由！争你们自己的人格，便是为国家争人格！自由平等的国家不是一群奴才建造得起来的！ [MSC, simp.]

     Zhēng nǐmen gèrén de zìyóu, biàn shì wèi guójiā zhēng zìyóu! Zhēng nǐmen zìjǐ de réngé, biàn shì wèi guójiā zhēng réngé! Zìyóu píngděng de guójiā bùshì yīqún núcái jiànzào dé qǐlái de! [Pinyin]

     Striving for your personal freedom is striving for the country's freedom! Striving for your personality is striving for the national prestige! A free and equal country cannot be established by slaves!

2. (derogatory) lackey; minion; bootlicker

   狗奴才  ―  gǒu núcái  ―  bootlicker

Synonyms

• (slave): 臣僕／臣仆 (chénpú), 奴隸／奴隶 (núlì)
• (lackey): (Hokkien) 箍絡／箍络

Pronoun

奴才

1. (historical, humble) Used by court eunuchs and officials during the Qing dynasty when addressing the emperor, as a term of self-reference: I, the servant

   • 奴才替天下百姓感激皇太后恩典！ [MSC, trad. and simp.]

     From: The Firmament of the Pleiades

     Núcái tì tiānxià bǎixìng gǎnjī huángtàihòu ēndiǎn! [Pinyin]

     I, on behalf of the people throughout the world, [hereby] express my gratitude for the kindness of the empress dowager!