liao

See also: Liao, liáo, liào, liāo, and liǎo

English

Alternative forms

• leow

Etymology

Borrowed from Hokkien 了 (liáu) or Teochew 了 (liao²). Tone and spelling influenced by Mandarin liǎo.

Pronunciation

• (Singapore) IPA^(key): [ljaʊ˨˩]

Particle

liao

1. (Singlish, Manglish) Indicates perfective aspect (action completion) or change of state.

   Synonym: (Singlish, via semantic loan) already

   I run 4 laps liao. ― I just ran 4 laps.

   It’s going to rain liao. ― It’s going to start raining soon.

   Reach liao, give me a call. ― Give me a call once you’re here.

   You decorate the cake liao? ― Have you decorated the cake yet?

   Damn shack liao, need to go back and sleep. ― I’m really tired now, I need to go back and sleep.

Related terms

• mai tu liao
• win liao lor

 

See also

• bo liao (unrelated etymologically)
• (Singlish particles): ah, hor, know, lah, leh, lor, mah, meh, one, sia, what

Anagrams

• Aloi, Oail

Mandarin

Romanization

liao

1. Nonstandard spelling of liāo.
2. Nonstandard spelling of liáo.
3. Nonstandard spelling of liǎo.
4. Nonstandard spelling of liào.

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.