阿Q

Chinese

		phonetic; (final part.); (interj.) phonetic; (final part.); (interj.); flatter; an initial particle; prefix to names of people
simp. and trad. (阿Q)		阿	Q

Etymology

From the name of the main character in Lu Xun's novella The True Story of Ah Q (《阿Q正傳》/《阿Q正传》) who believes his defeats are victories.

The original pronunciation of the character's name was "Quei", which should be written as "Guì" in modern Pinyin, but was shortened to "Q" because the protagonist did not know with which character his name should be written (possibly 貴／贵 or 桂 in context of given names).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Ā-qiū, Ā-kiū, Ā-guì, Ā-kǜ

  (Zhuyin): ㄚ ㄑㄧㄡ, ㄚ ㄎㄧㄡ, ㄚ ㄍㄨㄟˋ, ㄚ ㄎㄩˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): aa³ kiu¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): A-khiu
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁷aq-khieu

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Ā-Q
    • Zhuyin: ㄚ ㄑㄧㄡ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Aciou
    • Wade–Giles: A¹-chʻiu¹
    • Yale: Ā-chyōu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Achiou
    • Palladius: Ацю (Acju)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀä⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Ā-Q
    • Zhuyin: ㄚ ㄎㄧㄡ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Akiou
    • Wade–Giles: A¹-kʻiu¹
    • Yale: Ā-kyōu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Akiou
    • Palladius: Акю (Akju)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀä⁵⁵ kʰi̯oʊ̯⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, original intended pronunciation)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Ā-Q
    • Zhuyin: ㄚ ㄍㄨㄟˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Aguèi
    • Wade–Giles: A¹-kuei⁴
    • Yale: Ā-gwèi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Aguey
    • Palladius: Агуй (Aguj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀä⁵⁵ ku̯eɪ̯⁵¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Ā-Q
    • Zhuyin: ㄚ ㄎㄩˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Akyù
    • Wade–Giles: A¹-kʻü⁴
    • Yale: Ā-kyù
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Akiuh
    • Palladius: Акюй (Akjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀä⁵⁵ kʰy⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: aa³ kiu¹
    • Yale: a kīu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: aa³ kiu¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: a³ kiu¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /aː³³ kʰiːu̯⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: A-khiu
    • Tâi-lô: A-khiu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: a'qiw
    • IPA (Xiamen): /a⁴⁴⁻²² kʰiu⁴⁴/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁷aq-khieu
    • MiniDict: ah^入 khieu
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ⁴aq-khieu
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /aʔ³³ kʰiɤ⁴⁴/

Proper noun

阿Q

1. Ah Q; the main character in Lu Xun's The True Story of Ah Q

   • 阿Q想在心裏的，後來每每說出口來，所以凡是和阿Q玩笑的人們，幾乎全知道他有這一種精神上的勝利法。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     阿Q想在心里的，后来每每说出口来，所以凡是和阿Q玩笑的人们，几乎全知道他有这一种精神上的胜利法。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: 魯迅 Lu Xun, 《阿Q正傳》 The True Story of Ah Q, 1921; translation by Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang.

     Āguì xiǎng zài xīnlǐ de, hòulái měiměi shuō chūkǒu lái, suǒyǐ fánshì hé Āguì wánxiào de rénmen, jǐ hū quán zhīdào tā yǒu zhè yī zhǒng jīngshénshàng de shènglìfǎ. [Pinyin]

     Whatever Ah Q thought he was sure to tell people later; thus almost all who made fun of Ah Q knew that he had this means of winning a psychological victory.

Noun

阿Q

1. a person who acts like Ah Q; a person who consoles himself/herself after a defeat by not admitting it but telling himself/herself that he/she is the true victor

Derived terms

• 阿Q精神

 

Descendants

• → Zhuang: Ah Giuh
• → Vietnamese: AQ