吾輩

See also: 吾辈

Chinese

I; my contemporaries; generation; lifetime
trad. (吾輩)
simp. (吾辈)

Pronunciation



Rime
Character
Reading # 1/2 1/1
Initial () (31) (1)
Final () (23) (42)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open Closed
Division () I I
Fanqie
Baxter ngu pwojH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ŋuo/ /puʌiH/
Pan
Wuyun
/ŋuo/ /puoiH/
Shao
Rongfen
/ŋo/ /puɒiH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ŋɔ/ /pwəjH/
Li
Rong
/ŋo/ /puᴀiH/
Wang
Li
/ŋu/ /puɒiH/
Bernard
Karlgren
/ŋuo/ /puɑ̆iH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
bèi
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
ng4 bui3

Pronoun

吾輩

  1. (literary) we; us

Synonyms

Japanese

Kanji in this term
わが
Jinmeiyō
はい
Grade: S
yutōyomi
Alternative spellings
我輩
我が輩
吾が輩

Pronunciation

  • (Tokyo) がはい [wàgáháí] (Heiban – [0])[1]
  • IPA(key): [ɰᵝa̠ɡa̠ha̠i]

Pronoun

(わが)(はい) • (wagahai) 

  1. (dated) I, me; we, us
    • 190506, Natsume Sōseki, I Am a Cat (text here)
      (わが)(はい)(ねこ)である。()(まえ)はまだ()い。
      Wagahai wa neko de aru. Namae wa mada nai.
      I am a cat. As yet, I have no name.

Usage notes

  • This is uncommon and old-fashioned and conveys a nuance of self-importance and arrogance. When used today it's often a pun on the title of Natsume Sōseki's novel, and the usage follows the form 吾輩は……である. The closest pronoun widely used today is (おれ) (ore).

Synonyms

References

  1. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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