了

了 (radical 6, 亅+1, 2 strokes, cangjie input 弓弓 (NN), four-corner 1720₇, composition ⿱乛亅)

• 𡤼, 𠆨, 𠖭, 𠮩, 𢆳, 𢩪, 𣱾, 𭨥, 𣎸, 𣬝, 辽, 𤽀, 𭾙, 䄦, 𪜜, 𥾇, 𬚊, 䑠, 𧘈, 𧺐, 𧾿, 𪞠, 釕(钌), 𫘵, 𩵌, 𩾒(𬷽), 𪌀, 𬼷, 𭣡, 𬻺, 𪟽, 㝋, 𭙏, 𦫼, 疗, 𥤣, 亨, 爳, 𬼶, 𠙶, 叾, 𬼹, 𠄏

Wikidata

• KangXi: page 85, character 11
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 226
• Dae Jaweon: page 173, character 20
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 48, character 6
• Unihan data for U+4E86

• Unihan data for U+F9BA

Historical forms of the character 了
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script
Small seal script s10990 Transcribed ancient scripts L16444 L16445 L16446 L16447 L16448 L16449 L16450
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

Pictogram (象形) – a baby wrapped in a blanket, with only the head visible. Compare with 子, where the arms are visible.

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Verb “to finish; to be completed” > perfective aspect particle (了₁, weakened form) > change-of-state modal particle (了₂).

Two kinds of particle uses of 了 can be distinguished: the perfective aspect particle after verbs (conventionally written as 了₁) and the sentence-final modal particle (了₂). It is generally accepted (Wu, 1998) that these two uses of 了 are derived from the concrete verb “to finish”. The grammaticalisation of this verb had become common in the Tang Dynasty, initially in the form of ‹verb + (object) + perfective 了› to indicate the completion of an action.

The perfective particle subsequently underwent further grammaticalisation to become the sentence-final change-of-state modal particle; Liu (1985) has demonstrated that this last step may have involved the coalescence of sentence-final 了 with 也 in certain Mandarin dialects, as the pronunciations of 了₁ and 了₂ are distinct in these lects, with 了₂ rhyming with 也.

This word is cognate with Thai แล้ว (lɛ́ɛo, “to be finished; already; then, afterwards”), Lao ແລ້ວ (lǣu, “to finish; to be completed; perfective particle”) (Schuessler, 2007).

了

1. Used after a verb to indicate perfective aspect (action completion).

   我吃了一個蘋果。 / 我吃了一个苹果。  ―  Wǒ chī le yī ge píngguǒ.  ―  I ate an apple. / I have eaten an apple.

   • 他在北京住了兩年。 [MSC, trad.]
     他在北京住了两年。 [MSC, simp.]

     Tā zài Běijīng zhù le liǎng nián. [Pinyin]

     He lived in Beijing for two years.

2. Used at the end of a sentence to indicate a change of state.

   他是大學生了。 / 他是大学生了。  ―  Tā shì dàxuéshēng le.  ―  He has become a student / He is a student now.

3. Used at the end of a sentence to inform the beginning of an action.

   我走了。  ―  Wǒ zǒu le.  ―  I'm leaving now.

• (perfective aspect particle): Most of the time, 了 is translated by a past tense. But it can also indicate that one action is completed before another.

  你吃了以後叫我。 / 你吃了以后叫我。  ―  Nǐ chī le yǐhòu jiào wǒ.  ―  Call me when you are done eating.

• (change of state particle): When used as the change of state particle, 了 can be translated by “now”, “already” or “not anymore”.

  我會說中文了。 / 我会说中文了。  ―  Wǒ huì shuō zhōngwén le.  ―  I can speak Chinese now. (I couldn't before.)

  我喝醉了。  ―  Wǒ hēzuì le.  ―  I'm drunk.

  沒有紙了。 / 没有纸了。  ―  Méiyǒu zhǐ le.  ―  There's no paper anymore.

• In a question, 了 is put before the particle 嗎／吗 (ma).

了

1. to be finished; to be completed
2. to end; to finish
3. to understand; to comprehend

   了解  ―  liǎojiě  ―  to understand; to realize

4. clear; plain; understandable
5. bright; intelligent; smart
6. (in negative sentences) completely; utterly; entirely
7. Used with 不 (bù) or 得 (de) after verbs to express possibility.

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

• Go-on: りょう (ryō, Jōyō)^{←れう (reu, historical)}
• Kan-on: りょう (ryō, Jōyō)^{←れう (reu, historical)}
• Kun: おえる (oeru, 了える)^{←をへる (woferu, historical)}; おわる (owaru, 了わる)^{←をはる (wofaru, historical)}; しまう (shimau, 了う)^{←しまふ (simafu, historical)}; ついに (tsuini, 了に)^{←つひに (tufini, historical)}

• 完 (かん)了 (りょう) (kanryō)
• 終 (しゅう)了 (りょう) (shūryō)
• 未 (み)了 (りょう) (miryō)
• 了解 (りょうかい) (ryōkai)
• 了 (りょう)承 (しょう) (ryōshō)

了 (hiragana りょう, rōmaji ryō)

1. end
2. (art works): concluded

了 (hiragana さとる, rōmaji Satoru)

1. A male given name

了 • (ryo>yo) (hangeul 료>요)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

了: Hán Việt readings: liễu (盧(lô)鳥(điểu)切(thiết))[1][2][3], kiết[3]
了: Nôm readings: lểu[1][2][4][5], lẽo[1][2][3], liễu[1][2][5], lẻo[1][2], léo[1][4], líu[1][4], lếu[3][4], sáu[1], lèo[1], tréo[2]

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.