咗

咗 (radical 30, 口+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 口大一 (RKM), composition ⿰口左)

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 185, character 21
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 599, character 4
• Unihan data for U+5497

First attested in 《散語四十章》 (1877) as 阻 (Yue, 2004).

Probably from 著; the pronunciation may be due to influence from Mandarin zhuó (Chan, 1998).

Chan (1995) proposes that the original character is 𧇣 (MC d͡zuo^H, “to go”); others (including Jimmy Pang and Chapman Chan) have similarly proposed 徂 (MC d͡zuo, “to go”) to be the original character. These derivations are phonologically and semantically problematic.

咗

1. (Cantonese) Used to emphasise an action which has been completed and whose result still applies to the present situation. It roughly translates to the past tense in English.

   佢哋啱啱走咗。 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

   Keoi⁵ dei⁶ ngaam¹ ngaam¹ zau² zo². [Jyutping]

   They left just now.

   阿媽尋日煲咗湯。佢而家去咗超級市場買餸。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   阿妈寻日煲咗汤。佢而家去咗超级市场买𩠌。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   Aa³ maa¹ cam⁴ jat⁶ bou¹ zo² tong¹. Keoi⁵ ji⁴ gaa¹ heoi³ zo² ciu¹ kap¹ si⁵ coeng⁴ maai⁵ sung³. [Jyutping]

   My mum made soup yesterday. Now, she has gone grocery shopping in the supermarket.

   食咗就冇 [Cantonese]  ―  sik⁶ zo² zau⁶ mou⁵ [Jyutping]  ―  if you eat it there will not be any more

咗

1. A chant sound made while working.