如何

Chinese
as (if); such as what
simp. and trad.
(如何)		 如 何
anagram 何如
Literally: “like what?”.

Pronunciation

Adverb

如何

(formal)
  1. how (in what manner)
    她教我如何游泳。  ―  Tā jiāo wǒ rúhé yóuyǒng.  ―  She taught me how to swim.
    你現在感覺如何？ / 你现在感觉如何？  ―  Nǐ xiànzài gǎnjué rúhé?  ―  How do you feel now?
    你覺得這個計劃如何？ [MSC, trad.]
    你觉得这个计划如何？ [MSC, simp.]
    Nǐ juéde zhè ge jìhuà rúhé? [Pinyin]
    What do you think of this plan?
    如何讓一個男生覺得你很特別？ [MSC, trad.]
    如何让一个男生觉得你很特别？ [MSC, simp.]
    Rúhé ràng yīge nánshēng juéde nǐ hěn tèbié? [Pinyin]
    How can you make a boy think you're special?
  2. how about ...? (used to make a suggestion)
    下週六如何？ / 下周六如何？  ―  Xià zhōuliù rúhé?  ―  How about next Saturday?

Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 怎樣 (“how”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese 如何
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 如何, 怎樣
Mandarin Beijing 怎麼樣兒, 怎樣兒
Taiwan 怎麼樣, 怎樣
Jinan 怎麼樣
Xi'an 咋樣兒
Wuhan 麼樣, 麼樣子, 哪樣, 哪樣子
Chengdu 咋個樣, 咋個樣子, 啷個樣, 啷個樣子
Yangzhou 怎們樣, 哪一個樣, 哪一個樣子
Hefei 怎樣
Cantonese Guangzhou 點樣, 點
Hong Kong 點樣, 點
Taishan 幾何
Gan Nanchang 啷樣, 啷
Hakka Meixian 仰般
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 仰般, 仰仔
Liudui (S. Sixian) 仰仔
Hsinchu (Hailu) 仰般
Dongshi (Dabu) 仰脣, 仰
Hsinchu (Raoping) 仰般, 仰般形
Yunlin (Zhao'an) 仰子
Jin Taiyuan 咋, 咋底
Min Dong Fuzhou 將樣, 蔣樣, 蔣其
Min Nan Xiamen 按怎, 怎樣
Quanzhou 障仔, 怎樣, 按怎
Zhangzhou 按怎, 怎樣
Taipei 按怎, 按怎樣
Kaohsiung 按怎, 按怎樣
Penang 按怎
Philippines (Manila) 障仔, 怎樣
Chaozhou 在生樣, 乜生樣, 做呢
Wu Shanghai 哪能, 哪能介, 哪能樣子
Suzhou 捺亨
Wenzhou 訾那, 訾那能
Xiang Changsha 何是, 何裡
Shuangfeng 麼家

Derived terms
  • 如何是好
  • 無可如何／无可如何

Japanese

Etymology 1
Kanji in this term
如 何
Grade: S Grade: 2
Irregular

From Old Japanese. Possibly from older form だう (dau), much like the shift from かう (kau) → こう (kō, “like this, this way”), or さう (sau) → そう (sō, “like that, that way”).

The kanji spelling is an example of jukujikun (熟字訓), using the corresponding Chinese term for the spelling and the underlying Japanese root word for the reading.

Pronunciation

Adverb

如何 (hiragana どう, rōmaji dō)

  1. in what manner, how
    どうやったの？
    Dō yatta no?
    How did you do it?
    どうやってもできない
    dō yatte mo dekinai
    can't do it no matter what
    どうだ！
    Dō da!
    How is it, huh? (smug/triumphant)
    どうだろう。
    Dō darō.
    I wonder.
    計画 (けいかく)がどうなっているのか知 (し)らない。
    Keikaku ga dō natteiru no ka shiranai.
    I don't know how the project is going.
  2. what about... (used to make a suggestion)
    お茶 (ちゃ)、どう？
    Ocha, dō?
    How about some tea?
    あなたはどうですか？
    Anata wa dō desu ka?
    How about you? / What about you?
Usage notes

The term dō is generally considered more prosaic and informal than the synonym いかが (ikaga).

More commonly spelled in hiragana as どう. The kanji spelling is rare.

Etymology 2
Kanji in this term
如 何
Grade: S か
Grade: 2
Irregular

From Old Japanese. Appears to be a compound of い (ka, uncertain element, might be the い prefix found in Old Japanese as an intensifier).

The kanji spelling is an example of jukujikun (熟字訓), using the corresponding Chinese term for the spelling and the underlying Japanese root word for the reading.

Pronunciation
  • (Irregular reading)
    • IPA(key): [ika̠]

Adjective

如何 (-na inflection, hiragana いか, rōmaji ika)

  1. what kind of
Usage notes

Some dictionaries[2] class this as a bound morpheme. In practice, it generally conjugates and behaves as a regular -na adjective. In formal writing, this is more commonly encountered using the classical attributive form 如何なる (ikanaru).

Inflection
Inflection of 如何
Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形) 如何だろ いかだろ ika daro
Continuative (連用形) 如何で いかで ika de
Terminal (終止形) 如何だ いかだ ika da
Attributive (連体形) 如何な いかな ika na
Hypothetical (仮定形) 如何なら いかなら ika nara
Imperative (命令形) 如何であれ いかであれ ika de are
Key constructions
Informal negative 如何ではない
如何じゃない		 いかではない
いかじゃない		 ika de wa nai
ika ja nai
Informal past 如何だった いかだった ika datta
Informal negative past 如何ではなかった
如何じゃなかった		 いかではなかった
いかじゃなかった		 ika de wa nakatta
ika ja nakatta
Formal 如何です いかです ika desu
Formal negative 如何ではありません
如何じゃありません		 いかではありません
いかじゃありません		 ika de wa arimasen
ika ja arimasen
Formal past 如何でした いかでした ika deshita
Formal negative past 如何ではありませんでした
如何じゃありませんでした		 いかではありませんでした
いかじゃありませんでした		 ika de wa arimasen deshita
ika ja arimasen deshita
Conjunctive 如何で いかで ika de
Conditional 如何なら（ば） いかなら（ば） ika nara (ba)
Provisional 如何だったら いかだったら ika dattara
Volitional 如何だろう いかだろう ika darō
Adverbial 如何に いかに ika ni
Degree 如何さ いかさ ikasa

Etymology 3
Kanji in this term
如 何
Grade: S か(が)
Grade: 2
Irregular

/ika ni ka/ → */ikanka/ → /ikanɡa/ → /ikaɡa/

Originally a phrase consisting of 如何 (ika, “what kind”) +‎ に (ni, adverbial particle) +‎ か (ka, question marker particle).[2][1]

Pronunciation
  • (Irregular reading)

Adverb

如何 (hiragana いかが, rōmaji ikaga)

  1. in what manner, how
  2. what about... (used to make a suggestion)
    お茶 (ちゃ)はいかがでしょうか。
    Ocha wa ikaga deshō ka.
    How about some tea?
Usage notes

The term ikaga is generally considered more formal and polite than the synonym どう (dō).

More commonly spelled in hiragana as いかが. The kanji spelling is rare.

Etymology 4
Kanji in this term
如 何
Grade: S か(ん)
Grade: 2
Irregular

/ika ni/ → /ikan/

Originally a phrase consisting of 如何 (ika, “what kind”) +‎ に (ni, adverbial particle),[2][1] the normal adverbial form of adjective ika above.

Pronunciation
  • (Irregular reading)

Noun

如何 (hiragana いかん, rōmaji ikan)

  1. the whatevers, the whys and wherefores
    理 (り)由 (ゆう)の如 (い)何 (かん)を問 (と)わず
    riyū no ikan o towazu
    without getting into the whys and wherefores of the reasons

Adverb

如何 (hiragana いかん, rōmaji ikan)

  1. howsoever, however [it may be]
Usage notes

Generally used at the end of a sentence to express doubt.

Derived terms
Derived terms
  • 如 (い)何 (かん)が (ikanga): in what manner, how (superseded by modern ikaga; see above)
  • 如 (い)何 (かん)せん (ikansen): no matter what (in a negative connotation), unfortunately
  • 如 (い)何 (かん)ぞ (ikanzo): howsoever, however [it may be] (more intense than ikan on its own)
  • 如 (い)何 (かん)とも (ikantomo): no matter what (in a negative connotation), unfortunately

See also
Japanese demonstratives
ko-
“this”
(close to speaker)		 so-
“that”
(close to listener)		 a-
“that over there”
(far from both)		 do-
“which”
(indeterminate, question)
Object これ (kore) それ (sore) あれ (are) どれ (dore)
これら (korera) それら (sorera) あれら (arera) —
Determiner この (kono) その (sono) あの (ano) どの (dono)
これらの (korera no) それらの (sorera no) あれらの (arera no) —
Kind こんな (konna) そんな (sonna) あんな (anna) どんな (donna)
Place ここ (koko) そこ (soko) あそこ (asoko)* どこ (doko)
Direction こちら (kochira) そちら (sochira) あちら (achira) どちら (dochira)
こっち (kotchi) そっち (sotchi) あっち (atchi) どっち (dotchi)
Human こいつ (koitsu) そいつ (soitsu) あいつ (aitsu) どいつ (doitsu)
Manner こう (kō) そう (sō) ああ (ā)** どう (dō)
* irregular
** regular (long vowel)

References
  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.