無定著

Chinese

		not have	surely; certainly
trad. (無定著/無定着)		無	定著/定着
simp. (无定着)		无	定着

Pronunciation

Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): mò-thin-chho̍k

(Hailu, HRS): mo tin^˖ chog^ˋ
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): bo² dia⁵ dieo⁷ / bo² diann⁵ dieo⁷
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bô-tiāⁿ-tio̍h

Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mò-thin-chho̍k
  - Hakka Romanization System: mo^ˇ tin cog
  - Hagfa Pinyim: mo² tin⁴ cog⁶
  - Sinological IPA: /mo¹¹ tʰin⁵⁵ t͡sʰok̚⁵/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
  - Hakka Romanization System: mo tin^˖ chog^ˋ
  - Sinological IPA: /mo⁵⁵ tʰin³³ t͡ʃʰok²/
Puxian Min
- (Putian)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: bo² dia⁵ dieo⁷ [Phonetic: bo⁵ dia⁵ dieo⁷]
  - Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: beó-diāⁿ-da̤u̍h
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /po¹³⁻¹¹ tia¹¹ tieu¹³/
- (Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: bo² diann⁵ dieo⁷ [Phonetic: bo⁵ diann⁵ dieo⁷]
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /po²⁴⁻²¹ tĩã²¹ tieu²⁴/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou, General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-tiāⁿ-tio̍h
  - Tâi-lô: bô-tiānn-tio̍h
  - Phofsit Daibuun: boi'dviaxdioih
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /bo¹³⁻²² tiã²²⁻²¹ tioʔ¹²¹/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bɤ²³⁻³³ tiã³³⁻²¹ tiɤʔ⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /bo²⁴⁻²² tiã⁴¹⁻²² tioʔ²⁴/
  - IPA (Xiamen): /bo²⁴⁻²² tiã²²⁻²¹ tioʔ⁴/
  - IPA (Taipei): /bo²⁴⁻¹¹ tiã³³⁻¹¹ tioʔ⁴/

Adverb

無定著

(Hokkien) may not; not necessarily
(Hokkien, Taiwanese Hakka) perhaps; maybe

Synonyms

(may not):

不一定 (bùyīdìng)
不必 (bùbì)
不見得 / 不见得 (bùjiàndé)
唔一定 (m⁴ jat¹ ding⁶) (Cantonese)
未嘗 / 未尝 (wèicháng) (literary)
未始 (wèishǐ) (literary)
未必 (wèibì)
未必然 (Xiamen Hokkien, Zhangzhou Hokkien)
未見得 / 未见得 (uei⁴ jienn⁴ de⁶) (Xiang)
無一定 / 无一定 (Hokkien)
無拄拄 / 无拄拄 (Hokkien)
無的確 / 无的确 (Min Nan)

(perhaps):

也許 / 也许 (yěxǔ)
保不住 (bǎobuzhù) (colloquial)
保不定 (bǎobudìng) (colloquial)
保不齊 / 保不齐 (bǎobuqí) (colloquial)
備不住 / 备不住 (bèibuzhù) (regional)
凡勢 / 凡势 (hoān-sè) (Taiwanese Hokkien)
博定 (Zhangzhou Hokkien)
可能 (kěnéng)
容許 / 容许 (róngxǔ) (literary)
怕係 / 怕系 (Hakka)
怕是 (pàshì)
或者 (huòzhě)
或許 / 或许 (huòxǔ)
指不定 (zhǐbùdìng)
搞不好 (gǎobùhǎo)
歉采 (Hokkien)
殼張 / 壳张 (Wu, dated)
沒準兒 / 没准儿 (méizhǔnr) (colloquial)
興許 / 兴许 (xīngxǔ) (colloquial)
話勿出 / 话勿出 (⁶gho-veq-tsheq) (Wu)
話唔埋 / 话唔埋 (waa⁶ m⁴ maai⁴) (Cantonese)
話唔定 / 话唔定 (waa⁶ m⁴ ding⁶) (Cantonese)
說不定 / 说不定 (shuōbùdìng)
講勿定 / 讲勿定 (⁵kaon-veq-din) (Wu)
講唔定 / 讲唔定 (gong² m⁴ ding⁶) (Cantonese)
難免 / 难免 (nánmiǎn)

Adjective

無定著

(Hokkien, Puxian Min) restless, unable to stay still (mostly refers to children)
(Hokkien, Puxian Min) capricious and inconsistant (of one's words and behavior); constantly changing (of affairs of life)

Further reading

小川尚義 (OGAWA Naoyoshi), editor (1931–1932), “無定著”, in 臺日大辭典 [Taiwanese-Japanese Dictionary]‎^[1] (overall work in Hokkien and Japanese), Taihoku: Government-General of Taiwan, →OCLC
“無定著”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.
周长楫 [Zhōu, Chángjí], editor (2006), “无定著”, in 闽南方言大词典 MINNAN FANGYAN DA CIDIAN [Dictionary of Southern Min dialects] (overall work in Hokkien and Mandarin), Fuzhou: 福建人民出版社 [Fujian People's Publishing House], →ISBN, page 126.
“Entry #3567”, in 臺灣客語辭典 [Dictionary of Taiwan Hakka] (overall work in Chinese and Hakka), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2022.
莆田市政协文化文史和学习委员会 [Culture, History and Learning Committee of Putian CPPCC], editor (2021), “无定著”, in 莆仙方言大词典 [Comprehensive Dictionary of Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 44.