冇

冇 (radical 13, 冂+2, 4 strokes, cangjie input 大月 (KB) or X大月 (XKB), four-corner 4022₇, composition ⿸𠂇冂)

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 128, character 35
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 96, character 17
• Unihan data for U+5187

From the removal of the two inner strokes from 有 (“to have”).

From 無 (MC mɨo, “to not have”), fused with 有 (MC ɦɨu^X, “to have”) (Schuessler, 2007).

冇

1. (dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese, dialectal Gan, Hakka, dialectal Wu, Xiang) to not have; to not exist

   你冇女朋友？梗係唔信啦！……或者有。你唔知啫。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   你冇女朋友？梗系唔信啦！……或者有。你唔知啫。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   From: 陳慧嫻, 紅茶館

   Nei⁵ mou⁵ neoi⁵ pang⁴ jau⁵? Gang² hai⁶ m⁴ seon³ laa¹!...... Waak⁶ ze² jau⁵. Nei⁵ m⁴ zi¹ ze¹. [Jyutping]

   You don't have a girlfriend? Of course I don't believe you! ... Maybe you do have one, but you just don't know it.

   冇理由㗎。 [Cantonese]  ―  Mou⁵ lei⁵ jau⁴ gaa³. [Jyutping]  ―  Impossible.

2. (dialectal Mandarin, Cantonese, Xiang) have not; did not (do something) (indicating non-completion of a verb)

   我冇同佢講。 / 我冇同佢讲。 [Cantonese]  ―  Ngo⁵ mou⁵ tung⁴ keoi⁵ gong². [Jyutping]  ―  I did not tell him.

   佢幾個月都冇嚟。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   佢几个月都冇嚟。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   Keoi⁵ gei² go³ jyut⁶ dou¹ mou⁵ lai⁴. [Jyutping]

   He hasn't come for a few months.

• Originally from Cantonese, the meaning of this character is now passively understood by many Mandarin speakers.

Compare Saek [script needed] (phoong^C2, “hollow; hole (in a tree, bamboo)”), Proto-Bahnaric *pɔːŋ (“hollow; flattened”) (Schuessler, 2007).

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

冇

1. (Min, Hakka) empty; hollow; spongy; not sturdy

   冇柴 [Min Nan]  ―  phàⁿ-chhâ [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  porous wood

2. (Min, Hakka) unreliable; undependable; casual
3. (Min Nan) extravagant; generous

   冇手 [Min Nan]  ―  phàⁿ-chhiú [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  generous

4. (Hakka) insufficient; lacking

冇 (mậu)

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