Borrowed fromHokkien了(liáu) orTeochew了(liao2). Tone and spelling influenced byMandarinliǎo.
liao
- (Singlish, Manglish)Indicatesperfective aspect (action completion) orchange of state.
- Synonym:(Singlish, viasemantic loan)already
- I run 4 lapsliao. ―I just ran 4 laps.
- It’s going to rainliao. ―It’s going tostart raining soon.
- Reachliao, give me a call. ―Give me a callwhen you’ve reached.
- You decorate the cakeliao? ―Have you decorated the cake yet?
- Damnshagliao, need to go back and sleep. ―I’m really tirednow, I need to go back and sleep.
- bo liao(unrelated etymologically)
- (Singlish particles):ah,hor,know,lah,leh,lor,mah,meh,one,sia,what
FromMandarin料(liào,“ingredients”).
liao (uncountable)
- (Singapore, colloquial)Meats,vegetables, and other solidingredients andgarnishes added to an otherwise plaindish.
2019 August 24, Yeo Boon Ping, quoting Zachary Tang, “If Zi Char Dishes Were In A Battle Royale, Which Would Come Out Tops?”, inricemedia.co[1], archived fromthe original on12 July 2024:But for all the eggs andliao (ingredients) you have, it isn’tgao (strong).
Mainly used by Chinese Singaporeans and other speakers familiar withMandarin.
liao
- Nonstandard spelling ofliāo.
- Nonstandard spelling ofliáo.
- Nonstandard spelling ofliǎo.
- Nonstandard spelling ofliào.
- Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the criticaltonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
