唉

Mandarin · pinyin āi#

Meanings · āi

  1. interjection or grunt of agreement or recognition (e.g. yes, it's me!)
  2. to sigh
Mandarin · pinyin ài#

Meanings · ài

  1. alas
  2. oh dear
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Characters in this entry

唉
āi · alas, exclamation of surprise or pain
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1 · ai1

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1character link16same-tone records
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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

aai1 · aai3 · aai6 · ngaai6 · oi1

Cantonese word readings for 唉. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character

  1. interjection or grunt of agreement; yes; right
  2. sighing interjection; ah; alas

character

  1. interjection or grunt of agreement; yes; right
  2. sighing interjection; ah; alas
  3. interjection expressing sadness, disappointment, regret, etc.; ah; alas

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

唉 · ai1 · ai4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source lines 21,931, 21,932
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source records唉 唉 [ai1] /interjection or grunt of agreement or recognition (e.g. yes, it's me!)/to sigh/唉 唉 [ai4] /alas/oh dear/