ding1仃

Jyutpingding1

Yaledīng

Definition

Alone; lonely.

colloquialpeopledescriptions

How it's used

The character 仃 is rarely used on its own in modern spoken Cantonese. It almost exclusively appears as part of the reduplicated compound 孤伶伶, which emphasizes a sense of loneliness or being physically isolated. Using 仃 by itself sounds archaic or overly literary, so stick to the full compound for natural speech.

Common phrases

gu1孤ling1伶ling1伶

all alone

Common mistake

Do not confuse 仃 with 丁, which is a common measure word or part of the phrase 丁點. Learners often mistake the two because they look similar, but they have completely different meanings and grammatical functions.