dong6碭砀
Jyutpingdong6
Yaledohng
Definition
Stone with colored veins, or to overflow; also used to mean suddenly.
- stone with colored veins
- to overflow or wash away
- literarysuddenly or abruptly
dateddescriptionsother
How it's used
This character is rarely used in modern daily speech and is often replaced by characters like 呆 or 愣 when describing a sudden state of being stunned or frozen. It carries a literary or regional nuance that feels quite distinct from standard colloquial vocabulary. You will mostly encounter it in older texts or specific regional dialects rather than in everyday Hong Kong conversation.
Examples
He suddenly seemed to go blank and stopped talking.
Why are you suddenly standing there frozen?
Related words
Common mistake
Learners often confuse this with 盪 which relates to swinging or moving back and forth. Using this in a casual sentence might confuse native speakers who are more accustomed to using 呆 for being stunned.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
