點鐘

See also: 点钟

Chinese

		point; dot; (decimal) point point; dot; (decimal) point; o'clock; (measure word)	clock; time as measured in hours and minutes; bell
trad. (點鐘)		點	鐘
simp. (点钟)		点	钟
nonstandard simp.		奌钟
anagram		鐘點／钟点

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): diǎnzhōng

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄓㄨㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): dim² zung¹
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): tiám-chûng

  (Hailu, HRS): diam^ˊ zhung^ˋ

• Northern Min (KCR): dǎng-cé̤ng
• Eastern Min (BUC): dēng-cṳ̆ng
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): dieng³ zoeng¹ / dieng³ zyeng¹
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): tiám-cheng

  (Teochew, Peng'im): diam² zêng¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: diǎnzhōng
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄓㄨㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: diǎnjhong
    • Wade–Giles: tien³-chung¹
    • Yale: dyǎn-jūng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: deanjong
    • Palladius: дяньчжун (djanʹčžun)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ti̯ɛn²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʊŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: dim² zung¹
    • Yale: dím jūng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dim² dzung¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: dim² zung¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tiːm³⁵ t͡sʊŋ⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: tiám-chûng
    • Hakka Romanization System: diam^ˋ zung^ˊ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: diam³ zung¹
    • Sinological IPA: /ti̯am³¹ t͡suŋ²⁴/
  • (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
    • Hakka Romanization System: diam^ˊ zhung^ˋ
    • Sinological IPA: /tiam²⁴⁻³³ t͡ʃuŋ⁵³/
• Northern Min
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: dǎng-cé̤ng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /taŋ²¹ t͡sœyŋ⁵⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: dēng-cṳ̆ng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɛiŋ³³⁻²¹ ^(t͡s-)ʒyŋ⁵⁵/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: dieng³ zoeng¹ [Phonetic: dieng⁵ noeng¹]
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tiɛŋ⁴⁵³⁻²¹ ^(t͡s-)nœŋ⁵³³/
  • (Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: dieng³ zyeng¹ [Phonetic: dieng⁵ nyeng¹]
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tiɛŋ³³²⁻²¹ ^(t͡s-)nyøŋ⁵³³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tiám-cheng
    • Tâi-lô: tiám-tsing
    • Phofsit Daibuun: diafmzefng
    • IPA (Xiamen): /tiam⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡siɪŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /tiam⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ t͡siɪŋ³³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /tiam⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡siɪŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /tiam⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡siɪŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /tiam⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ t͡siɪŋ⁴⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: diam² zêng¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tiám tseng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tiam⁵²⁻³⁵ t͡seŋ³³/

Classifier

點鐘

1. o'clock

   五點鐘／五点钟 [Cantonese]  ―  ng⁵ dim² zung¹ [Jyutping]  ―  five o'clock

2. (dialectal) hour

   • 伊企hia有幾若點鐘久，到日暗，顧公所ê人來hōaⁿ伊ê肩頭講：「Iáu-bōe，反轉。」 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
     伊企hia有几若点钟久，到日暗，顾公所ê人来hōaⁿ伊ê肩头讲：「Iáu-bōe，反转。」 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

     From: 1889, "Si̍t-tián-má", in 台灣府城教會報 Tâi-ôan Hú-siâⁿ Kàu-hōe-pò, volumes 50–51

     I khiā hia ū kúi-nā tiám-cheng kú, kàu ji̍t-àm, kò͘ kong-só͘ ê lâng lâi hōaⁿ i ê keng-thâu kóng: “Iáu-bōe, hoán-tńg.” [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 一日讀幾多點鐘書呢。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     一日读几多点钟书呢。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 1902, J. Dyer Ball, How to Speak Cantonese, 54

     jat¹ jat⁶ duk⁶ gei² do¹ dim² zung¹ syu¹ ni¹. [Jyutping]

     How many hours do you study a day?

   • 一點鐘行得幾多里路度呢。 [Cantonese, trad.]
     一点钟行得几多里路度呢。 [Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 1907, J. Dyer Ball, Cantonese Made Easy, 28

     jat¹ dim² zung¹ haang⁴ dak¹ gei² do¹ lei⁵ lou⁶ dou^6-2 ni¹. [Jyutping]

     How many li will it go in an hour?

   • 我那個鬼地方連請兩點鐘假，也要扣薪水 [MSC, trad.]
     我那个鬼地方连请两点钟假，也要扣薪水 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1947, Ba Jin, 寒夜 [Cold Nights], bilingual edition, →ISBN, chapter 3

     wǒ nàge guǐ dìfāng lián qǐng liǎng diǎnzhōng jià, yě yào kòu xīnshuǐ [Pinyin]

     They'll deduct my salary even for a two hour absence. That damn place!

3. (Puxian Min) clock

Usage notes

• Unlike Mandarin and Cantonese, this word is not used for o'clock in Southern Min. For o'clock, simply use 點／点 (tiám) (ex. saⁿ-tiám = 3 o'clock).

Synonyms

• (hour):

Dialectal synonyms of 小時 (“hour (counting)”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		小時 ‡, 鐘頭 †, 鐘點
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	小時 ‡, 鐘頭 †
	Harbin	鐘頭 †, 鐘點兒 †
	Malaysia	小時 †
	Singapore	小時 †, 鐘頭 †
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	鐘頭 †
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	鐘頭兒 †, 鐘點兒 †
	Wanrong	鐘頭兒 †
Southwestern Mandarin	Liuzhou	鐘頭 †
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	鐘頭子 †
Cantonese	Guangzhou	鐘 †, *, 鐘頭 †, 點鐘 ×
	Hong Kong	鐘 †, §, 鐘頭 †
	Taishan	鐘頭 †
	Dongguan	點鐘 ×
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	鐘 †
	Penang (Guangfu)	鐘 †
	Singapore (Guangfu)	鐘 †
Gan	Nanchang	鐘頭 †
	Lichuan	鐘頭 †
Hakka	Meixian	點鐘 ×
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	點鐘 ×
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	點鐘 ×
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	點鐘 ×
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	點鐘 ×
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	點鐘 ×
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	點鐘 ×
Huizhou	Jixi	鐘頭 †
Jin	Taiyuan	鐘頭 †
Northern Min	Jian'ou	點鐘 ×, 鐘頭 ¶
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	點鐘 ×
	Singapore (Fuqing)	點鐘 ×
Southern Min	Xiamen	點鐘 ×
	Shishi	點鐘 ×
	Tainan	點鐘 ×
	Penang (Hokkien)	點鐘 ×
	Singapore (Hokkien)	點鐘 ×
	Manila (Hokkien)	點鐘 ×
	Chaozhou	點鐘 ×
	Shantou	點鐘 ×
	Shantou (Chenghai)	點鐘 ×
	Jieyang	點鐘 ×
	Singapore (Teochew)	點鐘 ×
	Haikou	鐘頭 †
	Singapore (Hainanese)	點鐘 ×
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	鐘 †, 鐘頭 †, 點鐘 ×
	Zhongshan (Sanxiang)	點鐘 ×
Wu	Shanghai	鐘頭 †
	Danyang	鐘頭 †
	Ningbo	鐘頭 †
Note	† - requires the classifier 個; ‡ - can be used with or without the classifier 個; § - requires the classifier 粒; * - requires the classifier 句; ¶ - requires the classifier 隻; × - cannot be used with a classifier

• (clock):

Dialectal synonyms of 時鐘 (“clock”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		時鐘
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	時鐘
	Malaysia	時鐘
	Singapore	時鐘
Southwestern Mandarin	Liuzhou	時辰鐘
Cantonese	Guangzhou	時鐘, 時辰鐘
	Hong Kong	鐘, 時鐘
	Dongguan	時辰鐘
Hakka	Meixian	時鐘
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	時鐘仔
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	時鐘仔, 時鐘
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	時鐘
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	時鐘
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	時鐘
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	時鐘
Southern Min	Tainan	時鐘 GT
	Manila (Hokkien)	時鐘
Puxian Min	Putian	點鐘
	Xianyou	點鐘
Wu	Shanghai	時鐘
	Wenzhou	時辰鐘
Note	GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

Derived terms

• 幾點鐘／几点钟 (jǐdiǎnzhōng)

 

Further reading

• “Entry #12507”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2024.
• 莆田市政协文化文史和学习委员会 [Culture, History and Learning Committee of Putian CPPCC], editor (2021), “点钟”, in 莆仙方言大词典 [Comprehensive Dictionary of Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 149.