脫了

Chinese

	perfective	perfective
trad. (脫了)	脫	了
simp. (脱了)	脱	了
alternative forms	脫嘞／脱嘞脫勒／脱勒脫拉／脱拉

Pronunciation

Wu (Wiktionary): theq leq (T4)

Wu
- (Shanghainese)
  - Wiktionary: theq leq (T4)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰəʔ³³ ləʔ⁴⁴/

Particle

脫了

(Northern Wu) Used to indicate the occurrence of an action that results in a loss, vanishment or a negative outcome.
腦子壞脫了／脑子坏脱了 [Shanghainese] ― [nɔ²² t͡sz̩⁴⁴ ɦɯa̱²² tʰəʔ⁵⁵ ləʔ²¹] [IPA] ― Brain's busted
太陽撥雲遮脫了。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
太阳拨云遮脱了。 [Shanghainese, simp.]
[tʰa̱³³ ɦiã⁴⁴ pəʔ⁴⁴ ɦʏɲ²³ t͡so⁵⁵ tʰəʔ³³ ləʔ²¹] [IPA]
The sun was hidden by the clouds.
(Northern Wu) Used to indicate that the consumption or disposition of a certain number of objects has been completed.
(Northern Wu) Used to indicate that the completion of a due task has been achieved.

Usage notes

The terms 脫了, 脫, and 了 (and/or variations of which) all indicate the perfective aspect in a number of Northern Wu languages, though they do differ in use. The vocabulary and grammar used will be based on Shanghainese, though it can be appropriated to others.

脫／脱 most basically connotes the vanishing or, harm to, or disadvantage to something resulting from an action. Compare the following:

死脫／死脱 [Shanghainese] ― [ɕi³³ tʰəʔ⁴⁴] [IPA] ― to die, (one is dead and vanished)
瘦脫／瘦脱 [Shanghainese] ― [sɜ³³ tʰəʔ⁴⁴] [IPA] ― to lose weight (one's weight is decreased)
壞脫／坏脱 [Shanghainese] ― [ɦɯa̱²² tʰəʔ⁴⁴] [IPA] ― to spoil; to break (the object was harmed having become spoilt or unusable)

From there, it was broadened to generally refer to the completedness, vanishing, or disposal of a thing or task, eg.:

搿物事摜脫！ [Shanghainese, trad.]
搿物事掼脱！ [Shanghainese, simp.]
[ɡ̊əʔ¹² məʔ¹¹ z̥z̩²³ ɡ̊ɯe̞²² tʰəʔ⁴⁴] [IPA]
Throw that thing away!
功課做脫／功课做脱 [Shanghainese] ― [kʊŋ⁵⁵ kʰv̩ʷ²¹ t͡sv̩ʷ³³ tʰəʔ⁴⁴] [IPA] ― Get homework finished

了 has two basic uses, one of which is as a modal particle and the other is as an aspect particle.

As a modal particle, 了 mostly appears at the end of a sentence, which is used to mark the occurrence or "happening" of an event. Compare the following two instances of dinner completion:

夜飯吃好了。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
夜饭吃好了。 [Shanghainese, simp.]
[ɦia̱²² v̥e̞⁴⁴ t͡ɕʰi̯ɪʔ³³ hɔ⁵⁵ ləʔ²¹] [IPA]
[The speaker has] finished dinner.

Where it is not that the speaker is going to finish eating the dinner some other time. The completion of dinner has already happened and is true.

吃好夜飯看電視。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
吃好夜饭看电视。 [Shanghainese, simp.]
[t͡ɕʰi̯ɪʔ³³ hɔ⁴⁴ ɦia̱²² v̥e̞⁴⁴ kʰø⁴⁴ d̥i²² z̥z̩⁴⁴] [IPA]
After eating dinner, watch the television. (non-temporal)

Where the completion of dinner is not necessarily complete. It may be that watching the television is ought to be done afterwards, or that the speaker is announcing this as a routine.

As an aspect particle, 了 marks the action's completion. For example:

吃了交關物事 [Shanghainese, trad.]
吃了交关物事 [Shanghainese, simp.]
[t͡ɕʰi̯ɪʔ³³ ləʔ⁴⁴ t͡ɕiɔ⁵⁵ kɯe̞²¹ məʔ¹¹ z̥z̩²³] [IPA]
Ate a lot of things

Traditionally, this sense would use the term 仔, though it is somewhat old-fashioned noawadays in Shanghainese.

Most uses of 脫了／脱了 is used like a merge between 脫 and 了 as a modal particle. It informs the speaker that the verb is completed but is new information.

手機落脫了。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
手机落脱了。 [Shanghainese, simp.]
[sɜ³³ t͡ɕi⁴⁴ lʊʔ¹¹ tʰəʔ²² ləʔ²³] [IPA]
My phone is gone.

One important distinction between the two is that 脫 can be used in moods whereby the action referred to by the verb has not yet taken place (such as in imperatives and subjunctives), as opposed to 了. For instance:

衣裳汏脫伊再去汏浴。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
衣裳汏脱伊再去汏浴。 [Shanghainese, simp.]
[i⁵⁵ z̥ɑ̃²¹ d̥a̱²² tʰəʔ⁵⁵ ɦi²¹ t͡se̞⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰi³³ d̥a̱²² ɦi̯ʊʔ⁴⁴] [IPA]
Get the clothes washed before taking a shower.

is correct, whilst

衣裳汏了伊再去汏浴。 [Shanghainese, trad. and simp.]

is not.

脫 can also be used in non-temporal contexts:

手機末手機落脫，鑰匙末鑰匙勿帶，儂哪能介馬虎個啦？ [Shanghainese, trad.]
手机末手机落脱，钥匙末钥匙勿带，侬哪能介马虎个啦？ [Shanghainese, simp.]
[sɜ³³ t͡ɕi⁵⁵ məʔ²¹ sɜ³³ t͡ɕi⁴⁴ lʊʔ¹¹ tʰəʔ²³ ɦia̱ʔ¹¹ z̥z̩²² məʔ²³ ɦia̱ʔ¹¹ sz̩²³ v̥əʔ¹¹ ta̱²³ nʊŋ²³ na̱²² nəɲ⁴⁴ ka̱⁵³ ʔma̱⁵⁵ hv̩ʷ³³ ɦəʔ²¹ la̱] [IPA]
Your phone you lose, your keys you don't have, how can you be this careless?

With 脫 here the speaker establishes the current state of the phone "having been lost", without presenting this as a change of state as 脫了 would.

The speaker's positivity to the result can also be noticed. For instance:

媽媽，我今朝去外婆屋裏吃了交關好物事！ [Shanghainese, trad.]
妈妈，我今朝去外婆屋里吃了交关好物事！ [Shanghainese, simp.]
[ʔma̱⁵⁵ ʔma̱²¹ ŋv̩ʷ²³ t͡ɕɪɲ⁵⁵ t͡sɔ³³ t͡ɕʰi³³ ŋa̱²² b̥v̩ʷ⁴⁴ ʊʔ³³ li⁴⁴ t͡ɕʰi̯ɪʔ³³ ləʔ⁴⁴ t͡ɕiɔ⁵⁵ kɯe̞²¹ hɔ³³ məʔ⁵⁵ z̥z̩²¹] [IPA]
Mum, I ate so much good stuff at grandma's house today! (Neutrally reporting having eaten)
今朝一隻小鬼又來了，吃脫交關物事。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
今朝一只小鬼又来了，吃脱交关物事。 [Shanghainese, simp.]
[t͡ɕɪɲ⁵⁵ t͡sɔ²¹ i̯ɪʔ³³ t͡sa̱ʔ⁴⁴ ɕiɔ³³ t͡ɕy⁴⁴ ɦiɜ²³ le̞²² ləʔ⁴⁴ t͡ɕʰi̯ɪʔ³³ tʰəʔ⁴⁴ t͡ɕiɔ⁵⁵ kɯe̞²¹ məʔ¹¹ z̥z̩²³] [IPA]
The kid's come again today and ate a lot of things. (The speaker insinuates having "lost" something with 脫, without presenting this as a newly occurred state - the things had already been eaten for a while)
物事儕撥伊吃脫了。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
物事侪拨伊吃脱了。 [Shanghainese, simp.]
[məʔ¹¹ z̥z̩²³ z̥e̞²³ pəʔ³³ ɦi⁴⁴ t͡ɕʰi̯ɪʔ³³ tʰəʔ⁵⁵ ləʔ²¹] [IPA]
He's eaten everything. (The things have been "lost" to the eating, and is newly lost compared to before when the food was not eaten.)

Synonyms

脫／脱, 了