了

了 U+4E86, 了 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E86 ← 亅 [U+4E85] CJK Unified Ideographs 亇 → [U+4E87]

了 U+F9BA, 了 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-F9BA ← 惡 [U+F9B9] CJK Compatibility Ideographs 僚 → [U+F9BB]

Stroke order

Stroke order

了 (Kangxi radical 6, 亅+1, 2 strokes, cangjie input 弓弓 (NN), four-corner 1720₇, composition ⿱乛亅 or ⿱乛㇁)

• 𡤼, 𠆨, 𠖭, 𠮩, 𢆳, 𢩪, 𣱾, 𭨥, 𣎸, 𣬝, 辽, 𤽀, 𭾙, 䄦, 𪜜, 𥾇, 𬚊, 䑠, 𧘈, 𧾿, 𪞠, 釕(钌), 𫘵, 𩵌, 𩾒(𬷽), 𪌀, 𬼷, 𭣡, 𬻺, 𪟽, 㝋, 𭙏, 𦫼, 疗, 𥤣, 亨, 爳, 𬼶, 𠙶, 叾, 𬼹, 𰁒, 𠄏

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 85, character 11
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 226
• Dae Jaweon: page 173, character 20
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 48, character 6
• Unihan data for U+4E86

• Unihan data for U+F9BA

trad.		了/瞭*
simp.		了
瞭 – sense “clear”

According to the Shuowen Jiezi, a pictogram (象形) of a baby without arms. Compare with 子, where the arms are visible. The Shuowen defines 了 as "the crossing of lower legs".

In the Shuowen Jiezi Zhu, a commentary to the Shouwen Jiezi, it is said that the pictogram instead depicts entangled legs (了戾).

Its relation with the meaning "to finish" is likely via sound loan, but an argument can be made about "entangled legs" → "tie"→ "finish".

Unrelated to 亨.

Verb “to finish; to be completed” > perfective aspect particle (了₁, weakened form) > change-of-state modal particle (了₂). It eventually replaced classical 矣 (OC *ɢlɯʔ).

Two kinds of particle uses of 了 can be distinguished: the perfective aspect particle after verbs (conventionally written as 了₁) and the sentence-final modal particle (了₂). It is generally accepted (Wu, 1998) that these two uses of 了 are derived from the concrete verb “to finish”. The grammaticalisation of this verb had become common in the Tang Dynasty, initially in the form of ‹verb + (object) + perfective 了› to indicate the completion of an action.

The perfective particle subsequently underwent further grammaticalisation to become the sentence-final change-of-state modal particle; Liu (1985) has demonstrated that this last step may have involved the coalescence of sentence-final 了 with 也 in certain Mandarin dialects, as the pronunciations of 了₁ and 了₂ are distinct in these dialects, with 了₂ rhyming with 也.

Contrary to the suggestion in Schuessler (2007), this word is not related to Vietnamese rồi, due to the non-existent correspondence between any given phonemes. Thai แล้ว (lɛ́ɛo, “to be finished; already; then, afterwards”), Lao ແລ້ວ (lǣu, “to finish; to be completed; perfective particle”) are loans from Chinese.

了

1. Used after a verb to indicate perfective aspect (action completion).

   我吃了一個蘋果。 [MSC, trad.]
   我吃了一个苹果。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ chī le yī ge píngguǒ. [Pinyin]

   I ate an apple. / I have eaten an apple.

   • 他在北京住了兩年。 [MSC, trad.]
     他在北京住了两年。 [MSC, simp.]

     Tā zài Běijīng zhù le liǎng nián. [Pinyin]

     He lived in Beijing for two years.

2. Used at the end of a sentence to indicate a change of state.

   他是大學生了。／他是大学生了。  ―  Tā shì dàxuéshēng le.  ―  He has become a college student / He is a college student now.

3. Used at the end of a sentence to inform the beginning of an action.

   我走了。  ―  Wǒ zǒu le.  ―  I'm leaving now.

4. (contemporary Shanghainese) Used to indicate the present tense.

• (perfective aspect particle): Most of the time, 了 is translated by a past tense. But it can also indicate that one action is completed before another.

  你吃了以後叫我。 [MSC, trad.]
  你吃了以后叫我。 [MSC, simp.]

  Nǐ chī le yǐhòu jiào wǒ. [Pinyin]

  Call me when you are done eating.

• (change of state particle): When used as the change of state particle, 了 can be translated by “now”, “already” or “not anymore”.

  我會說中文了。／我会说中文了。  ―  Wǒ huì shuō zhōngwén le.  ―  I can speak Chinese now. (I couldn't before.)

  我喝醉了。  ―  Wǒ hēzuì le.  ―  I'm drunk.

  沒有紙了。／没有纸了。  ―  Méiyǒu zhǐ le.  ―  There's no paper anymore.

• In a question, 了 is put before the particle 嗎／吗 (ma).
• (Northern Wu): In Shanghainese, this term is primarily used to indicate the present tense and secondarily the perfective aspect. The present tense sense is derived from Old Shanghainese 哉. For the usage difference between other perfectives, see 脫了#Usage notes.
• (Malaysian Mandarin, Singaporean Mandarin): 了 (le) is often colloquially pronounced as 了 (liǎo) in all instances.

  你打掃了再幫我煮飯。 [Malaysian Mandarin, trad.]
  你打扫了再帮我煮饭。 [Malaysian Mandarin, simp.]

  Nǐ dǎsǎo liǎo zài bāng wǒ zhǔfàn. [Pinyin]

  Help me cook after you're done cleaning up.

• → English: already, liao (Singapore English) (semantic loan)

了

1. to be finished; to be completed
2. to end; to finish

   終於了了一樁心事 [MSC, trad.]
   终于了了一桩心事 [MSC, simp.]

   zhōngyú liǎo le yī zhuāng xīnshì [Pinyin]

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   快啲了咗件事佢算 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

   faai³ di¹ liu⁵ zo² gin⁶ si⁶ keoi⁵ syun³ [Jyutping]

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

3. to understand; to comprehend

   了解  ―  liǎojiě  ―  to understand; to realize

4. clear; plain; understandable
5. bright; intelligent; smart
6. (in negative sentences) completely; utterly; entirely
7. Used with 不 (bù) or 得 (de) after verbs to express possibility.
8. (Hokkien) to use up; to lose; to waste; to squander

For pronunciation and definitions of 了 – see 尞 (“ancient offering involving burning wood; etc.”). (This character is the second-round simplified form of 尞).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

For pronunciation and definitions of 了 – see 潦. (This character is the second-round simplified form of 潦).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

(Jōyō kanji)

1. to end

• Go-on: りょう (ryō, Jōyō)^{←れう (reu, historical)}
• Kan-on: りょう (ryō, Jōyō)^{←れう (reu, historical)}
• Kun: おえる (oeru, 了える)^{←をへる (woferu, 了へる, historical)}、おわる (owaru, 了わる)^{←をはる (wofaru, 了はる, historical)}、しまう (shimau, 了う)^{←しまふ (simafu, 了ふ, historical)}、ついに (tsuini, 了に)^{←つひに (tufini, 了に, historical)}

• 完(かん)了(りょう) (kanryō)
• 終(しゅう)了(りょう) (shūryō)
• 未(み)了(りょう) (miryō)
• 了(りょう)解(かい) (ryōkai)
• 了(りょう)承(しょう) (ryōshō)

了(りょう) • (ryō) 

1. end
2. (art works): concluded

了(さとる) • (Satoru) 

1. a male given name

了 (eumhun 마칠 료 (machil ryo), word-initial (South Korea) 마칠 요 (machil yo))

1. hanja form^? of 료/요 (“finish, complete”)

了: Hán Việt readings: liễu (盧(lô)鳥(điểu)切(thiết))^[1][2][3], kiết^[3]
了: Nôm readings: lểu^[1][2][4][5], lẽo^[1][2][3], liễu^[1][2][5], lẻo^[1][2], léo^[1][4], líu^[1][4], lếu^[3][4], sáu^[1], lèo^[1], tréo^[2]

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.