何必

Chinese

		carry; what; how carry; what; how; why; which	certainly; must; will certainly; must; will; necessarily
simp. and trad. (何必)		何	必

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): hébì

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄜˊ ㄅㄧˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ho⁴ bit¹

• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): hò-pit
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): hô-pit / hô͘-pit
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶wu-piq

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: hébì
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄜˊ ㄅㄧˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: hébì
    • Wade–Giles: ho²-pi⁴
    • Yale: hé-bì
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: herbih
    • Palladius: хэби (xɛbi)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xɤ³⁵ pi⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ho⁴ bit¹
    • Yale: hòh bīt
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ho⁴ bit⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: ho⁴ bid¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɔː²¹ piːt̚⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: hò-pit
    • Hakka Romanization System: ho^ˇ bid^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ho² bid⁵
    • Sinological IPA: /ho¹¹ pit̚²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hô-pit
    • Tâi-lô: hô-pit
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hoi'pid
    • IPA (Xiamen): /ho²⁴⁻²² pit̚³²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /ho²⁴⁻¹¹ pit̚³²/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /ho¹³⁻²² pit̚³²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /hɤ²³⁻³³ pit̚³²/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Philippines)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hô͘-pit
    • Tâi-lô: hôo-pit
    • Phofsit Daibuun: ho'pid
    • IPA (Quanzhou, Philippines): /hɔ²⁴⁻²² pit̚⁵/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁶wu-piq
    • MiniDict: wu^去 pih
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³hhu-piq
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ɦu²² piɪʔ⁴⁴/

---

• Middle Chinese: ha pjit

Rime
Character	何	必
Reading #	1/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	匣 (33)	幫 (1)
Final (韻)	歌 (94)	質 (48)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	III
Fanqie	胡歌切	卑吉切
Baxter	ha	pjit
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɦɑ/	/piɪt̚/
Pan Wuyun	/ɦɑ/	/pit̚/
Shao Rongfen	/ɣɑ/	/pjet̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɦa/	/pit̚/
Li Rong	/ɣɑ/	/piĕt̚/
Wang Li	/ɣɑ/	/pĭĕt̚/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ɣɑ/	/pi̯ĕt̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	hé	bi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	ho4	bat1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[ɡ]ˤaj  pi[t]/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɡaːl  pliɡ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	何	必
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	hé	bì
Middle Chinese	‹ ha ›	‹ pjit ›
Old Chinese	/*[ɡ]ˁaj/	/*pi[t]/
English	what	necessarily
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	何	必
Reading #	1/2	1/1
No.	7458	568
Phonetic component	可	必
Rime group	歌	質
Rime subdivision	1	2
Corresponding MC rime	何	必
Old Chinese	/*ɡaːl/	/*pliɡ/

Adverb

何必

1. (in rhetorical questions) why; why on earth (i.e. there is no need); why bother

   他已不愛你，何必呢？ [MSC, trad.]
   他已不爱你，何必呢？ [MSC, simp.]

   Tā yǐ bù ài nǐ, hébì ne? [Pinyin]

   He doesn't love you anymore, so what's the point?

   • 錢之所祐，吉無不利。何必讀書，然後富貴！ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     钱之所祐，吉无不利。何必读书，然后富贵！ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Western Jin, 魯褒, 錢神論

     Qián zhī suǒ yòu, jí wú bùlì. Hébì dúshū, ránhòu fùguì! [Pinyin]

     Those who are blessed by money are lucky and without misfortune. Why bother studying, and with that achieve wealth and social position?

Synonyms

edit

• 乜使 (Hokkien)
• 何乜苦 (Taiwanese Hokkien)
• 何得苦 (Hokkien)
• 何苦 (hékǔ)
• 何苦來／何苦来 (hékǔlái)
• 何須／何须 (héxū) (literary)
• 抑使 (Taiwanese Hokkien)
• 抑著 (Zhangzhou Hokkien)
• 敢著／敢着 (Hokkien)
• 煞著 (Hokkien)
• 甲使 (Zhangzhou Hokkien)
• 甲著／甲着 (Xiamen Hokkien, Zhangzhou Hokkien)

 

Derived terms

• 何必當初／何必当初
• 既有今日，何必當初／既有今日，何必当初 (jìyǒu jīnrì hébì dāngchū)
• 早知今日，何必當初／早知今日，何必当初 (zǎozhī jīnrì, hébì dāngchū)

 

References

• “Entry #2902”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2024.

Korean

Hanja in this term
何	必

Adverb

何必 • (hapil) (hangeul 하필)

1. hanja form^? of 하필 (“of all things”)