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

(Hailu, HRS): ho bid
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/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
  - Hakka Romanization System: ho bid
  - Sinological IPA: /ho⁵⁵ pit⁵/
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

(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 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (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)

hanja form^? of 하필 (“of all things”)