# 阿莎力
## Chinese
### Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese あっさり (assari) into Taiwanese Hokkien, and from Taiwanese Hokkien into Taiwanese Mandarin. Taiwanese Hakka may have borrowed directly from Japanese or via Taiwanese Hokkien.

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): āshālì
    (Zhuyin): ㄚ ㄕㄚ ㄌㄧˋ
* Hakka (Sixian, PFS): à-sa-lí
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): a-sá-lih / a̍t-sá-lih
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: āshālì
*** Zhuyin: ㄚ ㄕㄚ ㄌㄧˋ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: ashalì
*** Wade–Giles: a$^1$-sha$^1$-li$^4$
*** Yale: ā-shā-lì
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ashalih
*** Palladius: ашали (ašali)
*** Sinological IPA : /ˀä⁵⁵ ʂä⁵⁵ li⁵¹/
* Hakka
** (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: à-sa-lí
*** Hakka Romanization System: a$^ˇ$ sa li$^ˋ$
*** Hagfa Pinyim: a$^2$ sa$^4$ li$^3$
*** Sinological IPA: /a¹¹ sa⁵⁵ li³¹/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: a-sá-lih
*** Tâi-lô: a-sá-lih
*** Phofsit Daibuun: asafliq
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /a⁴⁴⁻³³ sa⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ liʔ³²/
*** IPA (Taipei): /a⁴⁴⁻³³ sa⁵³⁻⁴⁴ liʔ³²/
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: a̍t-sá-lih
*** Tâi-lô: a̍t-sá-lih
*** Phofsit Daibuun: adsafliq
*** IPA (Taipei): /at̚⁴⁻³² sa⁵³⁻⁴⁴ liʔ³²/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /at̚⁴⁻³² sa⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ liʔ³²/

### Adjective

阿莎力
* (Taiwan) unfussy; decisive; unhesitant (whether as a personality trait or in a particular instance); assertive in generosity or agreement
    From: 1996, Taibunun, 麵粉廠ê鬼仔
    Ji̍p-lâi kàu i kám-kak hoaⁿ-hí ûi-chí, i tō chū-jiân lī-khui, chiâⁿ - a-sá-lih, bē - ku-ku-mo͘-mo͘. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
    [Ketury] comes in until she feels happy; then she will naturally leave. She is very decisive, not at all fussy.
    From: 2005, TÂI-BÛN THONG-SÌN, 訪問台灣獨立建國聯盟主席黃昭堂
    Nā góa ê chò-hoat tō khah a-sah-lih, kā chò--lo̍h-khì. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
    If it were up to me, we'd be decisive and just do it.
    From: 2011, Council for Hakka Affairs, 客語外來語（含原閩客國(語)互借詞）
    Kì cho sṳ-chhìn chhin à-sa-lí. [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]
    He's never hesitant when he does things.
    From: 2014, 詹雅雯, 愛情阿莎力
    a-sá-lih, sa-ió͘-ná-lah, thoa-soa kám-chêng siong-hāi lú chhim [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
    Let's not be fussy, goodbye, dragging on with love hurts deeper
    From: 2016, 黃偉霖, 是因為太愛你
    che m̄-sī góa bô-kàu a-sá-lih, iā m̄-sī góa bô-kàu ū ióng-khì [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
    It isn't that I'm too fussy [literally, not unfussy enough], and it's not that I don't have enough courage
    From: 2017, 李南衡, 好好鱟刣kah屎流, in 《台灣教會公報》, issue 3413, page 25
    I khì-phu̍t-phu̍t, tōa-sè-siaⁿ mē Chhòa Eng-bûn chèng-hú gâu thoa-soa, chò tāi-chì bô at-sá-lih. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
    He [Uncle Hok] was enraged, furiously chiding the Tsai Ing-wen government for having the habit of procrastinating and being indecisive in doing things.
    From: 2019, 七郎, lyrics by 陳明陽, 歌聲酒伴
    a-sá-lih chi̍t poe hō͘ ta--lah [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
    Don't be hesitant, bottoms up!
    From: 2021, 王品程 [Pin-Cheng Wang], 華臺語斷定副詞研究 [A Study on Assertive Adverbs in Mandarin and Taigi] (bachelor’s thesis), National Taiwan University, page ii
    To-siā Tâi-tiong Kàu-io̍k Tāi-ha̍k Tâi-oân gí-bûn ha̍k-hē Iûⁿ Ún-giân kàu-siū chi̍t-ē thiaⁿ-káng góa beh chò Tâi-gí ê gián-kiù, chiū chiok a̍t-sá-lih - ê - kā “Tâi-gí-bûn Concordancer têng-sek” ê chu-liāu kià hō͘ góa, hō͘ góa chò gián-kiù koh-khah lī-piān. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
    Thanks to Professor Iûⁿ Ún-giân from the Department of Taiwanese Languages and Literature at the National Taichung University of Education, who, without a second thought, sent me the data from the "Written Taiwanese Concordancer Program" once he heard that I wanted to do research on Taiwanese, so that I can do my research more conveniently.
    From: 2022, Soo Jū-hông, post on Twitter
    Tôaⁿ liáu bē - bái, kài - A-SA-LIH. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
    Well played — real crisp!

### References

* 董忠司, editor (2001), 臺灣閩南語辭典 [Dictionary of Taiwanese Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Taipei: 五南圖書出版公司, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 4.
* “阿莎力”, 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., 2025.