# 阿啄仔
## Chinese

* 阿啄仔

### Etymology

Refers (by synecdoche) to the typical pointy nose of Westerners.
Several etymologies have been proposed for tok:
* 噣, 啄: “beak; to peck with a beak” > “beak-like; pointy”. Compare English beak.
* 斲: 《台灣話大詞典》 proposes that the word is related to a story in Zhuangzi (“Ghostless Xu”, c. 370 to 301 B.C.E.):
    郢人堊慢其鼻端若蠅翼，使匠人斲之。匠石運斤成風，聽而斲之，盡堊而鼻不傷，郢人立不失容。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]郢人垩慢其鼻端若蝇翼，使匠人斲之。匠石运斤成风，听而斲之，尽垩而鼻不伤，郢人立不失容。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]Yǐng rén è màn qí bí duān ruò yíng yì, shǐ jiàngrén zhuó zhī. Jiàngshí yùn jīn chéng fēng, tīng ér zhuó zhī, jìn è ér bí bù shāng, yǐng rén lì bù shīróng. [Pinyin]There was once a man from Ying, and on the tip of his nose was some chalk, no thicker than a fly's wing. He asked a stone-mason to slice the chalk off. The stone-mason wielded his axe like the wind and sliced off the chalk following the man's instruction. The chalk was completely removed without injury to the man's nose. The man from Ying just stood there unflinchingly.
* 卓: “outstanding; tall”
* 斗: 《台語正字》 (張清波) cites Shiji: 成山斗入海. He claims that 斗 means “to protrude” > “pointy”. However, 斗 is more likely equivalent to 陡 (“steep; precipitous”).

### Pronunciation

* Hakka (Sixian, PFS): â-to̍k-é
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): a-tok-á
* Hakka
** (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: â-to̍k-é
*** Hakka Romanization System: a$^ˊ$ dog e$^ˋ$
*** Hagfa Pinyim: a$^1$ dog$^6$ e$^3$
*** Sinological IPA: /a²⁴⁻¹¹ tok̚⁵ e³¹/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese, Kinmen)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: a-tok-á
*** Tâi-lô: a-tok-á
*** Phofsit Daibuun: a'dok'ar
*** IPA (Taipei): /a⁴⁴⁻³³ tɔk̚³²⁻⁴ a⁵³/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /a⁴⁴⁻³³ tɔk̚³²⁻⁴ a⁴¹/
*** IPA (Kinmen): /a⁴⁴⁻²² tɔk̚³²⁻⁵⁴ a⁵³/
*** IPA (Xiamen): /a⁴⁴⁻²² tɔk̚³²⁻⁴ a⁵³/

### Noun

阿啄仔
* (Xiamen and Taiwanese Hokkien, Taiwanese Hakka, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) westerner; Caucasian; roundeye (Classifier: 個／个 mn)
    From: 曹麗華 (ed.), 笑詼一則 抑m7鎖咧
    Ū chi̍t ê o͘-bá-sáng khì Bí-kok chhit-thô, beh khì piān-só͘ ê sî, in-ūi m̄ bat-jī, soah kiâⁿ ji̍p-khì cha-po͘ ê hit keng, bô-gōa-kú, chi̍t ê a-tok-á kiâⁿ ji̍p-khì, sûi koh chhoàng chhut-lâi, it-ti̍t hoah kóng: “I am sorry, I am sorry.” Bóe--á, hit-ê a-pô-á kiâⁿ chhut-lâi khì-chhòa-chhòa kóng: “Iáu-siū ô͘! Chi̍t ê a-tok-á chin bô lé-māu, kiâⁿ ji̍p-lâi lâng ê piān-só͘, iá-koh koài lâng mn̂g “a̍h m̄ só--leh!” [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
    There was an old granny who went to America on vacation. When it came time for her to go to the restroom, because she was illiterate, she ended up going into the men's room. Before long, a roundeye walked in, then quickly rushed out as he kept yelling, "I am sorry, I am sorry." Finally, the old lady came out, angrily saying, "Screw him! The roundeye is very rude. He barged into my bathroom, but he still blamed me, saying the door 'wasn't locked!' (a̍h m̄ só--leh, which sounds like "I am sorry")"

#### Usage notes

* Usually used in reference to westerners. Like most such ethnic terms, the word is either insulting or neutral depending on who says it, and in what context.

#### Synonyms

| Variety | Location | Words |
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 西方人, 西洋人, 洋人, 白人, 白種人 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Beijing | 老外, 毛子 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Taiwan | 洋人, 西洋人, 白人, 老外 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Malaysia | 紅毛人 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Singapore | 洋人, 外國佬 |
| Jilu Mandarin | Jinan | 洋人, 洋鬼子 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Wanrong | 洋人 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Xi'an | 洋人 |
| Lanyin Mandarin | Lanzhou | 洋人 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Wuhan | 洋人, 高鼻子 |
| Southwestern Mandarin | Liuzhou | 番鬼佬 |
| Jianghuai Mandarin | Nanjing | 洋鬼子 |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | 西人, 老西, 老番, 鬼佬, 番鬼佬, 鬼子佬, 紅毛頭, 紅毛 dated, 紅毛鬼 dated |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | 西人, 白人, 鬼佬, 番鬼佬, 老番 dated, 紅毛鬼 dated, 白鬼 dated |
| Cantonese | Macau | 鬼佬 |
| Cantonese | Taishan | 老番, 番鬼佬 |
| Cantonese | Kaiping (Chikan) | 老番, 番鬼, 番鬼佬, 紅毛 |
| Cantonese | Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu) | 鬼佬 |
| Cantonese | Singapore (Guangfu) | 鬼佬 |
| Gan | Nanchang | 洋人 |
| Gan | Lichuan | 洋人 |
| Gan | Pingxiang | 洋人 |
| Hakka | Meixian | 番人, 番鬼仔 |
| Hakka | Yudu | 洋人 |
| Hakka | Miaoli (N. Sixian) | 洋人, 西洋人, 阿啄仔, 鉤鼻仔, 紅毛番 |
| Hakka | Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) | 洋人, 西洋人, 阿啄仔, 鉤鼻仔, 紅毛番 |
| Hakka | Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) | 洋人, 西洋人, 阿啄仔, 鉤鼻仔, 紅毛番 |
| Hakka | Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) | 洋人, 西洋人, 鉤鼻公, 紅毛番 |
| Hakka | Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) | 洋人, 西洋人, 阿啄仔, 鉤鼻仔, 紅毛番 |
| Hakka | Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) | 西洋人, 紅毛番 |
| Hakka | Kuching (Hepo) | 紅毛人 |
| Southern Min | Xiamen | 番仔, 阿啄仔, 紅毛番, 𧺤毛的, 番仔鬼 |
| Southern Min | Quanzhou | 番仔, 紅毛番, 𧺤毛的 |
| Southern Min | Zhangzhou | 番仔, 紅毛番, 𧺤毛的 |
| Southern Min | Kaohsiung | 紅毛仔 |
| Southern Min | Changhua (Lukang) | 阿啄仔 |
| Southern Min | Taichung | 啄鼻仔 |
| Southern Min | Taichung (Wuqi) | 阿啄仔 |
| Southern Min | Tainan | 西洋儂, 阿啄仔, 啄鼻仔 |
| Southern Min | Taitung | 阿啄仔 |
| Southern Min | Penang (Hokkien) | 紅毛, 紅毛猴 |
| Southern Min | Singapore (Hokkien) | 紅毛, 紅毛儂, 紅毛猴 |
| Southern Min | Manila (Hokkien) | 化人, 白種人, 西洋儂, 西方人 |
| Southern Min | Shantou | 番儂, 紅毛囝, 番囝 |
| Southern Min | Jieyang | 紅毛, 紅毛囝, 紅毛鬼 |
| Southern Min | Singapore (Teochew) | 紅毛, 紅毛儂 |
| Southern Min | Leizhou | 鉤鼻鬼 |
| Southern Min | Haikou | 番鬼, 紅毛, 高鼻綠目, 高鼻塌目 |
| Wu | Shanghai | 洋人 |
| Wu | Wenzhou | 番人, 高鼻頭 |
| Xiang | Changsha | 紅毛洋人, 洋人子, 洋人 |

### References

* 劉建仁 (2011 March 18) “阿督仔（a-tɔk-aˋ）──老外、洋人、老美”, in 台灣話的語源與理據 (in Chinese), retrieved 2016-10-27

### Further reading

* “阿啄仔”, 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.