liao

• leow

Borrowed from Min Nan 了 (liáu). Tone and spelling influenced by Mandarin liǎo.

• (Singapore) IPA^(key): [ljaʊ˨˩]

liao

1. (Singlish, Manglish) Indicates the perfective aspect (action completion).

   Synonym: (Singlish, via semantic loan) already

   Print liao. ― I already printed it out.

   Lose liao. ― We’re going to lose / We have lost.

• bo liao (unrelated etymologically)
• (Singlish particles): ah, hor, know, lah, leh, lor, mah, meh, one, sia, what

• Aloi, Oail

liao

1. Nonstandard spelling of liāo.
2. Nonstandard spelling of liáo.
3. Nonstandard spelling of liǎo.
4. Nonstandard spelling of liào.

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.