機械人 / 机械人
gei¹ haai⁶ jan⁴
The English word robot is translated into Cantonese as 機械人 / 机械人 (gei¹ haai⁶ jan⁴). Wiktionary also lists 機器人 / 机器人 (gei¹ hei³ jan⁴).
Meaning: intelligent mechanical being (noun)
Ways to say it
| Cantonese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 機械人 / 机械人 | gei¹ haai⁶ jan⁴ |
| 機器人 / 机器人 | gei¹ hei³ jan⁴ |
The term refers to an intelligent mechanical being.
What does it mean word for word?
The term 機械人 / 机械人 (gei¹ haai⁶ jan⁴) is composed of 機械 (mechanical/machine) and 人 (person/human). The term 機器人 / 机器人 (gei¹ hei³ jan⁴) is composed of 機器 (machine/apparatus) and 人 (person/human).
How do you pronounce it?
gei¹ haai⁶ jan⁴
Did you know?
- The character 機 in 機械人 originally referred to a 'pivot' or 'trigger', reflecting the earliest forms of mechanical ingenuity like crossbows.
- Cantonese speakers often use the English word 'robot' directly in casual conversation or technical contexts, blending it into the sentence as a loanword.
- If you describe a person as being 'like a machine' using these characters, you are not necessarily being kind, but rather commenting on their mechanical, inhuman efficiency.
Examples in context
- 我的公司開發了一款智能機械人。My company has developed an intelligent robot.
- 呢個機械仔好可愛啊！This robot is so adorable!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “robot” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
