居然

Chinese

		reside	so; thus; like this so; thus; like this; ‑ly; correct; right
trad. (居然)		居	然
simp. ^#(居然)		居	然

Mandarin
(Pinyin): jūrán

(Zhuyin): ㄐㄩㄖㄢˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): geoi¹ jin⁴ / geoi¹ jin^4-2
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): ku-liân / kir-liân / ki-jiân

(Teochew, Peng'im): ge¹ riang⁵
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹ciu-zoe

居然

unexpectedly; to one's surprise; surprisingly
他居然沒有給客人準備煙、酒、飲料、糖、瓜子或茶葉。 [MSC, trad.]
他居然没有给客人准备烟、酒、饮料、糖、瓜子或茶叶。 [MSC, simp.]
Tā jūrán méiyǒu gěi kèrén zhǔnbèi yān, jiǔ, yǐnliào, táng, guāzǐ huò cháyè. [Pinyin]
Unexpectedly, he hadn't prepared cigarettes, liquor or other beverages, sweets, melon seeds, or tea for the guests.
(literary) obviously; apparently
- 答曰：「日遠。不聞人從日邊來，居然可知。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  答曰：「日远。不闻人从日边来，居然可知。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: c. 439-444, 世說新語 (Shìshuōxīnyǔ) (Shishuo Xinyu)
  Dá yuē: “Rì yuǎn. Bù wén rén cóng rì biān lái, jūrán kězhī.” [Pinyin]
  He replied, 'it’s abundantly clear that the Sun is farther away because never have I heard of anyone coming from there.'

Dialectal synonyms of 居然 (“unexpectedly; to one's surprise; surprisingly”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		居然, 竟然, 竟
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	居然, 竟然
Northeastern Mandarin	Singapore	竟然
Southwestern Mandarin	Liuzhou	敢, 硬敢
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	居然
Cantonese	Guangzhou	竟然
Cantonese	Hong Kong	竟然, 居然, 竟然間
Southern Min	Xiamen	煞, 竟然
	Quanzhou	煞, 竟然
	Zhangzhou	煞, 竟然
	Tainan	煞, 竟然
	Jieyang	夰, 紲, 一回, 落, 敢敢
Wu	Shanghai	居然, 竟然, 竟, 先勿先, 伊講