<p>In 这么多 it can mean a very generic measuring "much" with 多 meaning a counting "numerous" (for counting countable and uncountable things). So you are really saying:</p>

<p>How (much) numerous?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-21T05:40:47.263Z
2015-07-21T05:40:47.263Z
Jack Maddington
<p>Agree to Drunken Master, just a suffix here.
怎～。这～。多～。什～。</p>

<p>It has no meaning, just sounds better.
I think "so much" is closer to "这么多".</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-21T04:06:43.123Z
2015-07-21T04:06:43.123Z
李晓琳
<p>么 has lost most of its lexical meaning in modern usage, but it appears to have originally been derived from the word 物, meaning 'thing'. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=wOPArZVCk-wC&amp;ots=pqrkaAWm6z&amp;pg=PA119#v=onepage&amp;f=false" rel="noreferrer"><em>Chinese</em> by Jerry Norman, pp. 119-20</a> makes mention of the etymology of various modern words featuring 么:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>In an insightful article, Zhāng Hùiyīng (1982) has shown that <em>shénme</em> 什么, the standard modern word for 'what', comes from <em>shí wù</em> 什物 (MC <em>źjəp mjuət</em>). This form (in a number of different phonological shapes) makes its first appearance in the Tang dynasty. <em>Shí wù</em> 什物 originally meant 'vessels, household utensils, things (of various sorts)'. The development of a interrogative meaning 'what' from a meaning 'thing' finds a parallel in modern Italian, where <em>cosa</em> 'thing' is also used to mean 'what'. ...</p>
  
  <p>...</p>
  
  <p>[Regarding 'how'...] In the late Tang and Wudai periods, a different form begins to be found; it consists of the verb <em>zuò</em> 作 (MC <em>tsuo-</em>) plus one of several variants of the morpheme meaning 'thing, what' discussed in relation to the origins of modern <em>shénme</em> 什么 ... In the Wudai period, a fusion word <em>zěn</em> 怎 (from an earlier <em>*zěm</em>) based on these forms appears for the first time. It is this fusion form that is directly ancestral to the modern <em>zěnme</em> 怎么 'how'. <em>Zhème</em> 这么 'in this way' and <em>nàme</em> 那么 'in that way' were probably analogically based on this form.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Notes:</p>

<ul>
<li>The article by Zhāng Hùiyīng 张惠英 referenced in that excerpt refers to an article entitled 释「什么」in《中国语文》1982年第4期, pp. 302-5. I wasn't easily able to obtain a copy of that article though.</li>
<li>MC in that excerpt refers to how the words were pronounced in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Chinese" rel="noreferrer">Middle Chinese</a> (ca. 600-1000 AD).</li>
</ul>

<p>While it's interesting that 么 in these words was derived from a word meaning 'thing', it's essentially a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bound_morpheme" rel="noreferrer">bound morpheme</a> that is no longer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity_(linguistics)" rel="noreferrer">productive</a> and can't be used on its own. In effect, its modern usage doesn't have any particular meaning in practice. In many ways, it could be considered a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranberry_morpheme" rel="noreferrer">cranberry morpheme</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-21T11:24:20.057Z
is there a reason 惠's pinyin is written with the accent on the u above and not on the i? Or just a typo?
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-21T14:26:20.283Z
@user3306356 Good catch! That's the way it was written in the source and I hadn't even notice it when I copied the excerpt. It probably is a typo.
Claw
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-21T06:23:32.107Z
2015-07-21T06:38:49.070Z
2015-07-21T06:38:49.070Z
Claw
<p>If you want to say "This dog," you'd say, "这只狗". If you want to say "This thing," you'd say, "这个东西". If you want to say, "This much," you'd say, "这么多".</p>

<p>I understand the reasons for the 只 and the 个, but what does the 么 really mean?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-20T17:34:13.000Z
么 is just a suffix here, like in 什么, 多么, 怎么.
imrek
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-20T17:44:34.937Z
Right...but what does that suffix mean? Does it have a meaning?
musicnothing
<characters><meaning>
What is the meaning of 么?
# What is the meaning of 么?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-07-20)

If you want to say "This dog," you'd say, "这只狗". If you want to say "This thing," you'd say, "这个东西". If you want to say, "This much," you'd say, "这么多".

I understand the reasons for the 只 and the 个, but what does the 么 really mean?

**Tags:** characters, meaning

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 么 is just a suffix here, like in 什么, 多么, 怎么.  
> **username_0**: Right...but what does that suffix mean? Does it have a meaning?  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2015-07-21. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

么 has lost most of its lexical meaning in modern usage, but it appears to have originally been derived from the word 物, meaning 'thing'. [*Chinese* by Jerry Norman, pp. 119-20](https://books.google.com/books?id=wOPArZVCk-wC&ots=pqrkaAWm6z&pg=PA119#v=onepage&f=false) makes mention of the etymology of various modern words featuring 么:

> In an insightful article, Zhāng Hùiyīng (1982) has shown that *shénme* 什么, the standard modern word for 'what', comes from *shí wù* 什物 (MC *źjəp mjuət*). This form (in a number of different phonological shapes) makes its first appearance in the Tang dynasty. *Shí wù* 什物 originally meant 'vessels, household utensils, things (of various sorts)'. The development of a interrogative meaning 'what' from a meaning 'thing' finds a parallel in modern Italian, where *cosa* 'thing' is also used to mean 'what'. ...
>
> ...
>
> [Regarding 'how'...] In the late Tang and Wudai periods, a different form begins to be found; it consists of the verb *zuò* 作 (MC *tsuo-*) plus one of several variants of the morpheme meaning 'thing, what' discussed in relation to the origins of modern *shénme* 什么 ... In the Wudai period, a fusion word *zěn* 怎 (from an earlier *\*zěm*) based on these forms appears for the first time. It is this fusion form that is directly ancestral to the modern *zěnme* 怎么 'how'. *Zhème* 这么 'in this way' and *nàme* 那么 'in that way' were probably analogically based on this form.

Notes:

* The article by Zhāng Hùiyīng 张惠英 referenced in that excerpt refers to an article entitled 释「什么」in《中国语文》1982年第4期, pp. 302-5. I wasn't easily able to obtain a copy of that article though.
* MC in that excerpt refers to how the words were pronounced in [Middle Chinese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Chinese) (ca. 600-1000 AD).

While it's interesting that 么 in these words was derived from a word meaning 'thing', it's essentially a [bound morpheme](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bound_morpheme) that is no longer [productive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity_(linguistics)) and can't be used on its own. In effect, its modern usage doesn't have any particular meaning in practice. In many ways, it could be considered a [cranberry morpheme](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranberry_morpheme).

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: is there a reason 惠's pinyin is written with the accent on the u above and not on the i? Or just a typo?  
> **username_4**: @user3306356 Good catch! That's the way it was written in the source and I hadn't even notice it when I copied the excerpt. It probably is a typo.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-07-21. Score: 1

In 这么多 it can mean a very generic measuring "much" with 多 meaning a counting "numerous" (for counting countable and uncountable things). So you are really saying:

How (much) numerous?


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-07-21. Score: -1

Agree to Drunken Master, just a suffix here.
怎～。这～。多～。什～。

It has no meaning, just sounds better.
I think "so much" is closer to "这么多".


---

