how to translate 作甚？

[virgo20110808]

help

[jbradfor]

May I recommend the use of a dictionary?

[virgo20110808]

thanks but i can't read that site clearly

[Hofmann]

The most sense I can make out of it is "make excessively."

[zhwj]

Like jbradfor's link says, you could read it as "What for"? 甚 here is an interrogative pronoun, like 什么. Dictionaries usually identify it as "dialect", but I'm not sure which region it is found in.

[virgo20110808]

thanks i got it

[jbradfor]

That link says that 作甚 means the same as 做什么, and gives a quote from 红楼梦 that uses it.

I assumed that if you can read 作甚, you could read that link.

[virgo20110808]

thanks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

i can read it now