chìm nổi
Vietnamese
Etymology
chìm (“to be sunk”) + nổi (“to float”), calque of Chinese 沉浮 (trầm phù, “to sink and then float”).
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [t͡ɕim˨˩ noj˧˩]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [t͡ɕim˦˩ noj˧˨]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [cim˨˩ noj˨˩˦]
Verb
chìm nổi • (沉𬈗)
- to sink and then float (especially repeatedly)
- (figuratively) to struggle in the vicissitudes