gái
See also: gai, Gai, gài, gãi, gāi, gǎi, and ga'i
Noone
Verb
gái
- say
References
- R. Blench, Beboid Comparative
Vietnamese
Alternative forms
- gấy
Etymology
From Proto-Vietic *-keːʔ (“woman; female”); compare cái.
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ɣaːj˧˦]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [ɣaːj˨˩˦]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [ɣaːj˦˥]
Noun
gái (𡛔)
- (collective) girls and women
- gái đẹp
- beautiful girls and women
- (collective, informal, colloquial) whores
Adjective
gái
- (only in fixed expressions, of people) Synonym of nữ (“female”)
- chị gái
- an older sister
- em gái
- a younger sister
- con gái
- a daughter / girls
- cháu gái
- a granddaughter / a niece
- bác gái
- a woman who's presumably slightly older than one's parent
- bạn gái
- a young female friend / a young girl or woman / a girlfriend
- Bác gái có nhà không ạ?
- Is your wife / your mother (who is presumably slightly older than one of my parents) home?
- 2005, Nguyễn Ngọc Tư, "Biển người mênh mông" (in Cánh đồng bất tận), Trẻ publishing house
- Phi hỏi, "Vậy bác Sáu gái đâu rồi ?"
- Phi asked, "Where did 'Mrs. Sixth' go then?"
- (literally, “Phi asked, "So where is that woman who is presumably a little older than one of my parents and who is the wife of a guy I know is his parents' fifth child?"”)
Usage notes
- Unlike other kinship terms, bác is gender-neutral when used to address a senior stranger, therefore it could be accompanied by trai or gái for clarification.
See also
- bạn gái
- con gái
- cô gái
- trai