vãi
Vietnamese
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [vaːj˦ˀ˥]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [vaːj˧˨]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [vaːj˨˩˦] ~ [jaːj˨˩˦]
Etymology 1
From Middle Vietnamese uãi, vãi, from Proto-Vietic *vaːs (“to broadcast (rice)”). Cognate with Tho [Cuối Chăm] vɐːl⁶, Chut [Rục] vaːl⁶.
Unrelated to Chinese 播 (MC puɑH) (SV: bá) nor any Austroasiatic word with labial stop initial like Khmer បោះ (bɑh), Khasi bet. As shown by the Vietic cognates, Vietnamese ‹v-› here is not the result of lenition.
Verb
vãi • (捤, 𢭶)
- to spill (something) all over; to strew; to broadcast
- (of rice, seeds, etc.) to be spilled all over; to be scattered
- to excrete (involuntarily); to let out; to urinate or pee (by accident)
See also
Derived terms
- rơi vãi
- vung vãi
- vương vãi
Adverb
vãi
- (slang, vulgar) extremely; fucking
Etymology 2
Possibly non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 比 (SV: tỉ), short for tỉ-khâu-ni (比丘尼) < Pali bhikkhunī < Sanskrit भिक्षुणी (bhikṣuṇī).
If so, the correspondence between non-SV v- and SV t- is a manifestation of the chongniu phenomenon.
Noun
vãi • (娓, 尾, 𠉜, 𫱬)
- middle-aged female pagoda-goer
- Buddhist nun
See also
- sãi