mọi

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [mɔj˧˨ʔ]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [mɔj˨˩ʔ]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [mɔj˨˩˨]

• Audio (Hồ Chí Minh City)

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Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 每 (“every, each”, SV: mỗi). Doublet of mỗi.

mọi

1. every; all

   Một người vì mọi người ! Mọi người vì một người !

   One for all! All for one!

Mỗi (SV) and mọi (non-SV) are doublets from the same Chinese etymon, but their meanings differ: mỗi emphasises individuality (“each”), while mọi emphasises collectivity (“every”).

• → Tai Dam: ꪢ꫁ꪮꪥ

From Proto-Vietic *mɔːlʔ (“human being”) (secondary borrowing from a Muong lect?); cognate with Muong mõl (“human being”).

Further origin uncertain:

• Schuessler (2007: 391,392) proposes that Vietic *mɔːlʔ is cognate to *c-mɔːlʔ (“digging stick”), as well as to such descendants of Proto-Mon-Khmer *jm(o:)l (“male”) as Old Khmer jmol (“male (of animals)”) (⇒ Khmer ឈ្មោល (chmool)), Old Mon jmūr ~ jmur (“male (elephant)”), Semelai rəmɔːl (“male”); according to Schuessler, both "male" and "digging stick" derived from a stem represented in Khmu [script needed] (crmɔɔl, “digging stick”), [script needed] (cmɔ:l, “to plant (rice) with digging stick”), and Old Khmer cval (“to enter, penetrate, (of animals) copulate”)[1] (⇒ Khmer ចូល (coul)).
  • If so, from *čɑɑr "to dig, to delve"[2] (Ferlus, 1989-1990: 54-56). Compare also Vietnamese xoi (“to bore, to perforate”), xói, moi, mói (“to delve, to dig out”), which are this root's reflexes with back vowels.
• However, Ferlus did not deem Vietnamese mọi and Muong mõl to be derivatives of *čaar; instead, he relates them to Khmu [script needed] (hmmaːl, “soul”) (Ferlus: 55);
  • If so, Proto-Vietic *mɔːlʔ (“human being”) would be a derivative of Proto-Mon-Khmer *smuul ~ smuəl ~ smaal ~ smal (“shadow, soul”) (Shorto, 2006: #1779); nevertheless, Shorto did not count Vietic items among reflexes of this root[3].

mọi • (𤞦, 𧖦, 𬠱)

1. (derogatory) barbarian; savage; a racial slur