vãi

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

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)

  1. to spill (something) all over; to strew; to broadcast
  2. (of rice, seeds, etc.) to be spilled all over; to be scattered
  3. to excrete (involuntarily); to let out; to urinate or pee (by accident)
See also
Derived terms
  • rơi vãi
  • vung vãi
  • vương vãi

Adverb

vãi

  1. (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)

  1. middle-aged female pagoda-goer
  2. Buddhist nun
See also
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