Vietnamese

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Proto-Mon-Khmer *tɔʔ (that, there). Cognate with Khmer ដ៏ (dɑɑ) and Bahnar to.

Pronoun

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đó (, 𥯉, 𪥾, 𦲼)

  1. that place over there
    Synonym: đấy
    Đứng đó làm gì?
    Whatcha doin' over there?
  2. that person/thing over there
    Đây là phòng khách. Đó là phòng ngủ.
    This is the living room. That is the bedroom.
  3. that idea/notion I/we've just described/discussed
    Gặp lại nhau bất kể trở ngại, bất kể thử thách. Đó là duyên số.
    People keep seeing each other again despite all the obstacles, all the challenges. That's what I call fate.
Usage notes
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  • In the Northern dialects, đấy is usually preferred.
Derived terms
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See also
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Vietnamese demonstratives
proximal
(*-iː)
distal 1
(*-iːʔ)
distal 2
(*-əːʔ)
distal 3/
remote
(*-ɔːʔ)
interrogative
(rime was a rounded
back vowel)
place, attributive1
n-
ni

này/nầy
nây

nấy
nớ nọ
()
nào
place, nominal2
đ-
đây đấy
(ấy)
đó đâu
manner
r-
ri
rày
rứa ru
sao3
extent 14
b-
bây bấy bao
extent 25
v-
vầy vậy
1 Originally can only follow a nominal (being used attributively), hence nơi này (this place; here), nơi nào (where) (no longer completely true in the modern language).
2 Can be used on its own/is itself nominal, hence đây (here), đâu (where).
3 From earlier *C-raːw (where *C is nonspecific consonant).
4 Placed before the head: bây nhiêu (this much), bấy nhiêu (that much), bao nhiêu (how much).
5 Placed after the head: nhanh vầy (this fast), nhanh vậy (that fast/so fast).
visibility/evidentiality6
distal
(ngang)
remote
(huyền)
Northern-Southern kia
()
kìa
(cờ)
Central tề
6 Originally, these demonstratives might have been used to assert that something is visible and/or verifiable. They have been bleached quite thoroughly and currently are usually used like other distal demonstratives. The biggest trace of their evidentiality might be in their usage as final particles, often in reduced forms /cờ: [t]ừ đấy về tới Hà Nội, còn những ba cái cầu nữa mà! ("From there to Hanoi, there're still three more bridges to cross!") (Ba ngày luân lạc, 1943) and their (pretty much) obligatory use when locating an object: Không phải cái này mà là cái kia. ("Not this one, that one.")


Particle

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đó

  1. (Southern Vietnam) emphasizes a quality that the listener may not have known; you see?; I'm telling you
    Tao mới coi tối qua. Hơi bị hay đó! Bữa nào mày cũng dành thời gian coi đi!
    I finally saw it yesterday. Really good, I must say. You should go see it when you have the chance.
    Em mới đến nên không biết, thằng này khùng lắm đó!
    You've just moved here so you might not have known, but he's pretty screwed up in the head.

Etymology 2

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From Proto-Vietic *tɔːʔ (trap). Cognate with Toum tɔː³. Compare Lower Ta'oih tɔː ("to trap, to strain"), Kuy [Salavan] tɔː ("to trap birds, fish, etc.").

Noun

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(classifier cái) đó (𥯉, 𣔧)

  1. kind of fish trap
See also
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