cái
MandarinEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- cai (nonstandard)
PronunciationEdit
audio (file)
RomanizationEdit
- Hanyu Pinyin reading of 才, 纔.
- Hanyu Pinyin reading of 材.
- Hanyu Pinyin reading of 犲.
- Hanyu Pinyin reading of 裁.
- Hanyu Pinyin reading of 財, 财.
- Hanyu Pinyin reading of 溨.
- Hanyu Pinyin reading of 㒲.
VietnameseEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
Cognate with Muong Bi cảy, Tho [Cuối Chăm] keː³, Chut [Mày] kɛ⁴ (Babaev & Samarina, 2018), Chut [Rục] kɛ⁴ (Nguyễn Văn Lợi, 1993).
Often linked with Chinese 個 (“one thing; classifier”); however, as seen with the cognates in the more conservative languages, the earlier vowel can be ascertained to be a monophthongal non-low front vowel, which makes connection with the Chinese term doubtful, although semantic influence is still possible.
In Middle Vietnamese, this classifier is also attested to be used for certain animals (e.g. cái kiến (“an ant”), cái baba (“a soft-shell turtle”)). However, in Modern Vietnamese, this function has been completely taken over by the general animate classifier con. The size of the animal did not seem to be a factor on whether cái or con was used.
In Muong dialects, this usage can also be seen. For example, Muong Bi has cảy lòi (“a wild boar”), cảy ca (“a chicken”).
ClassifierEdit
- Indicates an inanimate, tangible thing
- Cái răng cái tóc là góc con người.
- Essentially, teeth and hair tell how good one looks.
- (obsolete) Indicates animals
- Lý hạng ca dao 里巷歌謠 (Folk-ballads from the hamlets and alleys), folio 36a
- 丐𪂲丐𪅥丐𪆯
𫳵𡮠踸𪽣穭翁唉𪂲- Cái cò cái vạc cái nông;
Sao mày giẫm ruộng lúa ông hỡi cò? - The stork, the heron, the pelican;
Why troddest thou on my paddy rice, oh stork?
- Cái cò cái vạc cái nông;
- Lý hạng ca dao 里巷歌謠 (Folk-ballads from the hamlets and alleys), folio 36a
- (colloquial) Precedes another classifier (any one but “cái” itself), effectively acting as a focus marker, sometimes conveying a connotation of deprecation, especially if persons are referred to.
- Cầm cái con dao này đưa cho mẹ.
- Take this knife and hand it your mom.
- Cái thằng đần thối này!
- You moron!
See alsoEdit
NounEdit
- (only in compounds) a thing; a whatsit
- Synonym: đồ
- cái đánh trứng ― a whisk (literally, “the thing for whisking eggs”)
- cái đẹp ― beauty / the Beautiful (literally, “the beautiful thing / the thing of beauty”)
- cái cao cả ― greatness / grandeur / the Sublime (literally, “the great/grand(iose) thing”)
- the solid bits of a broth
- Canh này thì chỉ có nước là ngon, còn cái thì dở ẹc.
- Only the liquid part of this broth tastes good, the solid bits suck.
- (literally, “As for this broth, only the liquid part is good, as for its solid bits, they suck.”)
See alsoEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From Proto-Vietic *-keːʔ (“woman; female”). Compare gái.
Attested in the title of Phùng Hưng, 布蓋大王 (MC puoH kɑiH dɑiH ɦʉɐŋ) (SV: Bố Cái Đại Vương), with the first two characters rendering words ancestral to modern vua (“monarch”) and cái ("great, main"), equivalent to the Chinese 大王 nexts to it, i.e. the title is the phrase "great king/monarch" written in two languages.
Alternative formsEdit
- (North Central Vietnam) cấy
NounEdit
See alsoEdit
AdjectiveEdit
- (of a non-human and non-avian species of animal or plant or their reproductive organs) female
- hoa cái ― carpellate flower; female flower
- nhị cái ― a pistil
- (now chiefly in compounds) big, large, main
- sông cái ― the big river
- ngón chân cái ― the big toe
SynonymsEdit
See alsoEdit
PrefixEdit
- (Northern Vietnam) Title affixed to rural young girls' names.
- Cái Bống là cái bống bang
- Khéo sảy khéo sàng cho mẹ nấu cơm
- Mẹ Bống đi chợ đường trơn
- Bống ra gánh đỡ chạy cơn mưa ròng.