Wiktionary

gì

See also: Appendix:Variations of "gi"

Ghomala'

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Pronunciation

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Rhymes: -i

Noun

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gì class 1 (singular of mgì class 4)

  1. voice, tone
    (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Noun

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gì class 1 (singular of mgì class 2)

  1. deer
    (Can we add an example for this sense?)
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References

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  • Erika Eichholzer (editor) et al, Dictionnaire ghomala’ (2002)

Middle Vietnamese

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Attested in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651), a dictionary based chiefly on the Northern dialects. Doublet of chi, most likely a secondary borrowing from the Central dialects.

The modern Central form chi is not a reflex of this form, but from a form that did not undergo lenition.

Pronunciation

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  • (Đông Kinh) IPA(key): [ʝi˨˩]

Pronoun

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之, 咦, 夷, 芇 (gì)

  1. what; whatever
    lo gì sự ấy
    come what may
  2. anything
    Chảng có đí gì sốt.
    There isn't anything.

Descendants

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  • Vietnamese: gì

References

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Namuyi

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Etymology 1

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ɡi˥˧]
  • Hyphenation: gì

Verb

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gì

  1. (transitive) to collect

Etymology 2

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ɡi˥˧]
  • Hyphenation: gì

Verb

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gì

  1. Prospective form of gè

References

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  • Štěpán Pavlík (2017) The Description of Namuzi Language‎[1], Prague: Charles University (PhD Thesis), page 29
  • Li Jianfu (2017) A Descriptive Grammar of Namuyi Khatho spoken by Namuyi Tibetans‎[2], Victoria: La Trobe University (PhD Thesis), page 164; 240

Vietnamese

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Alternative forms

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  • (Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) chi (no lenition)
  • (Internet slang, text messaging) giề
  • (abbreviation) z

Etymology

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Cognate with Muong chi.

See chi, the form without lenition and the form for the interrogative "what" in the Central dialects (both the North Central dialects from Nghệ An to Huế, and the South Central dialects of Đà Nẵng-Quảng Nam-Quảng Ngãi). Further south, the Southern dialects keep native chi with the meaning "what for" and in compounds, but borrowed gì from the Northern dialects for the general "what". In the Dictionarium Anamitico-Latinum (1838), a dictionary based on the Southern dialects, the entry for chi is much more extensive than for gì, likely indicating that in the late 18th-early 19th century, chi was still the main word for "what" in the Southern dialects.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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gì • (之, 咦, 夷, 芇)

  1. (Northern Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) what; whatever
  2. (Northern Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) anything

Usage notes

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  • The interrogative pronoun gì denotes a choice which is to be made from an indefinite set of things or people. Note that if gì follows a classifier, the classifier may be omitted in the reply.
Quyển này là quyển gì vậy? ― What kind of book is this?
Quyển này là (quyển) từ điển. ― This is a dictionary.

Derived terms

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Interjection

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gì

  1. An interrogative expression nearly equivalent to “What?”

Usage notes

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  • The interrogative can be used for anything from its basic use of disbelief and surprise to frustration and fear, depending on context, tone and stress, just like the English interrogative “What?”.

See also

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