lãi suất

Vietnamese edit

Etymology edit

lãi (“interest”) +‎ suất (“rate”). The word order suggests this is a pseudo-Sino-Vietnamese formation. Perhaps also a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 利率 (SV: lợi luật), by way of replacing the systematic Sino-Vietnamese reading of 利 with the vulgarized one that gave rise to lãi as a common word.

Pronunciation edit

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [laːj˦ˀ˥ swət̚˧˦]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [laːj˧˨ ʂwək̚˦˧˥] ~ [laːj˧˨ swək̚˦˧˥]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [laːj˨˩˦ ʂ⁽ʷ⁾ək̚˦˥] ~ [laːj˨˩˦ s⁽ʷ⁾ək̚˦˥]

Noun edit

lãi suất

(finance) an interest rate
cho vay lãi suất cao
to loan at a high interest rate