nhát

See also: Appendix:Variations of "nhat"

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ɲaːt̚˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ɲaːk̚˦˧˥]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ɲaːk̚˦˥]

Etymology 1

Adjective

nhát • (㦉, 瘌)

1. shy; timid
2. easily scared; timorous; cowardly; chicken

   nhát như thỏ đế ― cowardly like a rabbit

   • 1957, Đoàn Giỏi, chapter 3, in Đất rừng phương Nam, Kim Đồng:

     Nói sợ thì nó chê mình nhát, mà nói không thì không đúng.

     If I said I'm afraid, he would call me chicken, and if I didn't it wouldn't be true.

Derived terms

• nhát cáy (extremely cowardly)
• nhút nhát (shy/timid)

 

Etymology 2

See lát (“slice; moment”).

This form was attested with the meaning "moment" in texts written in Northern dialects in the late 19th-20th century. In this meaning, it is probably still conserved in rural and minor Northern dialects, but is now rarely heard in the urban dialects due to the spread of the Central-Southern form.

Noun

nhát • (戞, 戛)

1. a slash, slit or stab with a sharp weapon

   Hắn đâm nạn nhân năm nhát. ― He stabbed the victim five stabs.

Noun

nhát

1. (obsolete in mainstream Northern Vietnam dialects) a moment