tứ

See also: Appendix:Variations of "tu"

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [tɨ˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [tɨ˨˩˦]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [tɨ˦˥]

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from 四.

Numeral

tứ

1. (Sino-Vietnamese numeral) four

Usage notes

• Like all Sino-Vietnamese numerals smaller than triệu (“million”), the "standard" reading tứ itself is never used as a cardinal number (for counting, etc.), where native numerals are used instead; its use therefore is restricted to compounds.

  bốn căn nhà (never *tứ/tư căn nhà) ― four houses

• However, the variant tư is used in titles (e.g. chú tư) and in forming numerals bigger than 10.

  bốn mươi tư ― forty-four

• Comparing to Chinese and other Sino-Xenic languages, there is little to no taboo regarding the number "four" (tetraphobia) in Vietnamese. In fact, tứ/tư is actually one of the few Sino-Vietnamese numerals that enjoy usages outside of fixed compounds, and the one of the two Sino-Vietnamese items (along không (“zero”)) that had penetrated into the (lower) cardinal counting system, where it coexists with native bốn.

Derived terms

• bộ tứ (“quartet”)
• đệ tứ (第四, “fourth”)
• hình tứ giác (形四角, “square; rectangle”)
• tứ diện (四面, “tetrahedron”)
• tứ đức (四德, “four female qualities”)
• tứ giác (四角, “quadrilateral”)
• Tứ Hải (四海, “Four Seas”)
• tứ kết (四決, “quarterfinal”)
• Tứ Linh (四靈, “Four Holy Beasts”)
• Tứ Phủ (四府, “Four Palaces”)
• tứ quý (四季, “four seasons”)
• tứ tuyệt (四絕, “quatrain”)
• Tứ Xuyên (四川, “Sichuan”)

 

See also

• bốn; tư

Etymology 2

Romanization

tứ

1. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 思 (“thought”)

Derived terms

• tình tứ (情思, “lovable; affectionate; amorous; romantic”)
• ý tứ (意思, “tact”)