thư kí

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• thư ký

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 書記, Chinese 書記／书记 (shūjì, “communist secretary”). Compare bí thư (“communist secretary”). Vietnamese uses an opposite distinction to Chinese's as to whether the secretary in question works for the communist government or not.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [tʰɨ˧˧ ki˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [tʰɨ˧˧ kɪj˨˩˦]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [tʰɨ˧˧ kɪj˦˥]

Noun

thư kí

1. a non-communist secretary

   Nó làm thư kí ở công ti A.

   She works as a secretary at company A.

Derived terms

• tổng thư kí (“secretary general”)