thừa

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [tʰɨə˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [tʰɨə˦˩]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [tʰɨə˨˩]

• Audio (Hà Nội):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from 剩. The reading fails to retain the final consonant in Middle Chinese 剩 (zying^H), which seems to be unique to Vietnamese (compare Mandarin 剩 (shèng), Cantonese 剩 (sing⁶, zing⁶), Japanese じょう (jō) and Korean 승 (seung)). The one that does, thặng, only occurs in the word thặng dư or colloquial adjective thượng thặng (“first-degree, top-level”). This failure to retain the final consonant also occurs for thừa below.

Alternatively, Haudricourt (1954) suggests that thừa is a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 餘 (“left over, extra”, SV: dư).

Adjective

thừa

1. more than needed; left over, redundant, superfluous

   Synonym: dư

   Bỏ đồ thừa trong tủ lạnh.

   Put the leftovers in the fridge.

   Mẹ dặn không có thừa đâu!

   What mother's advising you is not redundant!

Adverb

thừa

1. (only in fixed expressions) more than enough

   thừa biết ~ biết thừa

   to know fully well; to be fully aware; to be the first one to acknowledge; to know, of all people

   (literally, “to know more than enough”)

Etymology 2

Sino-Vietnamese word from 乘.

Verb

thừa

1. (only in fixed expressions) to take advantage of (an opportunity)

Derived terms

• thừa cơ (“to seize an opportunity”)
• thừa thắng (“to seize the opportunities that result from a recent victory”)
• thừa thế (“to take advantage of the current situation”)

 

Etymology 3

Sino-Vietnamese word from 承.

Verb

thừa

1. to inherit; to receive

Derived terms

• giao thừa (交承, “New Year's Eve”)
• thừa hưởng (承享, “to be in possession (of); to inherit”)
• thừa kế (承繼, “to inherit”)
• thừa nhận (承認, “to recognise (faults, etc.); to admit; to acknowledge”)
• Thừa Thiên Huế (“a province of Vietnam”)
• Thừa Thiên (承天, “(history) a feudal province of Vietnam”)

 

Noun

thừa

1. (poetry, comics) shō

See also

• khởi (“ki”)
• chuyển (“ten”)
• kết (“ketsu”)/hợp (“gō”)