dái tai

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

  • (North Central Vietnam) trấy tai
  • (Southern Vietnam) trái tai
  • (etymological spelling, not used) giái tai

Etymology

Originally a compound of giái (“fruit”) +‎ tai (“ear”), the first element is an alternative form of trái (see giai for the sound change).[1] The current spelling is probably due to the ‹gi›-‹d› merger in most dialects and influence from folk etymology (as if from dái (“scrotum”) +‎ tai, cf. Korean 귓불 (gwitbul)). Compare Phong Nha dialect ʈɤj³²⁴ which means both "fruit" and "earlobe", while "scrotum, testicles" is ɗaj³²⁴.[2]

This form is originally Northern, then spread to other dialects.

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [zaːj˧˦ taːj˧˧]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [jaːj˨˩˦ taːj˧˧]
  • (Saigon) IPA(key): [jaːj˦˥ taːj˧˧]

Noun

dái tai

  1. earlobe

References

  1. ^ Vũ, Đức Nghiệu. "Các biến đổi ngữ âm lịch sử với việc tạo từ tiếng Việt".
  2. ^ Ferlus, Michel; Michaud, Alexis; Nguyễn, Minh Châu. "Strata of standardization: The Phong Nha dialect of Vietnamese (Quảng Bình Province) in historical perspective".
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