lưỡi

See also: lưới and lười

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

(North Central Vietnam) lãi (no diphthongization, dialects without ngã-nặng merger)
(North Central Vietnam) lại (no diphthongization, dialects with ngã-nặng merger)
(North Central Vietnam) lãn (no diphthongization, dialects without ngã-nặng merger, with the coda shift *-lʰ > /-nC/)

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *laːs. Cognate with Muong Bi lãi. Compare also Pacoh leah (“to lick”).

Attested as Northern Middle Vietnamese lưởi, lưỡi, lưẩi in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651).

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [lɨəj˦ˀ˥]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [lɨj˧˨]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [lɨj˨˩˦]
Audio (Saigon): (file)

Noun

(classifier cái) lưỡi • (礼, 𥚇, 󰟴, 𦧜)

(anatomy) tongue
(of a knife, sword, etc.) cutting edge; blade
con dao hai lưỡi ― a double-edged knife / a thing that has both useful and harmful effects

See also