rầu

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

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 愁 (SV: sầu).

rầu • (𠿈)

1. gloomy; melancholy; grieved

This is the most recognized example of the /oj > əw/ shift in Nẫu dialects. This shift is regular and seems to uniformly affect all items with mainstream Southern /oj/. It also affects at least some items with mainstream /əːj/ through /əːj/ - /oj/ merger, so that mainstream written trời (“sky, heaven”) corresponds to trầu. The /əːj/ - /oj/ merger was not completed before /oj > əw/ happened, so mới did not shift to *mấu; the rest of these /əːj/ then shifted to a velarized /əːˠ/ (phonetically probably [əːɰ]) instead, see trầu quơ.

rầu

1. Bình Định and Phú Yên form of rồi

   Biết rầu!

   I know!