sơ khai

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from (beginning) and (to start; to open), calque of Chinese 開初 / 开初 (khai sơ, originally; early).

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [səː˧˧ xaːj˧˧]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [ʂəː˧˧ kʰaːj˧˧] ~ [səː˧˧ xaːj˧˧]
  • (Saigon) IPA(key): [ʂəː˧˧ kʰaːj˧˧] ~ [səː˧˧ xaːj˧˧]

Adjective

khai

  1. initial; primordial; original; early
    Trái Đất sơ khaiPrimordial Earth
    Tế bào sơ khaiThe Protocell (the original cell)

Noun

(classifier tờ, bài) khai

  1. (figurative) a stub (as an early, incomplete composition)