thưa

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [tʰɨə˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [tʰɨə˧˧]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [tʰɨə˧˧]

Etymology 1

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 疏 (SV: sơ).

Adjective

thưa • (𠽔)

sparse

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 疏 (SV: sớ).

For the tonal correspondence between Vietnamese A tones (ngang-huyền) and Qieyun system C tone (去聲), see also đôi, cùng, bèn. See Alves (2018) for some more discussion.

Verb

thưa • (𠽔)

to tell somebody something in a respectful way

Usage notes

When addressing someone directly, the initial particle thưa may precede the personal pronoun.

Derived terms