yểu

See also: yêu and yếu

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 夭 (“to die young, to die prematurely”). The hỏi tone of SV yểu results regularly from the voiceless stop initial & rising tone of late Middle Chinese *ʔˠiɛu^X. Compare yếu, an earlier borrowing from when Middle Chinese tone 上 / 上声 corresponded to Vietnamese tones B (sắc and nặng).

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔiəw˧˩]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔiw˧˨]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔiw˨˩˦]

Adjective

yểu

premature