áo dài

See also: ao dai

Vietnamese

áo dài on Vietnamese Wikipedia

Etymology

áo (“top; outfit”) +‎ dài (“long”).

An early attestation is in Chỉ nam ngọc âm giải nghĩa (指南玉音解義, 16th-18th century), spelled 襖曳.

In Phạm Đình Hổ's Nhật dụng thường đàm (日用常談, 1827), it (in its Nôm spelling 襖𨱽) was used to gloss 袍 (bào, “long gown”), with áo kép (襖劫) listed alongside as a synonym.

In Dictionarium latino-anamiticum (1838), several clothing items were called áo dài; for examples, sarabara, stola, syrma, toga were all glossed áo dài, more specific glossing include cyclas as áo dài người nữ (“female long gown”).

In Ấu học ngũ ngôn thi (幼學五言詩; 1863), it is attested as 襖𨱽 (pg. 9a) and was used to gloss 衫長.

Obviously these attestations referred to quite a diverse range of clothings, most of which probably shared little, if any, lineage with the modern áo dài.

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔaːw˧˦ zaːj˨˩]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔaːw˨˩˦ jaːj˦˩]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔaːw˦˥ jaːj˨˩]
Audio (Hà Nội): (file)

Noun

áo dài • (襖𨱽) (classifier cái, chiếc)

(clothing) ao dai
- 1920, 集案翁潘佩珠 [Tập án ông Phan Bội Châu]‎^[1], page 2a:
  𨉓黙丐襖𨱽𦥃𨃴
  Mình mặc cái áo dài đến gót.
  I am wearing an áo dài that reaches my heels.