lưỡi

See also: lưới and lười

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• (North Central Vietnam) lãi (no diphthongization, dialects without ngã-nặng merger)
• (North Central Vietnam) lại (no diphthongization, dialects with ngã-nặng merger)
• (North Central Vietnam) lãn (no diphthongization, dialects without ngã-nặng merger, *-lʰ shifted to -nC)

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *laːs. Cognate with Muong Bi lãi. Compare also Pacoh leah (“to lick”).

The Northern Middle Vietnamese forms lưởi, lưỡi are attested in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [lɨəj˦ˀ˥]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [lɨj˧˨]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [lɨj˨˩˦]

• Audio (Hồ Chí Minh City)

  (file)

Noun

(classifier cái) lưỡi • (礼, 𥚇, 󰟴, 𦧜)

1. (anatomy) a tongue
2. (of a knife, sword, etc.) a blade
3. (of a knife, sword, etc.) a cutting edge

   con dao hai lưỡi ― a double-edged knife / a thing that has both useful and harmful effects

See also

Derived terms

• lẹo lưỡi
• lưỡi cày
• lưỡi gà
• lưỡi hái
• lưỡi lê
• lưỡi liềm
• lưỡi trai
• miệng lưỡi