máy

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "may"

Vietnamese

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Etymology

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Cognate with Muong Bi bẳl (as in bẳl măt (“to blink”), equivalent to Vietnamese máy mắt).

Originally a verb meaning "to move, to touch". This meaning can still be seen in the t- reduplicative táy máy and the -âp reduplicative mấp máy, as well as some compounds like mó máy and the aforementioned máy mắt.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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máy • (𢵯, 𣛠, 𠃅)

  1. (no longer used in isolation) to move around
  2. (no longer used in isolation) to touch and feel
    • 1914, Nam quốc phương ngôn tục ngữ bị lục (南國方言俗語備錄):
      𠁀𧍆𧍆𢵯𠁀𧑂𧑂陶
      Đời cua cua máy, đời cáy cáy đào.
      A big crab's life just fiddling with its surroundings, a small crab's life is just digging.

Noun

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(classifier cái, cỗ) máy • (𢵯, 𣛠, 𠃅)

  1. (obsolete) effect; mechanism
    • 18th century, Nguyễn Gia Thiều (阮嘉韶) (1741-1798), Cung oán ngâm khúc (宮怨吟曲), Phú Văn đường tàng (富文堂藏), printed in 1866 edition:
      箕世局如印聀梦
      𠃅玄微𨷑㨂坤量
      Kìa thế cục như in giấc mộng,
      Máy huyền vi mở đóng khôn lường.
      See, how my situation is as if it's a dream,
      The mysterious way that things move, constantly changing and unpredictable.
  2. machine
  3. engine
  4. internal combustion engine
  5. (colloquial) phone, mobile phone
    nhấc máy ― to pick up the phone

Usage notes

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  • The classifier cỗ (“< a set of dishes in a feast”) seems to be mostly used in translation and the phrase cỗ máy appears to be quite lexicalized to the extent that its usage resembles that of a compound.

See also

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Derived terms
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