tứ
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See also: Appendix:Variations of "tu"
Vietnamese
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Sino-Vietnamese word from 四.
Numeral
[edit]tứ
- (Sino-Vietnamese numeral) four
Usage notes
[edit]- Like all Sino-Vietnamese numerals smaller than triệu (“million”), the "standard" reading tứ itself is never used as a cardinal number (for counting, etc.), where native numerals are used instead; its use therefore is restricted to compounds.
- bốn căn nhà (never *tứ/tư căn nhà) ― four houses
- However, the variant tư is used in titles (e.g. chú tư) and in forming numerals bigger than 10.
- bốn mươi tư ― forty-four
- Comparing to Chinese and other Sino-Xenic languages, there is little to no taboo regarding the number "four" (tetraphobia) in Vietnamese. In fact, tứ/tư is actually one of the few Sino-Vietnamese numerals that enjoy usages outside of fixed compounds, and the one of the two Sino-Vietnamese items (along không (“zero”)) that had penetrated into the (lower) cardinal counting system, where it coexists with native bốn.
Derived terms
[edit]- bộ tứ (“quartet”)
- đệ tứ (第四, “fourth”)
- hình tứ giác (形四角, “square; rectangle”)
- tứ diện (四面, “tetrahedron”)
- tứ đức (四德, “four female qualities”)
- tứ giác (四角, “quadrilateral”)
- Tứ Hải (四海, “Four Seas”)
- tứ kết (四決, “quarterfinal”)
- Tứ Linh (四靈, “Four Holy Beasts”)
- Tứ Phủ (四府, “Four Palaces”)
- tứ quý (四季, “four seasons”)
- tứ tuyệt (四絕, “quatrain”)
- Tứ Xuyên (四川, “Sichuan”)
See also
[edit]Etymology 2
[edit]Romanization
[edit]tứ
- Sino-Vietnamese reading of 思 (“thought”)