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giai. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
giai, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
giai in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
giai you have here. The definition of the word
giai will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
giai, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Vietnamese
- (coastal Northern Vietnam, likely obsolete) lai
- (originally Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam, now widespread) trai
Etymology
See trai. The sound change from *p-l and *b-l to ‹gi-› is a regular sound change in Northern Vietnamese; compare giồng, giầu, giời, giăng, gio, giả, giở, giun, gióng, giái. The inland dialects seem to have undergone this shift more thoroughly (although not completely), with the coastal Northern dialects being much more diverse in their treatment of *C-l- cluster.
This is one of several dialectal features of Northern Vietnamese that are quickly disappearing (especially in urban areas) due to dialect leveling, being replaced by the modern standard written forms of Southern origin. Among words with ‹gi-› onset originated from labial-lateral clusters, only giai, giời and a few words that originated from the Northern region but have become "standard" or "co-standard" in written language (like giun and giở) seem to be holding out among younger generations.
Pronunciation
Noun
giai • (𪟦, 𫦻)
- Northern Vietnam form of trai (“boys and men; male”)
Derived terms
Romanization
giai
- Sino-Vietnamese reading of 階 (“rank or step; stairs”)
- Sino-Vietnamese reading of 佳 (“excellent”)