Già

Inherited from Latin iam (“already, now”). Cognate with Portuguese já and Spanish ya.

• IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒa/*[1], /ˈd͡ʒa/°
• Audio:(file)
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: già

già

1. already, yet Synonyms: ormai, fin d’ora
2. as early as
3. former, ex- Synonym: ex-
4. (informal) yes, yeah
5. an expletive, a word that adds to the strength of a phrase without affecting its meaning and is usually left untranslated

• giacché
• giammai

• già in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana

• AGI, agi, agì, gai

• jà

From Proto-Vietic *k-raː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *kraʔ ~ *(k)rah.

Attested in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651), a dictionary based chiefly on the Northern dialects.

The Middle Vietnamese form ancestral to the modern Southern Vietnamese form, although technically unattested, should be phonologically identical to the Northern Middle Vietnamese form here. The modern Southern form is listed as a “descendant” in this entry for convenience.

The modern North Central form tra is not a reflex of this form, but from an earlier from that underwent a separate development of the onset.

già (𦓅, 𫅷)

1. (living being) old ou᷃ già ― old man bà già ― old woman thân ou᷃ già bà già ― dear old man and woman già cả ― very old già nua ― very old rủ rỉ già cả ― old and decrepit già lẩn ― senile già móm ― old and toothless đến già ― to reach old age, to approach old age
2. overripe, mature blái già ― overripe fruit tle già ― mature bamboo ngà già ― mature ivory bạc già ― old silver

• Northern Vietnamese: già
• Southern Vietnamese: già

• già giẹt, già giệt

• Alexandre de Rhodes (1651), “già”, in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (in Middle Vietnamese, Latin, and Portuguese), Rome: Propaganda Fide
• Alexandre de Rhodes (1651), “càng”, in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (in Middle Vietnamese, Latin, and Portuguese), Rome: Propaganda Fide
• Alexandre de Rhodes (1651), “đến”, in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (in Middle Vietnamese, Latin, and Portuguese), Rome: Propaganda Fide
• Alexandre de Rhodes (1651), “lẩn”, in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (in Middle Vietnamese, Latin, and Portuguese), Rome: Propaganda Fide
• Alexandre de Rhodes (1651), “móm”, in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (in Middle Vietnamese, Latin, and Portuguese), Rome: Propaganda Fide

• (North Central Vietnam) tra

From Proto-Vietic *k-raː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *kraʔ ~ *(k)rah. Cognate with Muong khà, Tho [Cuối Chăm] kʰraː¹, Bahnar kră.

Attested as Northern Middle Vietnamese già in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651), a dictionary based chiefly on the Northern dialects. The modern North Central form descended from an unattested Middle Vietnamese form, which derived from an unattested non-Northern Old Vietnamese form.

The standard written Vietnamese form is irregular (the expected form would be **sa), while the North Central form shows the shift from *k-r to *k-l observable in several other instances: compare sâu and trâu (“caterpillar”), sừng and trừng (“horn”). See giòi (“maggot”), giữa (“middle”) for other instances of mainstream Vietnamese ‹gi› from initial *k-r.

• (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [zaː˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA(key): [jaː˦˩]
• (Saigon) IPA(key): [jaː˨˩]

già • (𦓅, 𫅷)

1. (of lifeforms) old; compare cũ (of objects) nhường bước người già ― to make way for the elderly gà già thịt dai ― old chickens have leathery meat cây già ― old tree
2. having the characteristics of appearances of an old person although not that old mặt già ― an old face (ie. with wrinkles) tìm một chị tiếng già để đóng vai bà lão ― to search for a woman with an old voice to voice the role of an old woman (ie. someone whose voice sounds like an old person) lo nghĩ nhiều nên già trước tuổi ― to worry too much and thus age too soon
3. veteran, experienced, longtime thầy già ― veteran teacher Cậu ta là bạn già của mình. ― He is my old friend.
4. overripe cau già ― overripe areca nut bầu già ― overripe gourd
5. above average, more than normal nước nóng già ― too-warm water dọa già dọa non ― to scare someone and make them give in nước ô-xi già ― hydrogen peroxide
6. slightly excessive, over già một thước ― over by one meter lấy già một đấu ― scoop just over one dou

• trẻ

• cũ; lão

già

1. (literary or dialectal) Used to indicate one’s contact with a village or tribe elder or the elderly
2. (now rare) Used to refer to the elder sister of one’s mother Synonym: bá

già

1. (familiar) elder, old person
2. (card games) king

Playing cards in Vietnamese · bài tây (layout · text) át, xì heo, hai ba bốn năm sáu bảy tám chín mười J, bồi Q, đầm K, già phăng teo

• gài