mẫu tự

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 母字, composed of 母 (“mother”) and 字 (“character”), anagram and misconstruction of Chinese 字母 (tự mẫu), perhaps due to the influence of chữ cái. Compare the case of có mặt (native compound) and hiện diện (its sinicized internal calque counterpart).

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [məw˦ˀ˥ tɨ˧˨ʔ]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [məw˧˨ tɨ˨˩ʔ]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [məw˨˩˦ tɨ˨˩˨]

Noun

(formal, orthography) letter
Synonym: chữ cái

See also

thanh mẫu
vận mẫu

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