sơ khai

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 初 (“beginning”) and 開 (“to start; to open”), calque of Chinese 開初／开初 (khai sơ, “originally; early”).

Pronunciation
  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [səː˧˧ xaːj˧˧]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [ʂəː˧˧ kʰaːj˧˧] ~ [səː˧˧ xaːj˧˧]
  • (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [ʂəː˧˧ kʰaːj˧˧] ~ [səː˧˧ xaːj˧˧]

Adjective

sơ khai

  1. initial; primordial; original; early
    Trái Đất sơ khai ― Primordial Earth
    Tế bào sơ khai ― The Protocell (the original cell)

Noun

(classifier tờ, bài) sơ khai

  1. (figurative) a stub (as an early, incomplete composition)
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