sự

Sino-Vietnamese word from 事 (“abstract thing”), from Literary Chinese 事. Per Chinese morphology, it's used as a suffix and is fossilized in borrowings. In Vietnamese, it became a prefix to conform to native morphology. Compare other verbal nominalizers such as Rade klei and Japanese 事 (koto). Also compare một cách (adverbializer).

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [sɨ˧˨ʔ]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂɨ˨˩ʔ] ~ [sɨ˨˩ʔ]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʂɨ˨˩˨] ~ [sɨ˨˩˨]

sự

1. matters; affairs

   sự đời

   life affairs; life concerns

2. nominalizes verbs or adjectives

   sự sống còn

   survival

   (literally, “surviving thing”)

   sự đau đớn

   pain

   (literally, “painful thing”)

• việc