khái

See also: khai

Vietnamese

Etymology

This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “In many Vietic and Austroasiatic languages (such as Khmer), velar stop is often non-phonemically aspirated before sonorants (cf. Kha Phong kʰalaː¹ ("noon") < *k-laː), so the Proto-Vietic form can be obtained after simple metathesis: pre-Proto-Vietic *k-laːʔ [kʰ(ə)laːʔ] > Proto-Vietic *k-haːlʔ. Compare also the proto-forms of gió and khói, which might be related to each other through the same exact pattern of metathesis.”

From Proto-Vietic *k-haːlʔ / *kʰaːlʔ, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *klaʔ. Cognate with whence Khmer ខ្លា (khlaa), Bahnar kla, Khasi khla, Mon ကၠ. Doublet of hổ.

Compare also Khmer ខាល (khaal, “Year of the Tiger”), which was a Vietic loan.

Pronunciation

(Vinh) IPA^(key): [kʰaːj˩]

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [xaːj˧˦]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [kʰaːj˨˩˦] ~ [xaːj˨˩˦]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [kʰaːj˦˥] ~ [xaːj˦˥]

Noun

(classifier con) khái • (𤠲, 𤡚)

(North Central Vietnam) a tiger (The mammal Panthera tigris)
Synonyms: hổ, cọp, hùm, kễnh, ông ba mươi