trời

See also: troi, Troi, trói, tròi, and trôi

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

(Northern Vietnam, inland dialects) giời
(Northern Vietnam, coastal dialects, likely obsolete) lời
(Northern Vietnam, coastal dialects, endangered) tời
(Nẫu) trầu

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *b-ləːj (“sky”), from Proto-Mon-Khmer *briiʔ (“sky, rain”). Compare also Muong tlời and Chut [Rục] pləːj².

This particular form is originally the Central-Southern form. The Northern forms include giời from the inland dialects, and lời and tời from the coastal dialects. Both of the coastal Northern forms had already disappeared or are highly endangered since the early 20th century, leaving giời as the representative Northern form, although even this form is losing ground to the written form.

Attested in Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經) as 𫶸, composed of 巴 (MC pae) + 例 (MC ljejH) (modern SV: ba lệ), 婆例 (MC ba ljejH) (modern SV: bà lệ) and 婆雷 (MC ba lwoj) (modern SV: bà lôi). Attested in the Annan Jishi (安南即事, 13th century) as 勃耒 (MC bwot lwijX|lwojH).

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕəːj˨˩]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʈəːj˦˩]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʈəːj˨˩]
Audio (Saigon): (file)

Noun

(classifier bầu) trời • (𡗶, 𫯝, 𫶸, 𱘷)

the sky
ngoài trời ― outdoor(s)
weather
trời nóng/mát/lạnh ― it's hot/cool/cold

Trời đẹp nhỉ?
The weather is great, isn't it?
(sometimes capitalized) a generic deification of the sky that is said to be able to grant "natural gifts" (talent, good weather, etc.) and deal heavenly "punishments" (storms, lightning, etc.); he may be conflated with the Ngọc Hoàng (“Jade Emperor”) borrowed from Chinese myths; the heavenly lord; compare Chinese 老天 (lǎotiān, literally “old heaven”)
Bắc thang lên mà hỏi ông trời!
Go find a damn ladder to go up and ask the heavenly lord!

bị trời đánh ― to be struck by Heaven; to be vanquished by divine wrath

trời đánh tránh bữa ăn ― even the heavenly lord knows better not to strike at meal times; don't cause ruckuses at meal times

Con cóc là cậu ông trời,
Nếu ai đánh cóc thì trời đánh cho.
The Toad is the Heavenly Lord's boss,
If you strike him, the Lord will strike you.
- 1921, Tản Đà, Hầu Trời [Serving the Heavenly Lord]:
  - “Trời nghe hạ giới ai ngâm nga,
  Tiếng ngâm vang cả sông Ngân Hà!
  Làm Trời mất ngủ, Trời đương mắng
  Có hay lên đọc, Trời nghe qua”.
  
  Ước mãi bây giờ mới gặp tiên!
  Người tiên nghe tiếng lại như quen!
  Văn chương nào có hay cho lắm
  Trời đã sai gọi thời phải lên.
  - The Lord heard someone reciting in the realm below,
  Such recital echoed across the Milky Way!
  It disturbed His slumber, it made Him mad
  If you're so good, come to Heaven and recite to Him.
  
  Good heaven, I'd always wished to see fairies!
  They were fairies, yet they sounded pretty familiar!
  My recital wasn't even that good
  But the Lord had sent them to get me, I had to go.

Derived terms

Adjective

trời

(of anseriforms) wild
ngỗng trời ― a wild goose
Used after ngày, tháng, or năm to emphasize a lengthy duration
mười ngày trời ― a full ten days

gần ba năm trời ― almost a full three years

Interjection

trời

(colloquial) good Lord!
Trời, sao lại làm như thế?
Good Lord, what did (you/he/she/it) do that for?

Synonyms

trời ơi

Related terms

References

"trời" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)
Lê Sơn Thanh, "Nom-Viet.dat", WinVNKey (details)