rày

See also: ray, Ray, rầy, ra'y, and -raþ

Vietnamese

Etymology

Part of the r-series of demonstratives, along with rứa, ri, ru, sao.

Phonologically, like này (“this”), this is the form with more innovative vocalism, while ri (“like this”) and ni (“this”) maintain the monophthong. Meanwhile, its semantic development parallels that of nay (“now”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zaj˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʐaj˦˩]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ɹa(ː)j˨˩]

Adverb

rày • (𣈙, 例)

1. (Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) now, today, this time

   Synonyms: nay, giờ, chừ

   từ rày về sau ― from now on

   • 1957, Đoàn Giỏi, chapter 16, in Đất rừng phương Nam, Kim Đồng:

     Nhiều lúc nhớ tới anh Ba thủy thủ, tôi tự hỏi: "Không biết trên bước đường phiêu lãng, anh có trải qua những ngày buồn bã thế này không?" Rày đây mai đó…

     Often, thinking back to Mr Ba the sailor, I wondered, "Would he also go through such sad days on his adventures?" Now here, tomorrow there…

See also

Derived terms

• hổm rày
• rày đây mai đó

 

Vietnamese demonstratives
Laurence Thompson (1965), Vietnamese Grammar
					Unspecified					Close to the speaker or newly introduced					Remote, already identified
PLACE đ- (first register)					đâu ‘wherever’					đây ‘here’					đấy ‘there’
REFERENCE n- (second register)					nào ‘whichever’					này ‘this’					nọ ‘that’
PROPORTION b- (first register)					bao ‘to whatever extent’					bây ‘to this extent’					bấy ‘to that extent’
MANNER s- (first register) v- (second register)					sao ‘however’					vầy ‘this way’					vậy ‘that way’
Nguyễn Phú Phong (1992), “Vietnamese Demonstratives Revisited”
				D• (Indefinite)				D1 (Proximal)				D2 (Medial)				D3 (Distal)
+NOM(inal)				đâu place-what				đây place-this				đấy place-that1
±NOM(inal)												đó (place-)that1				kia (place-)that2
–NOM(inal)				nào what				nầy this				nấy/ấy that1				nọ that2

Vietnamese demonstratives (alternative version)

	Proximal (*-iː)	Distal 1 (*-iːʔ)	Distal 2 (*-əːʔ)	Distal 3/ Remote (*-ɔːʔ)	Interrogative (rime was a rounded back vowel)
Place, attributive1 n-	ni nì này	nấy	nớ	nọ	nào
Place, nominal2 đ-	đây	đí đấy	—	đó	đâu
Manner r-	ri rày	—	rứa	—	ru sao3
Extent 14 b-	bây	bấy	—	—	bao
Extent 25 v-	vầy	vậy	—	—	—
1 Originally can only follow a nominal (being used attributively), hence nơi này (“this place; here”), nơi nào (“where”) (no longer completely true in the modern language). 2 Can be used on its own/is itself nominal, hence đây (“here”), đâu (“where”). 3 From earlier *C-raːw (where *C is nonspecific consonant). 4 Placed before the head: bây nhiêu (“this much”), bấy nhiêu (“that much”), bao nhiêu (“how much”). 5 Placed after the head: nhanh vầy (“this fast”), nhanh vậy (“that fast/so fast”).