bà dì
[ʔɓaː˨˩ zi˨˩]word by word
The English phrase "great aunt" is translated into Vietnamese as bà dì.
bà dì refers to the sister of one's grandparent.
Did you know?
- Using 'dì' for a woman who is not actually a relative is a common way to show friendly, respectful closeness to a woman of your mother's generation.
- In Vietnamese, the word dì specifically denotes a maternal aunt, meaning bà dì is typically used for the sister of your grandmother rather than your grandfather.
- The word dì in bà dì is a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of the Chinese character 姨, which follows a different phonetic evolution than many other formal Vietnamese kinship terms.
Example conversation
Tuan and Mai are looking at an old family photo.
- TuấnMai, đây là bà dì của tôi.Mai, this is my great aunt.
- MaiBà dì trông rất trẻ và xinh.Your great aunt looks very young and pretty.
- TuấnCảm ơn Mai, bà dì cũng nói vậy.Thank you Mai, my great aunt says so too.
- MaiTôi muốn gặp bà dì một lần.I want to meet your great aunt sometime.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (bà, dì) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries bà, dì, CC BY-SA 4.0.
