xôi

See also: xoi, xối, and xởi

Vietnamese

Etymology

Ferlus (2007) reconstructed Proto-Vietic *soːj, with cognates in the Pong group like Toum soːj¹ and Liha saoj¹, but this is obviously a faulty reconstruction, as simplex initial *s- would yield /t/ in Vietnamese, never remains /s/.

Ferlus (2007) reconstructed other items with *tʃ-, which yields /s/ in both modern Vietnamese and Pong lects (< Proto-Pong *s-), compare Vietnamese xỏ vs. Toum sɔː³, Vietnamese xương vs. Phong siɛŋ¹; so the reconstruction could possibly be amended to *tʃoːj instead.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Any possible connections with ចំហុយ?”)

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [soj˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [soj˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [soj˧˧]
• Homophone: sôi

Noun

xôi • (𥸷, 𥺏, 𥺔)

1. steamed glutinous rice

   xôi gấc ― sweet steamed glutinous rice colored with gac

   xôi bắp ― steamed corn with sugar, sesame and coconut meat

2. (colloquial) chest, breast, bosom

Related terms

• cơm nếp

Verb

xôi

1. to gleam, to glow

References

• "xôi" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)