Where does “ba phải” come from?
ba phải (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese bà, from Chinese 爸, from Chinese 父, from Komodo paʔ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian əpat, from Proto-Austronesian Səpat — four.
ba phải (Vietnamese): saying “yes”, “right” or “okay” on every occasion; lacking any opinions of one's own; lacking a backbone
Definitions
- saying “yes”, “right” or “okay” on every occasion; lacking any opinions of one's own; lacking a backbone
Ancestry of “ba phải”, step by step
ba phải traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Vietnamese bà
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vietnamese | bà | a grandmother; an old woman; an old lady; you, my... |
| 2 | Chinese | 爸 | — |
| 3 | Chinese | 父 | — |
| 4 | Komodo | paʔ | four |
| 5 | Proto-Malayo-Polynesian | əpat | four |
| 6 | Proto-Austronesian | Səpat | four |
via Vietnamese phải
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vietnamese | phải | right; correct; obverse |
| 2 | Chinese | 派 | — |
| 3 | English | Pi | The sixteenth letter of the Classical and Modern Greek alphabets and the seventeenth in Old Greek |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | πῖ | Alternative form of πεῖ |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | πεῖ | pi, the name for the sixteenth letter Π, π of the... |
| 6 | Proto-Semitic | pay- | the mouth |