Where does “trời ạ” come from?
trời ạ (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese a, from French a, from French elle, from Old French ele, from Latin āla, from Latin axla, from Latin axis, from Proto-Italic aksis — to drive.
trời ạ (Vietnamese): for heaven's sake; for God's sake; for Christ's sake; for Pete's sake; for goodness' sake
Definitions
- for heaven's sake; for God's sake; for Christ's sake; for Pete's sake; for goodness' sake
Ancestry of “trời ạ”, step by step
trời ạ traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Vietnamese a
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vietnamese | a | The name of the Latin-script letter A;... |
| 2 | French | a | a, The name of the Latin-script letter A;... |
| 3 | French | elle | she; it; disjunctive form of elle; her; à elle =... |
| 4 | Old French | ele | she; wing |
| 5 | Latin | āla | a wing appendage of an animal's body that enables it to fly |
| 6 | Latin | axla | — |
| 7 | Latin | axis | An axletree of wagon, car, chariot; The North... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | aksis | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂eḱs- | axis, axle |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂eǵ- | to drive |