nai

adjectivenounverb

Hanoi [naːj˧˧]Huế [naːj˧˧]Saigon [naːj˧˧] browser voice

Syllables · tones

nailevelngang

Each syllable carries one of six tones; the mark on the vowel tells you which. How the six tones sound →

nai means innocent; naive.

Meanings of nai in English

Adjective

informal innocent; naive
- giả naito act innocent; to act dumb; to feign ignorance

Noun

sambar deer
any species of deer

Verb

to tighten; to strap

Noun

obsolete, rare kind of bottle for storing wine

Words with nai

hươu nai nai lưng nai nịt

Example sentences with nai

Con nai thoát khỏi kẻ săn mồi bằng cách chạy đi. Deer escape predators by running away.

Bilingual example sentences from Tatoeba (tatoeba.org, CC BY 2.0 FR).

Historical script (chữ Nôm / Hán)

Before the Latin alphabet (chữ Quốc ngữ) became standard, nai could be written as 狔, 猍, 𬸼, 坭. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *k-ɗeː. Cognate with Muong đai and Arem kadêê.

Frequently asked questions

What does nai mean in English?

nai (adjective) means "innocent; naive".

How do you pronounce nai?

IPA: Hanoi [naːj˧˧]; Saigon [naːj˧˧]. Tones: nai — level tone (ngang).

Meanings, pronunciation and etymology from English Wiktionary (wiktionary.org, via kaikki.org; CC BY-SA 4.0), reviewed and edited; example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). IPA shown for three accents: Hanoi (Northern), Huế (Central) and Saigon (Southern). The Listen button uses your browser's Vietnamese voice, for reference only. Spotted a mistake? Let NgonNgu know.