Etymology
From Proto-Vietic *diː ~ tiː (“to go, to walk”); cognate with Muong ti, Chut [Rục] tiː², Thavung tiː² and Tho [Cuối Chăm] tiː².
The similarity to 移 (SV: di) is purely coincidental (a false cognate).
The development of the verb "to go" into an imperative marker is a Sprachbund phenomenon. Wu & Huang (2018) and de Sousa (2022) discuss similar usage of "to go" in the Northern Tai and Sinitic lects of Guangxi in particular (Zhuang bae, Nanning Cantonese 去 (hy33), etc.)[1][2]
Verb
đi • (𠫾, 𪠞)
- to go
- đi đến ― go to
- đi ngủ ― go to bed
- đi chợ ― go to the market
- đi mua sắm ― go shopping
- to leave; to set out
Tàu hoả mấy giờ đi?- What time does the train depart?
2007, Quang Vinh, Bảo Thy (lyrics and music), “Vẫn tin mình có nhau”:Thôi chào em, anh đi. / Vậy thì người đi đi!- Alright, goodbye, I'm leaving / Then leave, you dummy!
- (vehicles, of people) to go by; to board; to get on
- đi máy bay ― go by plane
- (of vehicles) to go/run/travel
- (euphemistic) Short for đi ỉa (“to shit”) or đi ngoài (“to defecate”)
- (Northern Vietnam) to wear (footwear)
- Synonym: mang
- mèo đi hia ― Puss in Boots
Adverb
đi
- away; out of sight
Nó chạy đi đâu rồi?- Where the hell did he go?
1941, Nam Cao, Chí Phèo:Ðó là cái bản tính của hắn, ngày thường bị lấp đi.- That is his nature, which is usually hidden away.
Particle
đi • (𠫾, 𪠞)
- at the end of a sentence, conveys an urging or commanding tone
1941, Nam Cao, Chí Phèo:Thấy Chí Phèo không nhúc nhích, cụ tiếp luôn: - Nào đứng lên đi. Cứ vào đây uống nước đã.- Seeing that Chí Phèo wasn't budging, the old man continued, "Get up now. Come here and have some water."
2007, Quang Vinh, Bảo Thy (lyrics and music), “Vẫn tin mình có nhau”:Vậy thì người đi đi!- Then leave, you dummy!
See also
- đội (“to wear (headgear)”)
- đi/mang (“to wear (a piece of footwear)”)
- quàng (“to wear (a scarf)”)
- choàng (“to wear (a cape or cloak)”)
- khoác (“to wear (over the shoulders)”)
- đeo (“to wear (an accessory)”)
References
de Sousa, Hilário. 2022. The Expansion of Cantonese Over the Last Two Centuries. In: Ye, Z. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Chinese Language Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.
Yang, Huang, and Fuxiang, Wu. 2018. Central southern Guangxi as a grammaticalization area. In New trends in grammaticalization and language change, ed. Sylvie Hancil, Tine Breban, and José Vicente Lozano, 105–134. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
