rày

See also: ray, Ray, rây, rầy, ra'y, and -raþ

Vietnamese

Etymology

Part of the r-series of demonstratives, along with rứa, ri, ru, sao.

Phonologically, like này (“this”), this is the form with more innovative vocalism, while ri (“like this”) and ni (“this”) maintain the monophthong. Meanwhile, its semantic development parallels that of nay (“now”).

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zaj˨˩]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʐaj˦˩]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [ɹa(ː)j˨˩]

Adverb

rày • (𣈙, 例)

(Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) now, today, this time
Synonyms: nay, giờ, chừ

từ rày về sau ― from now on
- 1957, Đoàn Giỏi, chapter 16, in Đất rừng phương Nam, Kim Đồng:
  Nhiều lúc nhớ tới anh Ba thủy thủ, tôi tự hỏi: "Không biết trên bước đường phiêu lãng, anh có trải qua những ngày buồn bã thế này không?" Rày đây mai đó…
  Often, thinking back to Mr Ba the sailor, I wondered, "Would he also go through such sad days on his adventures?" Now here, tomorrow there…

Vietnamese demonstratives
Visibility/evidentiality⁶
	Proximal (*-iː)	Distal 1 (*-iːʔ)	Distal 2 (*-əːʔ)	Distal 3/ Remote (*-ɔːʔ)	Interrogative (rime was a rounded back vowel)
Place, attributive¹ n-	ni nì này/nầy nây	nấy	nớ	nọ (nó)	nào
Place, nominal² đ-	đây	đấy (ấy)	—	đó	đâu
Manner r-	ri rày	—	rứa	—	ru sao³
Extent 1⁴ b-	bây	bấy	—	—	bao
Extent 2⁵ v-	vầy	vậy	—	—	—
¹ Originally can only follow a nominal (being used attributively), hence nơi này (“this place; here”), nơi nào (“where”) (no longer completely true in the modern language). ² Can be used on its own/is itself nominal, hence đây (“here”), đâu (“where”). ³ From earlier C-raːw (where C is nonspecific consonant). ⁴ Placed before the head: bây nhiêu (“this much”), bấy nhiêu (“that much”), bao nhiêu (“how much”). ⁵ Placed after the head: nhanh vầy (“this fast”), nhanh vậy (“that fast/so fast”).
	Distal (ngang)			Remote (huyền)
Northern-Southern	kia (cơ)			kìa (cờ)
Central	tê			tề
⁶ Originally, these demonstratives might have been used to assert that something is visible and/or verifiable. They have been bleached quite thoroughly and currently are usually used like other distal demonstratives. The biggest trace of their evidentiality might be in their usage as final particles, often in reduced forms cơ/cờ: [t]ừ đấy về tới Hà Nội, còn những ba cái cầu nữa cơ mà! ("From there to Hanoi, there're still three more bridges to cross!") (Ba ngày luân lạc, 1943).