ช่วย

Thai

Alternative forms

• ช้วย (chúai) — obsolete
• ฉ้วย (chûai) — penalized second tone

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Southwestern Tai *ɟuəjᴮ⁴ (“to help”), from Middle Chinese 助 (MC dzrjoH). Cognate with Northern Thai ᨩ᩠ᩅ᩠᩵ᨿ or ᨩᩬ᩠᩵ᨿ, Isan ซอย, Lao ຊ່ວຍ (suāi) or ຊ່ອຍ (sǭi), Lü ᦋᦾᧈ (tsoay¹), Tai Dam ꪋ꪿ꪮꪥ, Shan ၸွႆႈ (tsāui), Tai Nüa ᥓᥩᥭ (tsoay), Phake ꩡွႝ (coy), Ahom 𑜋𑜨𑜩 (choy) or 𑜋𑜢𑜤𑜐𑜫 (chüñ), Southern Thai ฉวย.

Pronunciation

Orthographic/Phonemic		ช่วย d͡ʑ ˋ w y
Romanization	Paiboon	chûai
	Royal Institute	chuai
(standard) IPA(key)		/t͡ɕʰua̯j˥˩/(R)

Verb

ช่วย • (chûai) (abstract noun การช่วย)

1. (transitive) to help.

Descendants

• → Nyah Kur: จวย่
• → Khmer: ជួយ (cuəy) (possibly via Thai or Middle Chinese)