sự

Sino-Vietnamese word from 事 (“abstract thing”), from Literary Chinese 事. Per Chinese morphology, it's used as a suffix and is fossilized in borrowings. In Vietnamese, it became a prefix to conform to native morphology. Compare other verbal nominalizers such as Rade klei and Japanese 事 (koto). Also see một cách (adverbializer).

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [sɨ˧˨ʔ]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂɨ˨˩ʔ] ~ [sɨ˨˩ʔ]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʂɨ˨˩˨] ~ [sɨ˨˩˨]

sự

1. (collective) affairs (abstract)

   sự đời ― life affairs

   sự nghiệp ― career

2. nominalizes verbs or adjectives

   sự sống còn ― survival

   sự đau đớn ― pain

   sự tương tác ― interaction

• việc