Part of ther-series of demonstratives, along withrày,ri,ru,răng.
1 Originally can only follow a nominal (being used attributively), hencenơi 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, henceđây(“here”),đâu(“where”). 3 From earlier*C-raːw (where *C is nonspecific consonant). 4 Placed before the head:bâynhiêu(“this much”),bấynhiêu(“that much”),bao nhiêu(“how much”). 5 Placed after the head:nhanh vầy(“this fast”),nhanh vậy(“that fast/so fast”).
6 Originally, these demonstratives might have been used to assert that something isvisible and/orverifiable. 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 formscơ/cờ:[t]ừ đấy về tới Hà Nội, còn những ba cái cầu nữacơ mà! ("From there to Hanoi, there're still three more bridges to cross!") (Ba ngày luân lạc, 1943) and their (pretty much) obligatory use when locating an object:Không phải cái này mà là cáikia. ("Not this one,that one.") | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||