bí thư

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 秘書, Chinese 秘書／秘书 (mìshū, “non-communist secretary”). Compare thư kí (“non-communist secretary”). Vietnamese uses an opposite distinction to Chinese's as to whether the secretary in question works for the communist government or not.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓi˧˦ tʰɨ˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɪj˨˩˦ tʰɨ˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɪj˦˥ tʰɨ˧˧]

• Audio (Hà Nội)

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Noun

bí thư

1. (government, communism) a secretary

   bí thư tỉnh uỷ/thành uỷ

   the secretary of a provincial committee/committee of a thành phố trực thuộc trung ương of the Communist Party

Derived terms

• Derived terms
  • ban bí thư (“secretariat”)
  • tổng bí thư (“general secretary”)