chìm nổi
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Vietnamese[edit]
Etymology[edit]
chìm (“to be sunk”) + nổi (“to float”), calque of Chinese 沉浮 (trầm phù, “to sink and then float”).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [t͡ɕim˨˩ noj˧˩]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [t͡ɕim˦˩ noj˧˨]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [cim˨˩ noj˨˩˦]
Verb[edit]
- to sink and then float (especially repeatedly)
- (figurative) to struggle in the vicissitudes