giai

Etymology
See. The sound change from *p-l and *b-l to ‹gi-› is a regular sound change in Northern Vietnamese; compare, , , , and. The inland dialects seem to have undergone this shift more thoroughly (although not completely), with the coastal Northern dialects being much more diverse in their treatment of cluster.

This is one of several dialectal features of Northern Vietnamese that are quickly disappearing (especially in urban areas) due to dialect leveling, being replaced by the modern standard written forms of Southern origin. Among words with ‹gi-› onset originated from labial-lateral clusters, only giai, giời and a few words that originated from the Northern region but have become "standard" (like giun) seem to be holding out among younger generations.