Definition

Noun: 1. Head, chief, principal: The person who holds the highest position or is the primary leader within an organization or unit, as opposed to the deputy (phó). 2. (Regional, rare) Sprig, twig, branch: A small shoot or branch of a plant or tree. 3. (Archaic/Phonetic variant): An alternate form of the Sino-Vietnamese morpheme "chính" (正) used in some compound words, meaning "main," "correct," or "proper."

Usage Examples

• Noun (Head/Chief):
  • Ông ấy là ông chánh của phòng. (He is the head/chief of the department.)
  • Hội đồng có một chánh và hai phó. (The council has one chief and two deputies.)
• Noun (Sprig/Twig):
  • Trẻ con bẻ chánh cây để chơi. (The children broke a twig from the tree to play with.)
• As a component in compound words (Archaic variant):
  • chánh nghĩa (righteous cause)
  • chánh trị (politics)
  • bưu chánh (postal service)

Advanced Usage

• "chánh tổng": (Historical term) Canton chief; the head of a "tổng," an old administrative unit in Vietnam.
  • Ông cụ tôi xưa làm chánh tổng. (My grandfather was a canton chief in the past.)
• The use of as "chief" is somewhat colloquial or informal in modern administrative contexts, where is often preferred (e.g., for department head). is often preserved in specific, sometimes formal, titles.

Variants and Related Words

• chính (正): The standard Sino-Vietnamese form meaning "main," "primary," "correct." is a phonetic variant seen in some words.
  • chính phủ (government)
  • chính nghĩa (righteous cause)
• phó: Deputy, vice-; the direct counterpart to .
  • phó chánh (vice-chief)
• trưởng: Leader, head; a more common modern term for a chief or head of a unit.
  • trưởng phòng (department head)

Synonyms

• Thủ trưởng: Leader, commanding officer.
• Người đứng đầu: The person at the head/leader.
• Trưởng: Head, chief (more common in modern titles).
• Cành nhỏ (for meaning "twig"): Small branch.

Related Phrases/Idioms

• Một chánh hai phó: One chief and two deputies. An idiom describing a standard leadership structure.
  • Phòng ban nào cũng theo mô hình một chánh hai phó. (Every department follows the model of one chief and two deputies.)

noun

1. Head, chief (as opposite to phó)
   • một chánh hai phó
     one chief and two deputies
   • chánh tổng
     canton chief
2. Sprig, twig