sääi

Sài is a pinyin spelling used in Mandarin to represent several Chinese characters, most prominently 賽, which means race, contest, or match. The pronunciation is sài in standard Mandarin, with a fourth tone.

In Chinese, sài appears in a wide range of compounds related to competition and events. Common examples include 比賽 (bǐsài, to compete or a contest), 賽事 (sàishì, a competition event), and 賽跑 (sàipǎo, a running race). Other words formed with this pronunciation include 賽車 (sàichē, car race) and 賽事相關的描述, which pertain to the organization or outcomes of events. The character 賽 can also appear in historical or literary names, though as a morpheme it is primarily associated with competition.

As a personal-name element, sài is relatively rare in modern use. It may appear in Chinese surnames or given names in historical texts or in regions with strong classical naming conventions, but it is not among the most common characters used for names today.

Beyond Chinese contexts, the syllable sài may be encountered in Sino-Vietnamese transcriptions or in Japanese readings of related characters, but as an independent term it does not have a widely recognized standalone meaning in Vietnamese or Japanese. Spelling variations across languages reflect different character sets and pronunciations rather than a single universal meaning.

In summary, Sài most often denotes the Mandarin pronunciation of the character meaning competition or race, and it appears predominantly in compound terms related to contests and athletic events. See also variants and related terms under the broader entry for sa/saï in East Asian languages.