the

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 紗 (SV: sa).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">sa</i>


馬

chữ Hán form of mã (“(xiangqi) a knight; any piece labeled with 馬”).


馬

小(tiểu)童(đồng)庄(chẳng)及(kịp)哙(hỏi)㗍(han)
𦣰(nằm)陵(lăn)边(bên)馬(mả)哭(khóc)嘆(than)徘(bồi)徊(hồi)

19th century, Nguyễn Đình Chiểu (阮廷沼), Lục Vân Tiên (蓼雲僊) [Tale of Lục Vân Tiên], published 1916, lines 921–922:

Before the page has a chance to pay a visit,
He throws himself down upon the grave, crying, lamenting, fretting.


馬

Alternative form of 馭 (“Nôm form of ngựa (“horse”).”)


y

lương y như từ mẫu

(literary) a good physician is like a good mother


eo

Ultimately from Chinese 腰 (MC 'jiew) (SV: yêu), most likely through a Tai language. Compare Proto-Tai *ˀjeːwᴬ (“waist”) (whence Thai เอว (eeo)).


vi

(anatomy, especially of sharks) Alternative form of vây (“fin”)


be

Rượu ngon chẳng quản be sành.

Good wine does not mind a terracotta flask.


bit

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-bit.wav


can

alternative medicine
alternative medicine


koala

[ko˧˧ ʔaː˧˧ laː˧˧]

[kow˧˧ ʔaː˧˧ laː˧˧]

[kow˧˧ ʔaː˧˧ laː˧˧]


ao

head

㘭, 坳, 泑, 𪵲, 𬇚

vi-noun

㘭, 坳, 泑, 𪵲, 𬇚

cái (classifier)
㘭 (CJK)
坳 (CJK)
泑 (CJK)
𪵲 (CJK)
𬇚 (CJK)

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 澳 (“bay, inlet”, SV: áo). Compare Thai อ่าว (àao), Khmer អាវ (ʼaaw).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">áo</i>

vi-etym-sino

Nguyễn Khuyến, "Thu điếu (Autumn Fishing)"
Ao thu lạnh lẽo; nuớc trong veo;
Một chiếc thuyền câu bé tẻo teo;
The cold autumn pond; the clear water;
A tiny, itsy-bitsy, fishing boat;

1686 Matsuo Bashō, Haru no Hi, "No. 41"; 2007 Vietnamese translation by Nhật Chiêu; English translation by Reginald Horace Blyth
Ao cũ, con ếch nhảy vào, vang tiếng nước xao.

The old pond; A frog jumps in — The sound of the water.


i

The name of the Latin-script letter I/i.


tulip

cây (classifier)
bông (classifier)
hoa (classifier)

[tʊw˧˧ lip̚˦˧˥]


o

(Thanh Hoá, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh) paternal aunt, father's sister


o

The name of the Latin-script letter O/o.


mi

Sino-Vietnamese word from 眉 (“eyebrows”). Doublet of mày. Probably unrelated to mí (“eyelid”).


mi

đô, rê, mi

(music) mi (third note of diatonic scale)


men

alcohol (in terms of its euphorigenic or intoxicating effects)


MC

[ʔɛm˧˧ si˧˧]

[ʔɛm˧˧ sɪj˧˧]

[ʔɛm˧˧ sɪj˧˧]

host (of a formal event, a program of entertainment, etc.)


son

head

侖, 倫, 崙, 󱏟, 󰅬, 𣗾, 𣘈, 𪳔, 𧹪, 𪿽, 󱠟

vi-noun

侖, 倫, 崙, 󱏟, 󰅬, 𣗾, 𣘈, 𪳔, 𧹪, 𪿽, 󱠟

(classifier thỏi, cây (“lipstick”)) son • (侖, 倫, 崙, 󱏟, 󰅬, 𣗾, 𣘈, 𪳔, 𧹪, 𪿽, 󱠟)

thỏi (classifier)
侖 (CJK)
倫 (CJK)
崙 (CJK)
𣗾 (CJK)
𣘈 (CJK)
𪳔 (CJK)
𧹪 (CJK)
𪿽 (CJK)

This word had initial *k-r- in Old Vietnamese.


tin

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 信 (SV: tín).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">tín</i>

vi-etym-sino

tin nóng

tin buồn

sad news, especially about someone who's passed away

tin dữ

tin mừng/vui

đạo Tin Lành

Protestantism (literally, “religion of good news; religion of the gospel; evangelical religion”)


song

From Proto-Vietic *k-rɔːŋ (“rush [plant]”). Cognate with Chut [Rục] kərɔːŋ¹ ("rush") and krɔːŋ ("rattan").


song

head

𣙩, 漴, 牕, 窓, 窻

vi-noun

𣙩, 漴, 牕, 窓, 窻

sau song sắt

Short for chấn song (“upright post in a paling or railing”).


kali

[kaː˧˧ lɪj˧˧]

[kaː˧˧ lɪj˧˧]

Ultimately from New Latin kalium, with the suffix -um removed as with most chemical elements.


ban

(historical) branch of administration in the feudal court (of which there are two types: the civil administrators and the martial office holders)

group (of people doing the same work); band; board; squad; committee

ban trưa

(only in compounds) time period; section of the day

(dated) (college-level) subject; (academic) department


lam

(architecture) louvers, blinds, shutters


ke

Mồm dính ke kìa.

saliva/drool that flows out when sleeping


so

mangrove horseshoe crab (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda)


ba

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 爸 (“father”, SV: bả).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">bả</i>

vi-etym-sino

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-ba.wav


億

chữ Hán form of ức (“a hundred thousand”).


me

cây (classifier)
trái (classifier)
quả (classifier)
楣 (CJK)


me

Bà chủ vừa đặt con chó xuống vừa nhanh nhẩu nói: – À cậu tắm ! Cậu của me ngoan. Me đi vắng, ở nhà có đứa nào đánh cậu không ? Loulou Huýt! Huýt...

1936, Vũ Trọng Phụng, chapter 3, in Số đỏ, Hà Nội báo:

The mistress of the house set down the dog and promptly said, "Ah, you are bathing! Mommy's son is nice. While mommy went away, did anyone hit you? Loulou, whee whee!"


pin

Điện thoại tao hết pin rồi.

(literally, “My phone has run out of "battery".”)

the amount of electricity that a battery holds


sung

cây (classifier)
trái (classifier)
quả (classifier)
𣑁 (CJK)

From Proto-Vietic *t-ruːŋ. Compare Pacoh tarúng (“fig”).


hang

head

𡎟, 馨, 𧯄, 𧯅, 𥧎

vi-noun

𡎟, 馨, 𧯄, 𧯅, 𥧎

cái (classifier)
𡎟 (CJK)
馨 (CJK)
𧯄 (CJK)
𧯅 (CJK)
𥧎 (CJK)

From Proto-Vietic *haːŋ (“cave”). Possibly related to the word reconstructed as Proto-Mon-Khmer *ʔaaŋ (“to open”) by Shorto (2006).


ven

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 邊 (“edge; border; side”, SV: biên). Doublet of biên.
Attested in Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經) as 多边 (多邊 (MC ta pen)) (modern SV: đa biên).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">biên</i>

vi-etym-sino

vùng ven biển


ven

bắt ven


then

cái (classifier)
杄 (CJK)
扦 (CJK)
栓 (CJK)

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 栓 (SV: thuyên). The obsolete form thoen is attested in some texts.

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">thuyên</i>


modem

[mo˧˧ ʔɗem˧˧]


electron

[ʔɛ˧˧ lɛk̚˧˦ t͡ɕəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔe˧˧ lɛk̚˧˦ t͡ɕəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔɛ˧˧ lɛk̚˦˧˥ ʈəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔej˧˧ lɛk̚˦˧˥ ʈəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔɛ˧˧ lɛk̚˦˥ ʈəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔej˧˧ lɛk̚˦˥ ʈəwŋ͡m˧˧]


sin

From translingual sin, from English sine, from Latin sinus.

Sin đi học. Cos không hư. Tang đoàn kết. Cotang kết đoàn.

(literally, “Sine goes to school. Cosine isn't naughty. Tangent unifies. Cotangent does too.”)


人間

chữ Hán form of nhân gian (“the human world; the world of mortals”).


organ

[ʔɔk̚˧˦ ɣaːn˧˧]

[ʔɔk̚˦˧˥ ɣaːŋ˧˧]

[ʔɔk̚˦˥ ɣaːŋ˧˧]

(Vietnam) keyboard (device with keys of a musical keyboard)


萬

chữ Hán form of vạn, muôn (“ten thousand”).


bi

cục (classifier)
hòn (classifier)
viên (classifier)

Borrowed from French bille (“marble, ball”).

bắn bi

bi cái

Á! Dập bi tao rồi!
Ow! My bawlls popped!


bi

Probably from French bille (“tree log, trunk”).

(by extension) a type of water tank made from concrete


神

chữ Hán form of thần.
mind; spirit; look; expression; mien


go

4° Lớp ếch nhái ( Batraciens ) Có máu lạnh; lái tim có 3 ngăn; vật ấy hoá hình, lúc bé có go để thở dưới nước rồi thay go lấy phổi để thở trong khí giời; có da trơn trụi lông; thường có 4 chân; hầu hết đẻ trứng.

1920, François Chaize [Cố Thịnh], “Phần II. Hạng vật có xương sống (Vertébrés)”, in Địa cầu vạn vật luận - Động vật (Histoire naturelle - zoologie):

4° Amphibians ( Batraciens ) are ectothermic; they have three-chambered hearts and undergo metamorphosis, as when they are juvenile, they have gills to breathe underwater but lose their gills for lungs in order to breathe air; their skin is smooth and furless; they are often quadruped; most are oviparous.

鰓 Tai = go cá, ouïes.

1920, Nguyễn Can Mộng, “Bài 50”, in Nam học Hán văn khoá bản:


g

[ɣəː˨˩ ʔɗəːn˧˧]

[ɣəː˦˩ ʔɗəːŋ˧˧]

[ɣəː˨˩ ʔɗəːŋ˧˧]

lương → lg


偖

(nominalizer) -er, -ist, one who ..., person involved in...


傳

chữ Hán form of truyện (“a story, a novel, a fiction book”).


傳

Nôm form of chuyện (“matters, affairs; a tale, a legend”).


事

chữ Hán form of sự.
matter; affair; occurrence; happening


內

inside one's heart; internal; psychological

chữ Hán form of nội.
imperial palace; royal court

chữ Hán form of nội.
wife (and concubine)

chữ Hán form of nội.
woman; a woman's beauty

chữ Hán form of nội.
internal organs; entrails, bowels, guts


u

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-u.wav


u

khối (classifier)
cục (classifier)
幽 (CJK)
𢉾 (CJK)

From Proto-Vietic *ʔuː (“hump (of a zebu)”).


u

(children's games) a game consists of two teams, where the offensive player has to chant ⟨u⟩ during offense


u

The name of the Latin-script letter U/u.


初

Nôm form of xưa (“a long time ago; old times”).


坦

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 土 (“earth”) + phonetic 怛 (đát). The 旦 element is a simplified form of 怛.


古

Nôm form of của (“property; belongings”).


e

The name of the Latin-script letter E/e.


姉

翠(Thuý)翹(Kiều)羅(là)姉(chị)㛪(em)羅(là)翠(Thuý)雲(Vân)

1820, Nguyễn Du, Truyện Kiều (傳翹) [The Tale of Kieu], published 1870, line 16:

Kiều Thuý was the elder sister; Vân Thuý, the younger.

姉(Chị)拱(cũng)𦎡(xinh)𦓡(mà)㛪(em)拱(cũng)𦎡(xinh)

18th–19th century, Hồ Xuân Hương (胡春香), “Đề tranh tố nữ (題幀素女) [On a Portrait of Two Beauties]”, in John Balaban, transl., Spring Essence: The Poetry of Hồ Xuân Hương, Copper Canyon Press (book), also hosted by Nôm Foundation (online), published 2000, pages 50-51:

Nôm form of chị (“elder sister, corresponding pronoun”).


than

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 炭 (“coal”, SV: thán).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">thán</i>

vi-etym-sino

than củi


德

chữ Hán form of đức (“virtue; righteousness”).


將

tướng (romanization)
tương (romanization)

Chữ Hán form of tướng (“(military) general; commander”).

Chữ Hán form of tướng (“(xiangqi) a piece labeled with the character 將 in black”).


景

a beautiful appearance of which one enjoys the sight of

situation; state of affairs; state; condition


焒

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 火 (hoả, “fire”) + phonetic 呂 (lữ).


河

Abbreviation of Hoàng Hà (“Yellow River”).

an amassed object with the shape of a river


碎

(archaic, historical) slave; domestic servant


game

trò chơi điện tử
trò chơi điện tử#Vietnamese

(video games) Synonym of trò chơi điện tử (“a video game”)


đô la

[ʔɗo˧˧ laː˧˧]

[ʔɗow˧˧ laː˧˧]

[ʔɗow˧˧ laː˧˧]

From French dollar, from English dollar.

đô-la Mĩ/Ca-na-đa


義

morality; righteousness; justice; rightfulness

rules and regulations
rules and regulations

chữ Hán form of nghĩa.
rules and regulations; the law

chữ Hán form of nghĩa.
Abbreviation of 義大利 (“Italy”).


藝

chữ Hán form of nghệ (“occupation, employment, trade, profession”).


tre

From Middle Vietnamese tle, from Proto-Vietic *k-lɛː. Compare also Proto-Katuic *ʔalɛɛ (“type of bamboo”) (whence Pacoh ale (“small bamboo used for spears”)).
Doublet of le (seen in măng le (“kind of wild bamboo shoots”)).

cog

te

certain coastal Northern dialects, endangered


TV

[tɪj˧˧ vɪj˧˧]

[tɪj˧˧ vɪj˧˧]

[tɪj˧˧ jɪj˧˧]


話

chữ Hán form of thoại.
(one's) word; speech; language

chữ Hán form of thoại.
word; speech; language

chữ Hán form of thoại.
matter; affair; subject


鈽

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): semantic 金 + phonetic 布 (bố).


xenon

[se˧˧ nəwŋ͡m˧˧]


mu

It is not clear which between "mons veneris" and "carapace" is the more original, although the sense "back" is certainly a derivative.
Compare Zhuang moz.

mu bàn tay

the carapaces (dorsal shells) of some animals (e.g. turtles and crustaceans)


con

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-con.wav

From Middle Vietnamese con, from Proto-Vietic *kɔːn, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *kuun ~ *kuən. Cognate with Muong còn, Thavung กอน, Mon ကွေန် (kon), Khmer កូន (koun), Bahnar kon, Khasi khun, Central Nicobarese kōan. For semantic relations, compare Chinese 子 (“child; small thing; son”), Japanese 子 (shi, ko, “child; small thing; son; boy; girl”). See also non (“young, juvenile”), which is from an infixed form of the root.
Attested in the Annan Jishi (安南即事, 13th century) as 乾 (MC kan).

ncog

con cái

con nuôi

gà con

Con cóc con là con con cóc.

Tê-lê-mác, con ! Đừng làm rầy mẹ, mẹ còn muốn thử thách cha ở tại nhà này. Thế nào rồi mẹ con cũng sẽ nhận ra, chắc chắn như vậy. Hiện giờ cha còn bẩn thỉu, áo quần rách rưới, nên mẹ con khinh cha, chưa nói : “Đích thị là chàng rồi !”. […]

1983, Homer, translated by Phan Thị Miến, Ô-đi-xê [The Odyssey]:

Telemachus, my son! Don’t you bother your mother, she still wants to put me to trials at this home. She will recognize me eventually, there is no doubt about that. I still look like a rascal, in torn clothes, that is why your mother still doubts me, she is yet to say: “It was definitely you this whole time!”. […]

(rare, chiefly in translations of ancient texts) a son

(only in compounds, in fixed expressions) build; stature


con

con quay

con lắc


馭

ngự (Hán-Nôm)
ngựa (Hán-Nôm)
ngừa (Hán-Nôm)
lừa (Hán-Nôm)


em

vi-noun

(classifier đứa, thằng, con) em • (㛪, 俺, 腌)

đứa (classifier)
thằng (classifier)
con (classifier)
㛪 (CJK)
俺 (CJK)
腌 (CJK)

From Proto-Vietic *ʔɛːm, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *(sʔ)iəm; cognate with Pacoh a-em (“younger sibling”).
According to Phan Kế Bính's Việt Nam phong tục (1915), apparently the practice of calling each other anh-em for those in relationship originated from the province of Quảng Nam:
1915, Phan Kế Bính, Việt Nam phong tục [Vietnamese customs]:
— Vợ chồng con nhà sang trọng, gọi nhau bằng cậu mợ, thầy thông thầy phán thì gọi nhau bằng thầy cô, nhà thường thì gọi nhau bằng anh chị. Có con rồi thì gọi nhau bằng thầy em đẻ em, nhà thô tục thì gọi nhau là bố cu mẹ đĩ, có người thì gọi bố nó mẹ nó, có người cả hai vợ chồng gọi lẫn nhau là nhà ta. Ở Quảng-Nam thì vợ gọi chồng là anh, chồng gọi vợ là em. Ở Nghệ Tĩnh vợ chồng gọi là gấy nhông.
Spouses from wealthy families tend to call each other cậu and mợ; those employed by the government prefer thầy and cô; while in an average household, they call each other anh and chị. Couples with children call each other thầy em [father of the little one] and đẻ em [mother of the little one], while those from low-born families use bố cu and mẹ đĩ; there are also those who say bố nó and mẹ nó and those who both call each other nhà ta. In Quảng Nam, a housewife would call her husband anh and a husband would call his wife em. In Nghệ Tĩnh, "husband and wife" is called gấy nhông.

quote-book

Việt Nam phong tục

Spouses from wealthy families tend to call each other cậu and mợ; those employed by the government prefer thầy and cô; while in an average household, they call each other anh and chị. Couples with children call each other thầy em 􂀿father of the little one􂁀 and đẻ em 􂀿mother of the little one􂁀, while those from low-born families use bố cu and mẹ đĩ; there are also those who say bố nó and mẹ nó and those who both call each other nhà ta. In Quảng Nam, a housewife would call her husband anh and a husband would call his wife em. In Nghệ Tĩnh, "husband and wife" is called gấy nhông.

thằng em của em

- Sao anh lại gọi chú ấy là thầy ? Chú ấy là em của em. Chú ấy cũng là em của anh.
- Anh thấy mình nên tôn trọng cái có trước. Thầy ấy là thầy của anh từ trước khi anh lấy em.
- Why did you call him "teacher"? He's my "younger sibling", meaning he's yours, too.
- I felt like I should respect what comes first. He was my teacher long before we're married.

a cousin who is descended from an ancestor who is/was a younger sibling to oneself's or one's spouse's (such as a child of a younger sibling of one of one's parents or a grandchild of a younger sibling of one of one's grandparents)

a person younger than oneself but of the same generation

2021, Tâm An, “Cận cảnh các em học sinh tiểu học ăn ngủ, sinh hoạt trong khu cách ly tại trường”, in Tuổi trẻ online:

Close-up of primary students living in school quarantine


sả

cây (classifier)
củ (classifier)
𦲺 (CJK)
𦵘 (CJK)


neon

[ne˧˧ ʔəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[nej˧˧ ʔəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[nej˧˧ ʔəwŋ͡m˧˧]

From French néon, from New Latin neon, from Ancient Greek νέον (néon).


餅

茶(trà)趙(Triệu)老(lão)餅(bánh)韶(Thiều)陽(Dương) / 排(bầy)禪(thiền)子(tử)矣(hãy)群(còn)肁(đói)渴(khát)

13th century, Trần Nhân Tông, Cư trần lạc đạo phú, "Đệ cửu hội":

Old man Trieu's tea, Thieu Duong cakes,
 the novices still hungry and thirsty.

Nôm form of bánh (“pastry, cake, bread, dumpling, noodle, wafer, or pudding”).


li

a crease (a line or mark made by folding or doubling any pliable substance)


dam

From Proto-Vietic *k-taːm; ultimately from Proto-Mon-Khmer *kt₁aam (“crab”). ‹d› here is the result of lenition (Proto-Vietic *k-t- > Middle Vietnamese ‹d› /ð/ > Modern Vietnamese ‹d›). Compare đam, the form with unlenited initial consonant.

Dù ai béo bạo như tru,
Về đất Kẻ Ngù cũng tóm như dam
Ai mà gầy tóm như dam
Về đất nhà Chàng, cũng béo như tru
Whosoever as fat and ferocious as the buffalo,
when coming to Kẻ Ngù, they'll be as lean as the crab.
Whosoever as lean as the crab,
when coming home to Chàng, they'll be as fat as the buffalo

(North Central Vietnam) field crab; freshwater crab


bia

Borrowed from French bière, from Middle Dutch bier.

bụng bia


bia

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 碑 (“stele”, SV: bi).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">bi</i>

vi-etym-sino

(by extension) target (for shooting); bullseye


ca

quốc ca


ca

Ca này nặng đấy!

Đã có 5 ca tử vong.


ca

From French quart. Compare Thai กะ (gà, “shift”).

tan ca


ca

The name of the Latin-script letter K/k.


am

small Buddhist temple, small pagoda, hermitage, secluded hut, cottage


ga

From French gaz (“gas”), from Dutch gas.

bình ga

gas, such as propane and/or butane, used for a gas stove; compare khí (“gas as a chemical substance”)

nước ngọt có ga

carbon dioxide used for a carbonated drink

Bật lửa này hết ga rồi.

xe bị rồ/oà ga

a motorcycle with a broken throttle that accelerates while the twistgrip is released

Nổ nãy giờ mà chẳng có ga gì hết !

I've been trying to start my bike for hours and it's still not working!

chạy tẹt ga

to step on it/on the gas; to floor it; to put your foot down; to run full throttle

(automotive) the ignited mixture of fuel and air that powers an engine; not to be confused with xăng (“gasoline”)


ga

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(Southern Vietnam, especially Mekong Delta) Pronunciation spelling of ra (“bed sheet”).


voi

con (classifier)
thớt (classifier)
㺔 (CJK)
𤠅 (CJK)
𤢇 (CJK)

From Middle Vietnamese 㺔 (voi), from Proto-Vietic *-vɔːj. Related to vòi (“trunk”).

ngà voi

Thầy bói xem voi


từ điển

bộ (classifier)
cuốn (classifier)
quyển (classifier)

[tɨ˨˩ ʔɗiən˧˩]

[tɨ˦˩ ʔɗiəŋ˧˨]

[tɨ˨˩ ʔɗiəŋ˨˩˦]

Sino-Vietnamese word from 詞典 or 辭典／辞典 (cídiǎn).


phi trường

[fi˧˧ t͡ɕɨəŋ˨˩]

[fɪj˧˧ ʈɨəŋ˦˩]

[fɪj˧˧ ʈɨəŋ˨˩]

Sino-Vietnamese word from 飛 (“to fly”) and 場 (“field”). Compare Chinese 飛機場／飞机场 (fēijīchǎng), 機場／机场 (jīchǎng, “airport”).

zh-l

飛機場／飞机场 (fēijīchǎng)

(obsolete outside Overseas Vietnamese communities) airport, airfield


thánh

Sino-Vietnamese word from 聖.
The informal adjectival sense "naive, credulous, gullible" and nominal sense "idiot, moron, simpleton" likely semantically develop from senses "saintly" and "saint" respectively, thus paralleling silly and crétin each in that order; see those entries for etymologies and semantic developments.

c. 11th - 7th century BCE, Classic of Poetry, free 2003 translation by Tạ Quang Phát
Họ nói ta tài cao thánh sống,
Thì quạ kia trống mái ai tường?
They said: "I am a highly talented living sage",

Yet who [among them] knows a male crow from a female?

Analects, 7.34; 1861 English translation by James Legge; 1972 translation by Nguyễn Hiến Lê
Khổng tử nói: “Làm được bực thánh với nhân thì ta đâu dám. Bất quá ta học làm (thánh, nhân) mà không chán, dạy người mà không mệt, chỉ có thể gọi được như vậy mà thôi”. Công Tây Hoa thưa: “Đó chính là điều chúng con không học được.”

The Master said, "The sage and the man of perfect virtue - how dare I rank myself with them? That I strive to become such without satiety, and teach others without weariness - this much can be said of me." Gong Xi Hua said, "This is just what we, the disciples, cannot imitate you in."

16th century, Wu Cheng'en, Journey to the West, Ch. 3; 1982-1988 Vietnamese translation by Như Sơn, Mai Xuân Hải, & Phương Oanh; 2012 English translation by Anthony C. Yu
Ta là Tôn Ngộ Không, vị thánh trời sinh ra ở núi Hoa Quả, là láng giềng của Long vương nhà ngươi, nhà ngươi không biết à?

I am the Heaven-born sage Sun Wukong of the Flower-Fruit Mountain, a near neighbor of your old Dragon King. How is it that you don't recognize me?

Thánh Phan-xi-cô

c. 53 - 57 CE, 1 Corinthians 1:2-3; 2001 Vietnamese translation from the New Vietnamese Bible version; 2021 English translation from the New Revised Standard Version
Kính gửi Hội Thánh của Đức Chúa Trời tại thành phố Cô-rinh-tô, tức là những người đã được thánh hóa trong Chúa Cứu Thế Giê-su, cũng được gọi là các thánh, cùng với tất cả những người ở khắp mọi nơi cầu khẩn danh Chúa Cứu Thế Giê-su, Chúa của họ và của chúng ta. Nguyện xin Đức Chúa Trời, Cha chúng ta và Chúa Cứu Thế Giê-su ban ân sủng và bình an cho anh chị em.

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Kêu hai thánh đó ra dùm tui dới!

Call those two cretins out [here] for me!

(Southern Vietnam, informal) idiot, moron, dullard, fool, simpleton, cretin


tiếng

cái (classifier)
thứ (classifier)
㗂 (CJK)
𪱐 (CJK)

From Middle Vietnamese tiếng, ultimately from Chinese 聲 (MC syeng), likely through a Tai language (compare Thai เสียง (sǐiang)) since the tonal correspondence is atypical for a direct borrowing. Cognate with Muong thiểng.

tắt tiếng

tiếng súng

tiếng sủa

nói ba thứ tiếng

nổi tiếng

khét tiếng

danh tiếng / tiếng tăm

tiếng thơm

fame for being a paragon (literally, “fragrant fame”)

Tiếng thơm còn mãi cho muôn đời sau.

They will forever be known by later generations as the paragon of virtue.

Thằng cha đó nói tiếng Quảng Ngãi tao không nghe được.
He speaks the Quãng Ngãi accent and I can't make sense of it.

(linguistics, prosody, colloquial) accent

Nó ngồi đọc truyện suốt năm tiếng.

He's been sitting there reading manga for five hours.


trang

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-trang.wav

trang chính


với

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-với.wav


phở

→ English: pho

→ Finnish: pho

→ French: pho

→ German: Pho

→ Japanese: フォー (fō)

→ Korean: 퍼 (peo)

→ Lao: ເຝີ (fœ̄)

→ Russian: фо (fo)

→ Swedish: pho

→ Thai: เฝอ (fə̌ə)

→ White Hmong: fawm

Pho#Etymology and origins
street cries
vi:phở

First appeared in dictionaries in 1931.
Clipping earlier lục phở, nhục phở, corruptions of Cantonese 牛肉粉 (ngau4 juk6 fan2; SV: ngưu nhục phấn, “beef noodles”), likely as a result of street cries.
Equivalent to a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 粉 (fěn); compare its Sino-Vietnamese reading phấn, and bún (“rice vermicelli”). More on Wikipedia.
A popular folk etymology holds that the term instead came from French feu (“fire”), as in pot-au-feu.

bor

Có lẽ đánh bạc không mong được, mà chỉ thức đêm ăn nhục-phở?

1930 [1915–1917], Nguyễn Khắc Hiếu (Tản Đà), “Đánh bạc [Gambling]”, in Dương Quảng Hàm, editor, Quốc Văn trích diễm, 4th edition, page 211:

Probably shouldn't expect to gamble, but just to stay up at night and eat pho?

Này, bác hàng phở! bác đi bán thế, cả ngày có được dăm bay hào đồng bạc không ?

1927, Nguyễn Đình Phụng, “Trò Đời: Thế mà không được đi bầu”, in Hà-thành Ngọ-báo, page 1:

Hey, pho stand man! Selling like that, all day do you get around five dimes?

Tiếng chi quát tháo mãi đêm trường ? / « Phở » « phở » ồn tai chạy giữa đường.

1932, Cù Giang, “Thằng bán phở”, in Phụ-nữ Tân-văn, volume 4, number 181, page 20:

What's that hollering all night long? / An ear-ringing "pho", "pho" running in the middle of the street.

Sách dạy nấu cỗ và các món ăn thường, các món ăn quý, đủ ba cách : ta, tầu, tây — Dạy làm các thứ ăn trưa như : tỉm-sắm, mần-thắn, mì, phở, cháo, — Dạy làm các thứ bánh mặn, bánh ngọt, mứt, kẹo — Dạy làm các thứ nước chanh, rượu bia, rượu mùi, vân vân.

1933, “Advertisement for Ẩm-Thực Tu-Tri”, in Sách Xem Tết Tân Dân, page 55:

This book shows how to cook feasts and everyday dishes, delicacies, all three ways: ours, Chinese, Western — It shows how to make lunch dishes like: dim sum, wonton, egg noodles, pho, rice congee — It shows how to make salty cakes, sweet cakes, candied fruit, candy — It shows how to make lemonade, beer, liquor, et cetera.

pho (a soup made with bánh phở noodles, usually served with beef, pork, or chicken, similar to ramen).


ti

(obsolete) department, division of a ministry


ti

(colloquial) Alternative form of tí (“breast”)


phi

Sanguinolaria diphos
Sanguinolaria diphos

Sanguinolaria planculata
Sanguinolaria planculata

Various species of saltwater clam of the genus Sanguinolaria, such as Sanguinolaria diphos and Sanguinolaria planculata.


phi

các bà phi trong cung

concubines, mistresses, ladies of a monarch.

vương phi, vương tử phi, hoàng tử phi
the queen consort, the royal princess consort, the imperial princess consort

wives, consorts of a junior monarch such as a prince.


bari

[ʔɓaː˧˧ ɹi˧˧]

[ʔɓaː˧˧ zi˧˧]

[ʔɓaː˧˧ ɹɪj˧˧]

[ʔɓaː˧˧ ɹɪj˧˧]

Ultimately from New Latin barium, with the suffix -um removed as with most chemical elements.


bang

Thành phố Oklahoma là thủ phủ bang Oklahoma.

Oklahoma City is the capital of the state of Oklahoma.

bang Kê-ra-la trong nước Cộng hòa Ấn Độ

the State of Kerala in the Republic of India

Thụy Sĩ có 26 bang.

(Vietnam) state (a political division of a federation)


bang

bang Phúc Kiến
the Fukien Chinese expatriates' society

(historical) community of overseas Chinese in French Indochina who emigrated from the same province of China

Short for bang tá (“assistant district chief”).

Short for bang biện (“assistant district chief”).


la

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 騾 (“mule”, SV: loa).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">loa</i>

vi-etym-sino

a horse-donkey hybrid; a mule or a hinny


nem

head

腩, 粘, 𬛈, 𦟶, 𲉯

vi-noun

腩, 粘, 𬛈, 𦟶, 𲉯

→ Khmer: ណែម (naem)

→ Lao: ແໜມ (nǣm)

→ Thai: แหนม (nɛ̌ɛm)


nail

làm nail

nghề nail

Hiện tại ba em đang quản lý một nhà hàng cùng một tiệm nail khá lớn ở Mỹ, do chính ba mở ra.

2022, T.TH, “Kình ngư Nguyễn Hữu Kim Sơn chọn ĐH Duy Tân làm bến đỗ”, in Tuổi trẻ online:

My father currently manages a restaurant and a rather large nail salon in America, which he opened himself.


字典

chữ Hán form of tự điển (“a Han character dictionary”).


kim

Sino-Vietnamese word from 金 (“metal; gold”).
This reading is irregular, the expected reading would be *câm; cf. cấm < 禁 (MC kimH), cầm < 琴 (MC gim). ⟨-im⟩ is a very rare rime in Sino-Vietnamese proper, with this and the homophonous kim < 今 (MC kim) being the only examples.
It is possible that the usage of kim as the Sino-Vietnamese reading for 金 (MC kim) and 今 (MC kim) was to avoid homophony with câm (“mute”), although it is difficult to be sure. The much less common 衿 (MC kim) (that basically has no usage in Vietnamese) is considered to have the expected reading câm.
Also possibly compare Korean 금 (geum) and 김 (gim), the former is the expected Sino-Korean reading of 金 (MC kim) while the latter found chiefly as a surname.

vi-etym-sino

ánh kim

Thổ sinh kim. Kim sinh thuỷ.
Hoả khắc kim. Kim khắc mộc.
Earth bears Metal. Metal enriches Water.
Fire melts Metal. Metal chops Wood.


kim

From Middle Vietnamese kim, from Proto-Vietic *kiːm. Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 針 (“needle”, SV: châm). Cognate to Muong kim.

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">châm</i>


簡體

chữ Hán form of giản thể (“Simplified Chinese”).


chi

Sino-Vietnamese word from 支 (“branch; to spend”).


chi

(formal, anatomy, chiefly zoology) a limb


ADN

[ʔaː˧˧ ʔɗe˧˧ ʔɛn˧˧]

[ʔaː˧˧ ʔɗej˧˧ ʔɛŋ˧˧]

[ʔaː˧˧ ʔɗej˧˧ ʔɛŋ˧˧]

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-ADN.wav


si

From Proto-Vietic *ɟ-riː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *ɟriiʔ; cognate with Bahnar jri, Khmer ជ្រៃ (crɨy), Khasi jri, Old Mon jrey.

certain members of the Mallotus and Ficus genera


đồng

Borrowed from Tai; compare Tày tô̱ng, Thai ทุ่ง (tûng). Probably related to Central and Southern Vietnamese đùng.

Meronym: ruộng (“field used to grow crops”)

đồng lúa

đồng cỏ

field (clearly delimited land area free of woodland, cities, and towns)


đồng

Norman & Mei (1976: 296-7) propose an Austroasiatic origin and consider it cognate to Mon ဒံၚ် (tòŋ, “to dance while under daemonic possession; to proceed by leaps”), ဒေါၚ် (tòŋ, “shaman called in to organise kəlok dances”), etc.; they even propose Austroasiatic etymology for Chinese 童 (“(dialectal) shaman”). Sagart (2008:142) counts Vietnamese đồng among "Austroasiatic terms", yet he considers the resemblance between those and Chinese 童 (“(dialectal) shaman”) to be "undoubtedly fortuitous".
However, Vietnamese đồng is also likely a Sino-Vietnamese word from 童 (“child; servant; (dialectal) shaman”).

vi-etym-sino

ông đồng

bà đồng

thứ nhất ngồi đồng, thứ nhì chồng quan

sitting (as) a medium ranks first; having an official for a husband ranks second [among the best things for women]

𨔍(Lạ)之(gì)󰜋(một)骨(cốt)󰜋(một)同(đồng)初(xưa)󰅒(nay)

1820, Nguyễn Du (阮攸), Truyện Kiều (傳翹) [The Tale of Kieu], Liễu Văn Ðường edition, published 1866, line 1162:

Little wonder that the witch and the medium have been working hand in glove with each other!


đồng

→ Cantonese: 盾 (teon⁵)

→ English: dong

→ Japanese: ドン (don)

→ Korean: 동 (dong)

→ Mandarin: 盾 (dùn)

→ Russian: донг (dong)

hai đồng

(colloquial, chiefly Southern Vietnam) a thousand dongs

(historical) dong (currency of South Vietnam)

đồng yên Nhật

đồng đô-la Mĩ


don

Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus macrourus)


漢字

chữ Hán form of Hán tự (“Chinese character”).


cây (classifier)
trái (classifier)
quả (classifier)
𦰡 (CJK)

Possibly a direct loan from Spanish anona or through other intermediaries. Compare Thai น้อยหน่า (nɔ́ɔi-nàa) and Malay nona.

cog

Thai น้อยหน่า (nɔ́ɔi-nàa)

Annona squamosa
Annona squamosa#Translingual

(Northern Vietnam) sugar apple (Annona squamosa)


xương

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-xương.wav

From Proto-Vietic *ɟaːŋ ~ *tʃɨəŋ < Proto-Vietic *tʃ-ʔaːŋ, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *cʔaaŋ ~ *cʔaiŋ. Cognate with Mang caːŋ⁴, Khmer ឆ្អឹង (chʼəng), Semai je'aak, Khasi sh'ing and Santali ᱡᱟᱝ (jaṅ).

xương bánh chè

hai xương cẳng chân

bộ xương sọ


bom

Borrowed from French pomme; the phoneme /p/ is changed into /ɓ/ as it is not a native onset consonant.


英語

chữ Hán form of Anh ngữ (“English language”).


hen

Cognate with Kuy [Salavan] hɛːn ("to cough").


da

làn (classifier)
䏧 (CJK)
𤿦 (CJK)
𪤻 (CJK)

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-da.wav

From Proto-Vietic *-taː. Cognate with Muong Bi ta.

da đầu

(anatomy) skin (outer covering of the body)

hide; material made of animal skin, such as leather


tali

[taː˧˧ lɪj˧˧]

[taː˧˧ lɪj˧˧]

Ultimately from New Latin thallium, with the suffix -um removed as with most chemical elements.


tebi

[tɛ˧˧ ʔɓi˧˧]

[tɛ˧˧ ʔɓɪj˧˧]

[tɛ˧˧ ʔɓɪj˧˧]

Ultimately from New Latin terbium, with the suffix -um removed as with most chemical elements.


子宮

chữ Hán form of tử cung (“womb; uterus”).


dung

Sino-Vietnamese word from 容 (“to tolerate; facial traits”). Also from Chinese 婦容／妇容 (phụ dung, “wifely look”).

vi-etym-sino

(Confucianism) beauty, one of the tứ đức (“four virtues”) that women are supposed to have


kaki

[kaː˧˧ kɪj˧˧]

[kaː˧˧ kɪj˧˧]


kép

a male singer in chèo (traditional Vietnamese opera)

a man who plays an instrument in chèo (traditional Vietnamese opera)


ló

North Central Vietnam form of lúa (“rice”)


sinh

(obsolete) Short for học sinh (“student”).


電話

chữ Hán form of điện thoại (“telephone”).


公司

chữ Hán form of công ty (“company, firm”).


protein

[pɹo˧˧ te˧˧ ʔin˧˧]

[pɹow˧˧ tej˧˧ ʔɨn˧˧]


工作

chữ Hán form of công tác (“mission; task”).


漢語

chữ Hán form of Hán ngữ (“Chinese language”).


quốc ngữ

[kuək̚˧˦ ŋɨ˦ˀ˥]

[kuək̚˦˧˥ ŋɨ˧˨]

[wək̚˦˥ ŋɨ˨˩˦]

Sino-Vietnamese word from 國語 (“national language; official language”).

the modern Vietnamese writing system based on the Latin alphabet

(literary) national language; official language


một

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-một.wav

From Proto-Vietic *moːc, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *muuj ~ *muəj ~ *muuɲ; cognate with Muong mốch, Bahnar mĭnh and mônh, Khmer មួយ (muəy), Mon မွဲ (mòa), Bolyu maːi³¹, Mang mak⁷.
Related to mốt (“day after tomorrow”).


nay

Nay không lo làm thì mai không có ăn đâu.

If you don't work today, you won't be able to afford to eat tomorrow.

Xưa cả làng sợ họ nhà nó lắm. Nay chẳng ai sợ cái cóc khô gì cả.

The whole village used to fear their family. These days, though, nobody fears no damn thing.

(usually literary) now, the present, as opposed to xưa (“long ago; the past”) and mai (“later in the future”)


gai

cái (classifier)
荄 (CJK)
核 (CJK)
𣘃 (CJK)

From Proto-Vietic *t-keː. Cognate with Arem takeː ("horn"), Proto-Bahnaric *ʔəkɛː (whence Bahnar ake/hơke) and Proto-Katuic *kii, *ʔakii (whence Pacoh ki (“horn on nose, single tusk of rhino”)).


國語

chữ Hán form of quốc ngữ (“national language, the modern Vietnamese writing system based on the Roman alphabet”).


繁體字

chữ Hán form of phồn thể tự (“Traditional Chinese”).


現在

chữ Hán form of hiện tại (“the present”).


少年

chữ Hán form of thiếu niên (“related to adolescence”).


beo

con (classifier)
豹 (CJK)
𧲼 (CJK)
𧴋 (CJK)

From Late Proto-Vietic *pɛːw (“leopard”), from Middle Chinese 豹 (MC paewH, “leopard”), probably through a Tai language. Doublet of báo.

(Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) a leopard, a jaguar or a cheetah


loa

Sino-Vietnamese word from 螺 (“spiral shell”).

vi-etym-sino

megaphone (portable device used to amplify a person's voice)


sinh viên

[sïŋ˧˧ viən˧˧]

[ʂɨn˧˧ viəŋ˧˧]

[sɨn˧˧ viəŋ˧˧]

[ʂɨn˧˧ viəŋ˧˧]

[sɨn˧˧ jiəŋ˧˧]

Sino-Vietnamese word from 生員, composed of 生 (“student”) and 員 (“-er”).

sinh viên năm nhất

(education) a postsecondary/undergraduate student


神社

chữ Hán form of thần xã (“Shinto shrine”).


tia

tia nắng

(phóng xạ) tia X/Rơn-ghen


bu

a cage (often dome-shaped and used for chickens)


moi

From Proto-Vietic *-mɔːl ~ muəl (“digging stick”), from Proto-Mon-Khmer *ɟmuul ~ *ɟmuəl (“to dibble”); cognate with Bahnar jơmul (“to plant rice using dibble stick to make holes”) and Khmu [Cuang] cmɔːl ("to plant"). Compare mói (as in soi mói, from Proto-Vietic *c-mɔːlʔ).


ơ

"O" tròn như quả trứng gà
"Ô" thời/thì đội mũ, "ơ" thời/thì mang râu
"O" is round like an egg
"Ô" wears a hat, and "ơ" has a beard

The name of the Latin-script letter Ơ/ơ.


ơ

chữ "ơ"

điểm "ơ"

(dated) The name of the Latin-script letter E/e.


le

a plant in the rice family, which grows in forests and has a shape similar to bamboo


le

Nam Giao cổ kim lý hạng ca dao chú giải 南交古金里巷歌謠註解 ("Old and new folk-ballads from the hamlets and alleys in Nanjiao, annotated and explained"), 151a
𡥵𪅆奴𣵰𡥵𪂮奴𱝩
Con le nó lặn; con cò nó bay.
The lesser whistling duck dives; the stork flies.

(obsolete, zoology) lesser whistling duck


đũa

head

đũa • (箸, 筷, 杜, 𥮊)

vi-noun

(classifier chiếc, cây) đũa • (箸, 筷, 杜, 𥮊)

chiếc (classifier)
cây (classifier)
箸 (CJK)
筷 (CJK)
杜 (CJK)
𥮊 (CJK)

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 箸 (“chopstick”, SV: trợ).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">trợ</i>

đũa cả

large flat chopstick used to serve rice from a pot

cặp/đôi đũa lệch

(figurative, humorous) a pair with a significant height difference (literally, “an uneven pair of chopsticks”)

(by extension, folklore, fantasy) a wand


tam

From Proto-Vietic *k-saːm. Cognate with Arem katʰæːm, Thavung saːm¹, Kuy sɛːm, Khmu [Cuang] hɛːm.
The term was probably already archaic by the time it started to be written down and was only attested in the compound 󰞿三 (anh tam, “elder brother and younger sibling”).

𡶀廊盈𪀄部伴
𩄲客次月󰞿三

15th century, Nguyễn Trãi, “述興 Thuật hứng 19”, in Quốc âm thi tập (國音詩集):

Mountains as neighbors, birds are friends,
Clouds as guests, the moon is my kin.

Núi láng diềng, chim bầu bạn,
Mây khách thứa, nguyệt anh tam.


chai

→ Eastern Mnong: čai

→ Tai Dam: ꪊꪱꪥ


CN

Initialism of Công Nguyên (“Common Era”).


人類

chữ Hán form of nhân loại (“mankind; humanity; human beings”).


là

head

là • (𬗢, 纙, 羅, 罗)

vi-noun

là • (𬗢, 纙, 羅, 罗)

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 羅 (SV: la).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">la</i>

vi-etym-sino

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-là.wav

𩛷(Bữa)咹(ăn)油(dù)固(có)𦼞(dưa)㙁(muối)
襖(Áo)默(mặc)奈(nài)之(chi)錦(gấm)羅(là)

15th century, Nguyễn Trãi, “Ngôn chí 言志 3”, in Quốc âm thi tập (國音詩集):

[I don't mind] Even if my meals only have pickles [on the side],
 [and] I have no reason to demand good silk for clothing.


人口

chữ Hán form of nhân khẩu (“population”).


人格

chữ Hán form of nhân cách (“personality”).


ion

[ʔi˧˧ ʔɔn˧˧]

[ʔi˧˧ ʔəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔɪj˧˧ ʔɔŋ˧˧]

[ʔɪj˧˧ ʔəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔɪj˧˧ ʔɔŋ˧˧]

[ʔɪj˧˧ ʔəwŋ͡m˧˧]


ơn

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 恩 (SV: ân).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">ân</i>

vi-etym-sino

biết ơn

ơn trời

favor (deed in which help is voluntarily provided)


bay

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-bay.wav


ma

Sino-Vietnamese word from 魔. The modern Vietnamese usage of ma (“ghost”) and quỷ (“demon; ogre”) is contrary to that of Mandarin 魔 (mó, “demon”) and 鬼 (guǐ, “ghost”).


電腦

(Fangcheng) chữ Hán form of điện não (“computer”).


cocktail

From English cocktail, which is of unclear origin.


According to Ferlus (2009), from *t-rn-aːɲ, with nominalizer -rn- infixed into Proto-Vietic *taːɲ (whence đan (“to weave”)).
Formationally indentical but independently developed are Khmu [Rook] tʰrnaːɲ ("material used for weaving") (Suwilai, 2002) and Proto-West-Bahnaric *trnaːɲ ("thread"), whence Nyaheun nnaːɲ ("thread").

bamboo tape (for basketwork); bamboo slat (of a paper fan)


cam

cây (classifier)
trái (classifier)
quả (classifier)

Citrus aurantium
Citrus aurantium#Translingual

orange, such as Citrus × sinensis or Citrus aurantium (bitter orange)

Short for cam sành (“Citrus reticulata × sinensis”).


sen

cây (classifier)
bông (classifier)
hoa (classifier)
𬞮 (CJK)

From Old Chinese 蓮 (OC *k.[r]ˤe[n]) (B-S) (SV: liên).
Compare the village name Kim Liên 金蓮 (MC kim len), whose demotic name (tên Nôm) is Sen.


sen

Possibly from French jeune servante (“young maidservant”). Attested since 19th century.

bor

1936, Vũ Trọng Phụng, Cơm Thầy Cơm Cô (Master's Food, Mistress's Food), Ch 4. "Cuốn Tiểu Thuyết của Con Sen Đũi (The Novella of Đũi the Maidservant)"
Trong khi ngồi trước đèn để thuật lại câu chuyện này, tôi cũng muốn cho mơ màng để cái cuộc giãi bày tâm sự của con sen có được một chút thi vị

While sitting before the lamp to recount this story, I also want to make it dreamy so that the maidservant's pouring her heart out shall have a little bit of poetic beauty.


sen

From Etymology 2, with owners of cats and dogs perceived humorously as servants to their pets.


vương

Sino-Vietnamese word from 王 (“king; prince”), from Middle Chinese 王. After Qin Shi Huang unified China and became the "first emperor" (in a practical sense that he founded the first Chinese empire, as well as a linguistic sense that he coined the Chinese word for "emperor", 皇帝 (huángdì)), 王 had long been demoted from "king" to "prince" (the emperor's male relative that had land) in East Asia.

vi-etym-sino

phong vương

(historical) an East Asian prince who was granted land by the emperor

Mày tưởng mày muốn làm vương làm tướng ở đây là được hả?

(usually informal) someone who has free rein


跆拳道

chữ Hán form of đài quyền đạo (“taekwondo”).


dịch

Sino-Vietnamese word from 譯 (“to translate”).


dịch

Sino-Vietnamese word from 液 (“liquid, fluid”).


dịch

Sino-Vietnamese word from 疫 (“disease, epidemic”).


dịch

Sino-Vietnamese word from 役 (“work, task”). Doublet of việc.


普通話

phổ thông thoại
phổ thông thoại#Vietnamese

chữ Hán form of phổ thông thoại (“Mandarin, Putonghua”).


gang

From Proto-Vietic *t-kaːŋ, from Old Chinese 鋼 (OC *C.kˤaŋ) (B-S) (SV: cương).


nang

From Proto-Vietic *p-naːŋ. Cognate with Thavung pənaːŋ¹. Doublet of tân lang.
Related to Eastern Katu panang, Malay pinang, Rade mnang, Bih pinang, Chinese 檳榔／槟榔 (bīngláng). Due to the extremely limited distribution of this word in Austroasiatic (Vietic, Katuic) and Austronesian (Malayo-Chamic), it is difficult to trace the exact source. The Chinese word is obviously a loan, most likely from an Austronesian language.


ngư dân

[ŋɨ˧˧ zən˧˧]

[ŋɨ˧˧ jəŋ˧˧]

[ŋɨ˧˧ jəŋ˧˧]

Sino-Vietnamese word from 漁民 (“fisherfolk”).


vô tuyến truyền hình

[vo˧˧ twiən˧˦ t͡ɕwiən˨˩ hïŋ˨˩]

[vow˧˧ twiəŋ˦˧˥ ʈwiəŋ˦˩ hɨn˦˩]

[vow˧˧ t⁽ʷ⁾iəŋ˦˥ ʈ⁽ʷ⁾iəŋ˨˩ hɨn˨˩]

[jow˧˧ t⁽ʷ⁾iəŋ˦˥ ʈ⁽ʷ⁾iəŋ˨˩ hɨn˨˩]

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Penn Zero MSSJ-vô tuyến truyền hình.wav

Sino-Vietnamese word from 無線傳形, composed of 無線 (“wireless”) and 傳形 (“television”).


công an

→ Khmer: កុងអាន (kongʼaan)

[kəwŋ͡m˧˧ ʔaːn˧˧]

[kəwŋ͡m˧˧ ʔaːŋ˧˧]

[kəwŋ͡m˧˧ ʔaːŋ˧˧]

đồn công an

nhờ công an chỉ đường

to ask a public security officer for directions

(colloquial) public security (law enforcement) officer


Chủ nhật

(government) Alternative letter-case form of chủ nhật


xe đạp

head

xe đạp • (車踏)

vi-noun

(classifier chiếc, cái, con) xe đạp • (車踏)

chiếc (classifier)
cái (classifier)
con (classifier)
車踏 (CJK)

[sɛ˧˧ ʔɗaːp̚˧˨ʔ]

[sɛ˧˧ ʔɗaːp̚˨˩ʔ]

[sɛ˧˧ ʔɗaːp̚˨˩˨]

xe (“wheeled vehicle”) + đạp (“to pedal”).

af

xe đạp đôi


trung bình

[t͡ɕʊwŋ͡m˧˧ ʔɓïŋ˨˩]

[ʈʊwŋ͡m˧˧ ʔɓɨn˦˩]

[ʈʊwŋ͡m˧˧ ʔɓɨn˨˩]

Sino-Vietnamese word from 中平, composed of 中 (“center”) and 平 (“level”).

vi-etym-sino

Khí hậu Hoà Bình mang tính chất nhiệt đới gió mùa rõ rệt với mùa đông lạnh, ít mưa và một mùa hè nóng, mưa nhiều. Tổng lượng bức xạ trung bình hàng năm khoảng 120-128 kcal/cm², cân bằng bức xạ trung bình hàng năm đạt tới 80 kcal/cm².

2009, Vietnam Institute for Development Strategies, Các vùng, tỉnh, thành phố trực thuộc trung ương: tiềm năng và triển vọng đến năm 2020, page 188:

The climate of Hoà Bình is tropical with a clear monsoon, with a cold winter with little rain and a warm summer with a lot of rain. The average annual total solar radiation is about 120-128 kcal/cm²; the average annual radiation balance reaches 80 kcal/cm².


đơn giản

head

đơn giản • (單簡)

vi-noun

đơn giản • (單簡)

[ʔɗəːn˧˧ zaːn˧˩]

[ʔɗəːŋ˧˧ jaːŋ˧˨]

[ʔɗəːŋ˧˧ jaːŋ˨˩˦]

Apparently a mere anagram of giản đơn (簡單). However, this word is neutral and more common, while giản đơn is literary as if itself were the derivative anagram.

đầu óc đơn giản


cao nguyên

[kaːw˧˧ ŋwiəŋ˧˧]

[kaːw˧˧ ŋwiəŋ˧˧]


núi

(classifier ngọn, hòn, quả, trái) núi • (𡶀)

ngọn (classifier)
hòn (classifier)
quả (classifier)
trái (classifier)
𡶀 (CJK)

(một ngọn) núi cao

một núi đồ


聖書

chữ Hán form of thánh thư (“scripture”).


cây số

[kəj˧˧ ʂow˨˩˦]

[kəj˧˧ ʂow˦˥]

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Penn Zero MSSJ-cây số.wav

a marker made of concrete, similar to a headstone, that marks each kilometer on a road

Bạn tôi sáng đạp xe hai mươi cây số

(Can we date this quote?), “Bạn tôi”, performed by Quang Linh:

My friend rides twenty kilometers on his bicycle

Xe lên đường từ 7h00 sáng vượt hơn 800 cây sô cho đến 19h chiều mới tới Linh Địa Đức Mẹ Lộ Đức.

2018 August 10, Trầm Hương Thơ, “Cộng Đồng Công Giáo Việt Nam miền Trung Tây Đức Quốc hành hương Đức Mẹ Lộ Đức [Vietnamese Catholic Community of West-Central Germany goes on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Lourdes]”, in VietCatholic News, retrieved 2022-07-23:

The bus drove straight for more than 800 kilometers from 7:00 in the morning to 19:00 in the evening until it reached the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes.


tháng

From Proto-Vietic *k-raːŋʔ. Cognate with Tho [Cuối Chăm] kʰraːŋ³.
The developement of the initial (*C-r > ‹th›) is irregular in most varieties of Vietnamese, but regular in certain North(east)ern dialects. The expected reflex of the initial *k-r would be *‹s› in the "mainstream" dialects.

tới tháng


lao động

[laːw˧˧ ʔɗəwŋ͡m˧˨ʔ]

[laːw˧˧ ʔɗəwŋ͡m˨˩ʔ]

[laːw˧˧ ʔɗəwŋ͡m˨˩˨]

1876, Friedrich Engels, “Anteil der Arbeit an der Menschwerdung des Affen” / “The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man” / “Tác Dụng Của Lao Động Trong Quá Trình Chuyển Biến Từ Vượn Thành Người” in Dialektik der Natur / Dialectics of Nature / Biện Chứng Của Tự Nhiên
Các nhà kinh tế chính trị khẳng định rằng lao động là nguồn gốc của mọi của cải. Lao động đúng là như vậy, khi đi đôi với giới tự nhiên là cái cung cấp những vật liệu cho lao động biến thành của cải. Nhưng lao động còn là một cái gì lớn lao hơn thế nữa. Lao động là điều kiện cơ bản đầu tiên của toàn bộ đời sống loài người, và như thế đến một mức mà trên một ý nghĩa náo đó, chúng ta phải nói: lao động đã sáng tạo ra bản thân con người
Labour is the source of all wealth, the political economists assert. And [labour] really is the source – next to nature, which supplies [labour] with the material that [labour] converts into wealth. But [labour] is even infinitely more than this. [Labour] is the prime basic condition for all human existence, and this to such an extent that, in a sense, we have to say that labour created man himself.


神風

chữ Hán form of thần phong (“kamikaze”).


nhạc

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-nhạc.wav

Near-synonym: âm nhạc (as a concept)

music (as a hobby or object of enjoyment)


nhạc

Attested as Northern Middle Vietnamese mlạc in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651), a dictionary based chiefly on the Northern dialects. Related to the second element in lục lạc.
Likely ultimately from Old Chinese 鐸 (OC *lˤak) (B-S).
The initial shift ([ml- > *mɲ- > ɲ-]) indicates that this is originally a Northern form.

nhạc ngựa

a bell worn on the neck of a domestic animal


tang

để tang

to hold a public funeral, then stay in mourning (by watching your clothing choices and avoiding other taboos)

đại tang

tiểu tang

mãn/xả tang

hết tang

đám tang

Nhà đang có tang.

Chưa hết tang mẹ.

They haven't officially ended mourning their mother.

đeo băng tang

đội khăn tang

a series of events that encompasses a funeral, a burial or cremation, and a period of mourning spanning up to 3 years after the lunar date of death


tang

Trống thủng còn tang.

The drum was busted, leaving only the shell.


tang

Đốt đi cho mất tang.


tang

Cái tang thuốc này hút nặng lắm.

Smoking this little thing packs a punch.

Tang ấy thì biết làm ăn gì.

That guy hasn't a clue how to make a living.

(informal) something or someone insignificant


năm

From Proto-Vietic *c-n-əm, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *cn₁am ~ *cn₁aam. Cognate with Muong năm, Kha Phong sənam¹, Khmer ឆ្នាំ (chnam), Bahnar hơnăm, sơnăm, Khasi snem and Mon သၞာံ (hnam). It is quite likely that this word was originally an infixed form of a verbal root, represented by Mon စာံ (“to dibble”). Within Vietic, the uninfixed form is found in Thavung cɔm¹ ("year") and Phong cɨm ("year").
Sometimes mistaken as related to Chinese 年 (nián) (SV: niên).

kế hoạch năm năm

năm nhất


mưa

cơn (classifier)
trận (classifier)
湄 (CJK)
𩄎 (CJK)
𩅹 (CJK)

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-mưa.wav

From Proto-Vietic *k-maː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *gmaʔ; cognate with Muong mưa, Chut [Rục] kumᵊaː², Khmu kmaʔ and Mang maː² and probably Central Nicobarese [Nancowry] amiṅh. Munda cognates include Mundari gama.


cái

Cognate with Muong Bi cảy, Tho [Cuối Chăm] keː³, Chut [Mày] kɛ⁴ (Babaev & Samarina, 2018), Chut [Rục] kɛ⁴ (Nguyễn Văn Lợi, 1993).
Often linked with Chinese 個／个 (“one thing; classifier”) (for example, in Alves (2007)); however, as seen with the cognates in the more conservative languages, the earlier vowel can be ascertained to be a monophthongal non-low front vowel, which makes connection with the Chinese term very much doubtful, although semantic influence is still possible.
In Middle Vietnamese, this classifier is also attested to be used for certain animals (e.g. cái kiến (“an ant”), cái baba (“a soft-shell turtle”)). However, in Modern Vietnamese, this function has been completely taken over by the general animate classifier con. Although sometimes characterized as historically being used for animals that are on the smaller size, plenty of small animals took con instead.
In Muong dialects, this usage can also be seen. For example, Muong Bi has cảy lòi (“a wild boar”), cảy ca (“a chicken”).

cái đánh trứng

a whisk (literally, “the thing for whisking eggs”)

cái đẹp

beauty / the Beautiful (literally, “the beautiful thing / the thing of beauty”)

cái cao cả

greatness / grandeur / the Sublime (literally, “the great/grand(iose) thing”)

Canh này thì chỉ có nước là ngon, còn cái thì dở ẹc.

(literally, “As for this broth, only the liquid part is good, as for its solid bits, they suck.”)

Only the liquid part of this broth tastes good, the solid bits suck.


cái

From Proto-Vietic *-keːʔ (“woman; female”). Compare gái.
Attested in the title of Phùng Hưng, 布蓋大王 (MC puH kajH dajH hjwang) (SV: Bố Cái Đại Vương), with the first two characters rendering words ancestral to modern vua (“monarch”) and cái ("great, main"), equivalent to the Chinese 大王 next to it, i.e. the title is the phrase "great king/monarch" written in two languages.


tay

From Proto-Vietic *siː. Cognate with Thavung ซี.
The relationship between this root and the root represented by Khmer ដៃ (day), Bahnar ti, Juang iti is uncertain. Sora siˀi is likely a post-Proto-Munda development, as other Munda reflexes show /t/.

quẹo bên tay phải

tay áo

Tay này không phải vừa đâu!


重力

chữ Hán form of trọng lực (“gravity, gravitational force”).


mai

For the connection between "first part of the day" and "day after this one", compare Germanic equivalents such as English morn(ning) and morrow, Dutch morgen, Romance ones such as French demain and Italian domani, and Japanese 明日 and 朝 (ashita).

(colloquial) Short for ngày mai (“tomorrow”).

the hair in front of a person's ears, sideburns


mai

(classifier cây, bông, hoa) mai • (枚, 梅)

cây (classifier)
bông (classifier)
hoa (classifier)
枚 (CJK)
梅 (CJK)

Sino-Vietnamese word from 梅 (“Chinese plum”).

vi-etym-sino

1999, Lê Trung Vũ and Lê Hồng Lý, Lễ hội Việt Nam, Văn hoá Thông tin, page 357

In times of old, the ceremony of selecting Imperial Examination laureates was organized in spring, to coincide with the blooming of the apricot trees.

Ngày xưa kỳ thi Hội chọn lấy đỗ Tiến sĩ được tổ chức vào mùa xuân, cùng với dịp hoa mai nở.

Ochna integerrima, a tree species (sometimes shrub) of the family Ochnaceae, sometimes called apricot in English


mai

(of crabs, turtles and tortoises) carapace (dorsal shell)


mai

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 媒 (SV: môi).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">môi</i>


giáo viên

[jaːw˨˩˦ viəŋ˧˧]

[jaːw˦˥ viəŋ˧˧]

[jaːw˦˥ jiəŋ˧˧]

Sino-Vietnamese word from 教員 (“teacher”).


thành phố

[tʰajŋ̟˨˩ fo˧˦]

[tʰɛɲ˦˩ fow˨˩˦]

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Penn Zero MSSJ-thành phố.wav

Sino-Vietnamese word from 城庯, composed of 城 (“city”) and 庯 (“street”).

Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh
Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh#Vietnamese

one of the five province-level subdivisions of Vietnam labeled thành phố trực thuộc trung ương (literally “city under the central (national) government's direct management”), namely Hà Nội (“Hanoi”), Hải Phòng (“Haiphong”), Đà Nẵng (“Da Nang”), Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh (“Ho Chi Minh City”) and Cần Thơ; itself is subdivided into quận (“districts”)

the capital of a Vietnamese tỉnh (“province”), labeled thành phố trực thuộc tỉnh (literally “city under a province's direct management”); itself is subdivided into phường (“wards”)

thành phố thuộc thành phố trực thuộc trung ương#Vietnamese

a subprovincial division of a thành phố trực thuộc trung ương, called thành phố thuộc thành phố trực thuộc trung ương, that is larger than a quận in terms of economic and population importance


部首

chữ Hán form of bộ thủ (“Hán Nôm radical”).


viết

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-viết.wav

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 筆 (“to write, pen/pencil”, SV: bút).
Attested as Middle Vietnamese ꞗiét, viét in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">bút</i>

vi-etym-sino

viết chì

(Southern Vietnam) non-chalk handheld writing instrument


tai

head

哉, 𦖱, 腮, 𦖻, 顋, 𣌒

vi-noun

哉, 𦖱, 腮, 𦖻, 顋, 𣌒

(classifier cái) tai • (哉, 𦖱, 腮, 𦖻, 顋, 𣌒)

cái (classifier)
哉 (CJK)
𦖱 (CJK)
腮 (CJK)
𦖻 (CJK)
顋 (CJK)
𣌒 (CJK)


茶道

chữ Hán form of trà đạo (“tea ceremony”).


người

con (classifier)
㝵 (CJK)
𠊚 (CJK)
𠊛 (CJK)

From Proto-Vietic *ŋaːj, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *[m]ŋaaj (“human being; person”). Cognate with Muong ngài, Bahnar bơngai (“people, human being”) and Pacoh ngai (“they; them; their; others”). Also from the same root is ngươi (“pupil”).

cog

người chết

người khuyết tật

người bị hại

Người gì mà nóng tính thế?

Thấy trong người sao?

Sao người nó còm nhom vậy?

hỡi người / người hỡi

vạch áo cho người xem lưng


起源

chữ Hán form of khởi nguyên (“origin; beginning”).

Nôm form of khởi nguồn (“origin; beginning”).


自由

chữ Hán form of tự do (“freedom; liberty”).


交通

chữ Hán form of giao thông (“transportation, traffic”).


六書

chữ Hán form of lục thư (“The six types of Han characters”).

chỉ sự

lục thư (六書, “The six types of Han characters”)


象形

chữ Hán form of tượng hình (“(Chinese character classification) pictogram, one of the six classifications of Chinese characters 六書 (lục thư)”).


roi

cây (classifier)
cái (classifier)
鞕 (CJK)
𩍢 (CJK)

From Proto-Vietic *p-rɔːj. Cognate with Chut [Rục] brɔːj¹, Kha Phong urɔːj.


roi

Syzygium samarangense
Syzygium samarangense#Translingual

(Northern Vietnam) Syzygium samarangense (wax apple)


bá

(dialectal) paternal aunt-in-law, father's elder brother's wife


形容詞

chữ Hán form of hình dung từ (“adjective”).


ki

ngu như ki


fara

[faː˧˧ ɹaː˧˧]

[faː˧˧ zaː˧˧]

[faː˧˧ ɹaː˧˧]

[faː˧˧ ɹaː˧˧]


este

[ʔɛt̚˧˦ stɛ˧˧]

[ʔɛt̚˧˦ tɛ˧˧]

[ʔɛt̚˦˧˥ stɛ˧˧]

[ʔɛt̚˦˧˥ tɛ˧˧]

[ʔɛk̚˦˥ stɛ˧˧]

[ʔɛk̚˦˥ tɛ˧˧]


que

cái (classifier)
cây (classifier)
𣠗 (CJK)
𢹾 (CJK)

From Proto-Vietic *k-vɛː; cognate with Muong que and Tho [Cuối Chăm] kʰwɛː¹.


gi

The name of the Latin-script digraph GI/Gi/gi.


gi

The name of the Latin-script letter J/j.


草原

chữ Hán form of thảo nguyên (“grassland; steppe”).


lai

(Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) hemline; turn-up


lai

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 釐 (“a weight unit”, SV: li).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">li</i>

vi-etym-sino

(Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) hundredth part of a tael (equal to 0.378 g)


lai

candlenut; candleberry (Aleurites moluccanus)


tré

a dish of heavily seasoned pork, specialty of Central Vietnam


風水

chữ Hán form of phong thuỷ (“feng shui”).


mít

cây (classifier)
trái (classifier)
quả (classifier)
櫗 (CJK)

Ultimately from Sanskrit पारमिता (pāramitā, “paramita”), through Chinese 菠蘿蜜／菠萝蜜 (bōluómì, “jackfruit”); see there for more.

mít dai/ráo

jackfruit with firm, dry flesh (literally, “chewy/dry jackfruit”)

mít mật/ướt

jackfruit with soft, mushy, wet flesh (literally, “honey/wet jackfruit”)


thang

head

湯, 󱥭, 梯, 蹚, 簜

vi-noun

湯, 󱥭, 梯, 蹚, 簜

(classifier cái, chiếc) thang • (湯, 󱥭, 梯, 蹚, 簜)

cái (classifier)
chiếc (classifier)
湯 (CJK)
梯 (CJK)
蹚 (CJK)
簜 (CJK)


thang

(alternative medicine) a prescribed dose of Chinese or Vietnamese medicine


地震

chữ Hán form of địa chấn (“earthquake”).


lán

Anh bước qua những rễ cây nhẫy sình, xuống một cái lán vuông nhỏ xíu bằng chiếc tủ đứng. Mái lán có mấy làn khói nhạt vật vờ trong lá cây.

1978, Chu Lai, chapter 5, in Nắng đồng bằng, NXB Quân đội Nhân dân:

He walked past the tree roots that were glistening with mud down to a teeny little square shanty made out of upright cupboards. In the roof of the shanty there were some pale and lifeless wisps of smoke in the leaves.

a kind of shelter:
a shanty, roughly-built cottage


tá

(military) field officer (higher than uý but lower than tướng)


mé

bên mé trái


少女

chữ Hán form of thiếu nữ (“young woman; girl”).


tuli

[tʊw˧˧ lɪj˧˧]

[tʊw˧˧ lɪj˧˧]

Ultimately from New Latin thulium, with the suffix -um removed as with most chemical elements.


音階

chữ Hán form of âm giai (“musical scale”).


chum

a kind of vase used to contain liquids or rice


性交

chữ Hán form of tính giao (“sexual intercourse, sex, coitus, copulation”).


𡦂

Duplication of 字 (tự, “character, letter”)

土音哙丐𨨨羅丐鏛𡦂悪切買𡦂固義羅空固拱如㗂京羅怒㗂西羅𩛂
Thổ âm gọi cái ‘chiêng’ là cái ‘thường’; chữ ‘ố’ thiết với chữ ‘có’ nghĩa là “không có”, cũng như tiếng Kinh là ‘nỏ’, tiếng Tây là ‘no’.
In the local speech, gongs are called ‘thường’, and ‘ó’ (which is spelt with ‘ố + có’) means “no”, similar to ‘nỏ’ in Vietnamese and ‘no(n)’ in French.

1903, Vương Duy Trinh, Thanh Hoá quan phong (清化觀風), page 42

Nôm form of chữ (“letter; character; word; script”).


già

From Middle Vietnamese già, from Proto-Vietic *k-raː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *kraʔ ~ *(k)rah. Cognate with Muong khà, Tho [Cuối Chăm] kʰraː¹, Bahnar kră. Compare also Nghệ An/Hà Tĩnh dialects tra.
The standard written Vietnamese form is irregular (the expected form would be **sa), while the North Central form shows the shift from *k-r to *k-l observable in several other instances: compare sâu and trâu (“caterpillar”), sừng and trừng (“horn”). See giòi (“maggot”), giữa (“middle”) for other instances of mainstream Vietnamese ‹gi› from initial *k-r.


𡨸

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声): phonetic 宁 (trữ) + semantic 字 (tự, “Chinese character”).


生殖器

chữ Hán form of sinh thực khí (“reproductive organ; genitalia”).


én

From Proto-Vietic *ʔɛːnʔ, non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 燕 (SV: yến). Doublet of yến.

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">yến</i>

vi-etym-sino

(loosely) Synonym of yến (“swift”) (bird)


bí

head

bí • (秘, 泌, 費, 𦷬)

vi-noun

(classifier cây, trái, quả) bí • (秘, 泌, 費, 𦷬)

cây (classifier)
trái (classifier)
quả (classifier)
秘 (CJK)
泌 (CJK)
費 (CJK)
𦷬 (CJK)

From Proto-Vietic *k-biːrʔ ~ *k-piːrʔ, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *cpiir. Cognate with Muong pỉl, proto-Monic *cmpiir (modern Mon သ္ပဳ (həpɔe, “pumpkin”)), Riang sᵊpir¹, Khmu [Cuang] hmpiːr ("melon").
This word was originally referred to some kind of native gourd (pumpkins are from the Americas), most likely the wax gourd, now also commonly called bí đao; or maybe it was (and is still) just the word for cucurbits in general.

other plants in the Cucurbitaceae family


定義

chữ Hán form of định nghĩa (“definition”).


trai

From Proto-Vietic *p-laːl (“man, male”).

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-trai.wav

con trai

làm trai

(collective, informal, colloquial) gigolos; male prostitutes

lai

coastal Northern Vietnam, likely obsolete


比丘

chữ Hán form of tỉ-khâu (“(Buddhism) bhikkhu”).


bát

Sino-Vietnamese word from 缽 (“earthen bowl”), ultimately from Sanskrit पात्र (pātra).

vi-etym-sino

(Northern Vietnam) a small bowl that can be held in one hand, chiefly used for eating rice


和尚

chữ Hán form of hoà thượng (“senior Buddhist monk”).


首相

chữ Hán form of thủ tướng (“prime minister”).


cu

From Proto-Vietic *t-kuː (“dove”); ultimately onomatopoeic. Cognate with Kha Phong təkuː¹. Compare Thai เขา (kǎo), Chinese 鳩 (OC *[k](r)u) (B-S), Burmese ခို (hkui), English coo.
This is the form without both diphthongization and lenition. Also in common use are câu, bồ câu, both with diphthongization. The form gâu (in chim gâu) with both diphthongization and lenition is also attested.


cu

From etymology 1. For semantic relationship, compare English cock, Chinese 屌 (diǎo), 鳥／鸟 (“bird”), Cantonese 㞗, 鳩／鸠 (“pigeon”), Thai นกเขา (nók-kǎo, “pigeon”). Also see cò, chim.


cu

Thằng cu đó quậy thật.

Cu Tí ơi!
Hey, Ti-boy!

Ê cu! Lại đây biểu!


xe

chiếc (classifier)
con (classifier)
cỗ (classifier)
車 (CJK)

Tai Dam: ꪵꪎ

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 車 (“vehicle”, SV: xa). Compare hè and hạ, chè and trà.

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">xa</i>

vi-etym-sino

đậu xe

lái xe

to pilot a wheeled vehicle other than planes or trains; to drive, to ride, etc.


xe

(xiangqi) chariot, a piece labeled with the characters 車／车 (xa, black) and 俥／伡 (red)


tim

vi-noun

(classifier quả, trái, con) tim • (𢙭, 心)

quả (classifier)
trái (classifier)
con (classifier)
𢙭 (CJK)
心 (CJK)

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 心 (SV: tâm). Doublet of tâm.
For some examples of ‹i› in vernacular loans versus ‹â› in standard Sino-Vietnamese, see also phím, kịp, kín, nhịn.
The figurative usage of the word "heart" seen in Modern Vietnamese is at least partially due to foreign influence (either Chinese 心 (MC sim) or some European languages like French cœur). Traditionally, the locations for psychological states and feelings are bụng (“belly, abdomen”), lòng (“intestines, entrails”), dạ (“stomach, the inside”).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">tâm</i>

vi-etym-sino

Hẳn là các vị thần trên núi Ô-lem-pơ đã ban cho nàng một trái tim sắt đá hơn ai hết trong đám đàn bà yếu đuối,[…]

The Olympians must have granted you the hardest heart among the frail women, […]


bươm bướm

[ʔɓɨəm˧˧ ʔɓɨəm˧˦]

[ʔɓɨəm˧˧ ʔɓɨəm˦˧˥]

[ʔɓɨəm˧˧ ʔɓɨəm˦˥]

Reduplication of bướm; see there for more.


sam

head

杉, 衫, 𧏰, 𧓰, 𪓫

vi-noun

杉, 衫, 𧏰, 𧓰, 𪓫

con (classifier)
杉 (CJK)
衫 (CJK)
𧏰 (CJK)
𧓰 (CJK)
𪓫 (CJK)

Highly unlikely due to irregular sound change.
Possibly from Proto-Mon-Khmer *kt₁aam (“crab”) (Norman & Mei, 1976; mistakenly glossed as "king crab"). However, Shorto (2006) includes no such derivation. Compare Vietnamese đam (“field crab”) and Lingao sam¹ (“horseshoe crab”).

đuôi sam


sam

Portulaca oleracea
Portulaca oleracea#Translingual


CTN

Initialism of chủ tịch nước (“president (of communist/socialist country)”).


文字

chữ Hán form of văn tự (“writing system, script”).


hành

cây (classifier)
củ (classifier)
行 (CJK)
荇 (CJK)

Audio (Hà Nội)

Short for hành tây (“onion”, literally “western onion”).


hành

Shortened from hành hạ.
Coinage most likely facilitated by the homophony of the unrelated noun above, leading to further coinage of phrases like bán hành (“to torment physically/to sell scallion”) and bón hành (“to give a one-sided beating/to spoon-feed scallion”).

Audio (Hà Nội)

Phim tới đâu rồi?Nhân vật chính đang bị phản diện bán hành.

How is the movie going right now?Yeah, the protagonist is getting the shit beaten out of him by the villain.

(often humorous) torment; physical abuse


hành

Sino-Vietnamese word from 行 (“to go; to work”). Normally a bound morpheme, but became somewhat free due to expressions such as học hành, which may be expanded to học đi đôi với hành. học hành normally means "studies" but can be used as a rhetorical device to mean "theory and praxis".

vi-etym-sino

Audio (Hà Nội)

Học (phải) đi đôi với hành.

Học mà không có hành thì chẳng nên cơm cháo gì cả.

(rhetorically accompanying học) Synonym of thực hành (“praxis; practice”)


meo

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 毛 (SV: mao).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">mao</i>

vi-etym-sino

Giở đến hộp mực thì ra nước đã cạn khô. Lớp bông mực lên meo trắng xóa.

1937, Ngô Tất Tố, chapter 5, in Trong rừng nho:

When he opened the ink box, the ink had already gone dry. The inkpad was white due to mold infestation.

(now not used in isolation) mold; mildew


ria

bộ (classifier)
挗 (CJK)
髭 (CJK)
𣭯 (CJK)
𩮭 (CJK)


dong

Attested as deaong in the Flora Cochinchinensis (1790, "Flora of Cochinchina").


百科全書

bách khoa toàn thư
bách khoa toàn thư#Vietnamese

chữ Hán form of bách khoa toàn thư (“encyclopaedia”).


mun

From Proto-Vietic *ɓuːɲ (“ashes”). Cognate with Muong bunh.


nam

Sino-Vietnamese word from 南 (“south”). Compare also nôm/Nôm and nồm (as in gió nồm (“south(east) wind”)).

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-nam.wav

Mặt trận Dân tộc Giải phóng miền Nam Việt Nam


án

Sino-Vietnamese word from 案. Compare with Muong ản.

sentence (judicial order for punishment)


búa

cái (classifier)
chiếc (classifier)
斧 (CJK)
鈽 (CJK)

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 斧 (“hatchet”, SV: phủ), borrowed from a form when the vowel already shifted, although likely still reasonably early.

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">phủ</i>

vi-etym-sino

búa tạ

búa liềm

Vui cái búa á! Cái đó mà vui gì!


tro

head

𤊣, 𤉓, 𪿙, 𤉕, 𬊐, 炭, 烣, 爐

vi-noun

𤊣, 𤉓, 𪿙, 𤉕, 𬊐, 炭, 烣, 爐

𤊣 (CJK)
𤉓 (CJK)
𪿙 (CJK)
𤉕 (CJK)
𬊐 (CJK)
炭 (CJK)
烣 (CJK)
爐 (CJK)

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-tro.wav


gan

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-gan.wav

From Proto-Vietic *t-kaːn, from Old Chinese 肝 (OC *s.kˤa[r]) (SV: can). Cognate with Chut [Rục] təkaːn¹ ("bold").
Displaced native lòm, now only found in the compounds đỏ lòm and chua lòm.

to gan

nhát gan / gan thỏ đế


tía

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 爹 (SV: đa). Compare Mandarin 爹 (diē).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">đa</i>

vi-etym-sino

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-tía.wav


bè

head

bè • (𣙨, 𤿤, 𥯤, 𬜛)

vi-noun

(classifier cái, chiếc, con) bè • (𣙨, 𤿤, 𥯤, 𬜛)

cái (classifier)
chiếc (classifier)
con (classifier)
𣙨 (CJK)
𤿤 (CJK)
𥯤 (CJK)
𬜛 (CJK)

Having cognates throughout Mon-Khmer (all borrowed ?), akin to Laven
/bɛː/ ("raft"), Khasi bùr (“raft”), Mlabri /bɛː/ ("raft"), Nyah Kur [phɛ̀ɛ] ("raft") and Lamet /pheː/ ("raft"). See also Proto-Tai *beːᴬ (> Thai แพ (pɛɛ, “raft”)) and Old Chinese 簰 (OC *brê, “bamboo raft”). The sense of "cohorts" probably developed from the way bamboo stalks are tied together to make a raft.

(nautical) a raft (flat, floating structure)

bè lũ tham ô

(only in compounds or fixed expressions, usually disapproving) a group of cohorts


lê

cây (classifier)
trái (classifier)
quả (classifier)


vai

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-vai.wav

Attested as Middle Vietnamese ꞗĕai, ꞗai in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651), a dictionary based chiefly on the Northern dialects.
Attested in Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經) as 多埋 (MC ta meaj) (modern SV: đa mai).
Compare Proto-Katuic *ʔapaal (“shoulder”) (whence Pacoh apal).
Some North Central dialects have the form ban with unlenited ‹b› (vs. standard form with lenited ‹v›) and ‹-n› reflex of earlier *-l.

vai chính

vai phụ

(television, film, theater) a role; a part


á

The name of the Latin-script letter Ă/ă.


SIDA

[si˧˧ ʔɗaː˧˧]

[si˧˧ ʔɗaː˧˧]

[sɪj˧˧ ʔɗaː˧˧]

[ʂɪj˧˧ ʔɗaː˧˧]

[sɪj˧˧ ʔɗaː˧˧]

[sɪj˧˧ ʔɗaː˧˧]

[ʂɪj˧˧ ʔɗaː˧˧]

[sɪj˧˧ ʔɗaː˧˧]

Em đâu có biết
Bố mẹ bị SIDA
Ông bà là tướng cướp
Giết người là chuyên gia.
I had no idea
My parents had AIDS
My grandparents were gangsters
Who were professional murderers.

hội chứng suy giảm miễn dịch mắc phải#Vietnamese

acquired immune deficiency syndrome
acquired immune deficiency syndrome

(colloquial) Synonym of hội chứng suy giảm miễn dịch mắc phải (“acquired immune deficiency syndrome”); AIDS


a

The name of the Latin-script letter A/a.


a

rèn một lưỡi a bằng ba lưỡi hái

a cutting tool consisting of two blades inserted into a long handle to cut grass or to harvest rice


部分

chữ Hán form of bộ phận (“part, section, segment, portion”).


制度

chữ Hán form of chế độ (“regime; system”).


日記

chữ Hán form of nhật kí (“diary; journal”).


義務

chữ Hán form of nghĩa vụ (“duty; responsibility; obligation”).


地名

chữ Hán form of địa danh (“place name, toponym”).


lao

cây (classifier)
ngọn (classifier)
𨦭 (CJK)


理由

chữ Hán form of lí do/lý do (“reason; cause; excuse; justification”).


電子

chữ Hán form of điện tử (“electron (obsolete)”).


憂鬱

chữ Hán form of ưu uất (“melancholy, depression, dejection”).


原文

chữ Hán form of nguyên văn (“original text”).


治安

chữ Hán form of trị an (“public order”).


異議

chữ Hán form of dị nghị (“objection; suspicion”).


意義

chữ Hán form of ý nghĩa (“literal reading; meaning”).


委員

chữ Hán form of uỷ viên (“committee member”).


遺跡

chữ Hán form of di tích (“historical site”).


意見

chữ Hán form of ý kiến (“opinion, view”).


意識

chữ Hán form of ý thức (“consciousness”).


漢文

chữ Hán form of Hán văn (“Classical Chinese”).


移動

chữ Hán form of di động (“mobile phone”).


意味

chữ Hán form of ý vị (“deep; profound meaning”).


agon

[ʔaː˧˧ ɣəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔaːk̚˧˦ ɣəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔaːk̚˧˨ʔ ɣəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔaː˧˧ ɣəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔaːk̚˦˧˥ ɣəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔaːk̚˨˩ʔ ɣəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔaː˧˧ ɣəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔaːk̚˦˥ ɣəwŋ͡m˧˧]

[ʔaːk̚˨˩˨ ɣəwŋ͡m˧˧]

From French argon, from English argon, from New Latin argon, from Ancient Greek ἀργόν (argón).


印象

chữ Hán form of ấn tượng (“impression”).


大家

chữ Hán form of đại gia (“tycoon; magnate”).


ve

From Middle Vietnamese ue. Probably onomatopoeic, from the cry of the cicada.


ve

bor

French verre (“glass (substance); objects made of glass”)


木耳

chữ Hán form of mộc nhĩ (“wood ear fungus”).


元素

chữ Hán form of nguyên tố (“chemical element”).


統計

chữ Hán form of thống kê (“statistics”).


問答

chữ Hán form of vấn đáp (“questions-and-answers test”).


tiếng Việt

[tiəŋ˧˦ viət̚˧˨ʔ]

[tiəŋ˦˧˥ viək̚˨˩ʔ]

[tiəŋ˦˥ viək̚˨˩˨]

[tiəŋ˦˥ jiək̚˨˩˨]

tiếng (“language”) + Việt (“Vietnam; Vietnamese”).

com

Tiếng Việt không dấu khó đọc quá.

Vietnamese without diacritics is so hard to read.

'Cái khó nhất đối với tôi trong tiếng Việt là không biết xưng hô thế nào cho đúng. Tôi nghĩ rằng để giỏi tiếng Việt cần phải thực hành giao tiếp thường xuyên với người Việt.'

2017 May 19, Đ. Tuấn, “Hội thảo 'Giữ gìn, bảo vệ ngôn ngữ và văn hóa Việt' tại Pháp [A workshop on 'Maintaining, preserving the Vietnamese language and culture' in France]”, in Nhân Dân, Communist Party of Vietnam, retrieved 2019-04-02:

'The hardest part of Vietnamese to me is not knowing how to address people correctly. I think to be skilled in Vietnamese, you have to stay in regular contact with Vietnamese people.'

Mai học toán và tiếng Việt.

I'll be having math and Vietnamese tomorrow.

(primary education, as a subject) Vietnamese


é

cây (classifier)
hạt (classifier)
hột (classifier)
薏 (CJK)

bé như hột é

very small (literally, “as small as a lemon basil seed”)


精神

chữ Hán form of tinh thần (“spirit, mind”).


bót

Rất nhanh chóng, cò Bazin quay trở lại bót Catinat, với tâm thế sục sôi rửa hận.

2016, Trầm Hương, Trong cơn lốc xoáy, part I, NXB Phụ nữ, page 367:

Very quickly, superintendent Bazin returned to the Catinat police station, his heart boiling over with vengeance.


mí

head

mí • (睸, 𥈢, 𦝺)

vi-noun

mí • (睸, 𥈢, 𦝺)

Ferlus reconstructed Proto-Vietic *k-piːl ~ *ɓiːlʔ (“eyelid”). This is a curious etymology.
The potential Muong Bi cognate pèl is attested in Từ điển Mường-Việt (2002), having an A tone and pointing to a plain stop, while the Vietnamese word has a nasal, which points to the implosive *ɓ, and a B tone. The various clearly cognate forms are attested in Ngữ âm tiếng Mường qua các phương ngôn (1982), with both forms showing tone A (akin to Mường Bi) and tone B (akin to Vietnamese). Tho [Cuối Chăm] biːl³ agrees with Vietnamese in both initial and tone.


血漿

chữ Hán form of huyết tương (“(hematology) blood plasma”).


構造

chữ Hán form of cấu tạo (“composition, structure”).


特殊

chữ Hán form of đặc thù (“characteristic”).


立方

chữ Hán form of lập phương (“(rare, arithmetic, algebra) cube”).


vê

The name of the Latin-script letter V/v.


動名詞

chữ Hán form of động danh từ (“gerund”).


nong

Compare Proto-Bahnaric *-ɗoːŋ (“winnowing basket”) and Proto-Katuic *kɗoŋ (“winnowing basket”).


ang

head

盎, 𤮃, 坱, 央, 垵

vi-noun

盎, 𤮃, 坱, 央, 垵

cái (classifier)
盎 (CJK)
𤮃 (CJK)
坱 (CJK)
央 (CJK)
垵 (CJK)

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-ang.wav

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 盎 (SV: áng).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">áng</i>

vi-etym-sino

(Northern Vietnam) a kind of water container

(historical) a traditional instrument made from wood or bamboo, used to measure grain


ung

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-ung.wav


四季

chữ Hán form of tứ quý (“four of a kind”).


tua

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 鬚 (SV: tu). Doublet of râu.

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">tu</i>

vi-etym-sino

fringe- or tassel-like object; feeler (of certain animals); antenna


自信

chữ Hán form of tự tin (“self-confident, self-confidence”).


指示

chữ Hán form of chỉ thị (“directive; command; instruction”).


工場

chữ Hán form of công trường (“construction site”).


biển

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-biển.wav

bờ biển


biển

biển hiệu

biển báo (giao thông)

biển số (xe)


cha

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-cha.wav

(dated or literary or Catholicism) a father

Thôi dẹp đi cha!


khu

Compare Chinese 尻 (OC *[k]ʰˤu) (B-S) (SV: khào).

(North Central Vietnam) buttock, ass/arse


植物

chữ Hán form of thực vật (“plants, vegetation”).


mão

(Central Vietnam) Alternative form of mạo (“headwear, hat, cap”)


coronavirus

[kɔ˧˧ zo˧˧ naː˧˧ vi˧˧ ɹut̚˧˦]

[kɔ˧˧ zo˧˧ naː˧˧ vi˧˧ zut̚˧˦]

[ko˧˧ zo˧˧ naː˧˧ vi˧˧ ɹut̚˧˦]

[kɔ˧˧ ʐow˧˧ naː˧˧ vɪj˧˧ ɹʊk̚˦˧˥]

[kow˧˧ ʐow˧˧ naː˧˧ vɪj˧˧ ɹʊk̚˦˧˥]

[kɔ˧˧ ɹow˧˧ naː˧˧ vɪj˧˧ ɹʊk͡p̚˦˥]

[kɔ˧˧ ɹow˧˧ naː˧˧ jɪj˧˧ ɹʊk͡p̚˦˥]

[kow˧˧ ɹow˧˧ naː˧˧ vɪj˧˧ ɹʊk͡p̚˦˥]

[kow˧˧ ɹow˧˧ naː˧˧ jɪj˧˧ ɹʊk͡p̚˦˥]

English coronavirus. From translingual Coronavirus, from Latin corona+Latin virus, from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē). Compare virus corona.

Bộ Ngoại giao Việt Nam hôm qua xác nhận có 8285 người Việt “đang sinh sống, học tập và lao động” tại thành phố Daegu, tâm dịch coronavirus ở Hàn Quốc.

2020 February 24, Trinh Nguyễn, “Hàn Quốc trở thành tâm dịch coronavirus lớn nhất bên ngoài Trung Quốc [South Korea becomes the largest concentration of a coronavirus outbreak outside China]”, in SBS Vietnamese, Special Broadcasting Service, retrieved 2020-03-19:

The Vietnam Foreign Ministry yesterday confirmed that 8,285 Vietnamese “are living, studying, and working” in the city of Daegu, the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak in South Korea.

Italia bị dịch Coronavirus nặng nhất sau Trung Quốc.

2020 March 14, Trần Đức Anh, “Sinh hoạt Công Giáo đó đây trước nạn dịch Coronavirus [Catholic activities everywhere before the coronavirus outbreak]”, in Vatican News, Pontifical Council for Social Communications, retrieved 2020-03-19:

Italy suffered the worst coronavirus outbreak after China.


幸福

chữ Hán form of hạnh phúc (“happiness”).


書法

chữ Hán form of thư pháp (“calligraphy”).


não

Bộ não người có nhiều điều chưa lí giải được.

There are still many unexplained things about the human brain.


宇宙論

chữ Hán form of vũ trụ luận (“cosmology”).


微生物

chữ Hán form of vi sinh vật (“microorganism, microbe”).


ó

Likely ultimately onomatopoeic. Compare Proto-Vietic *ʔoːʔ (“bird”).


vía

Unknown. Compare Proto-Vietic *r-vaːjʔ (“soul; spirit”) (> Muong wãi), which is from Proto-Mon-Khmer *rwaaj (“tiger > soul; spirit”).

cog

hồn vía

Gì mà hồn vía trên mây vậy?

a type of soul, corresponding to the Chinese po


大學

chữ Hán form of đại học (“university, college”).


政府

chữ Hán form of chính phủ (“government”).


理解

chữ Hán form of lí giải (“to explain; to describe; to interpret”).


左右

chữ Hán form of tả hữu (“left and right”).


宇宙

chữ Hán form of vũ trụ (“outer space; universe; cosmos”).


草書

chữ Hán form of thảo thư (“grass script”).


neo

mũi (classifier)
cái (classifier)
𪲍 (CJK)

From Proto-Vietic *tʃ-rn-ɛːw, an *-rn- (instrumental derivative) infixed form of Proto-Vietic *tʃɛːw, whence Modern Vietnamese xeo. Related to chèo (“oar”), derived from a differently infixed form.


trã

cái (classifier)
chiếc (classifier)
𡋿 (CJK)
捛 (CJK)

Compare Chut kleː¹ (“rice cooking pot”), Khmer ឃ្លះ (khlĕəh, “pottery cooking vessel”), Koho glah (“cooking pot”), Chrau glah (“clay pot”).

wide-mouthed, shallow-based, earthenware cooking pot


技術

chữ Hán form of kĩ thuật (“technology, technique”).


天文學

chữ Hán form of thiên văn học (“astronomy”).


發展

chữ Hán form of phát triển (“development”).


神道

chữ Hán form of Thần đạo (“Shinto (religion)”).


文言

chữ Hán form of văn ngôn (“Classical Chinese wording”).


神聖

chữ Hán form of thần thánh (“gods and saints”).


Tết

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 節 (“festival”, SV: tiết). Doublet of tiết.

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">tiết</i>

vi-etym-sino

Lunar New Year (the first three days of the first lunar month)

Tết dương lịch / Tết Tây

Tết Nguyên Đán / Tết âm lịch / Tết ta

Tết Đoan Ngọ

Tết Trung thu

Chúc anh chị một cái Tết vui vẻ.

(by extension) Used in the names of some other holidays/festivals

"tết" con trai

"tết" con gái

(rare, by extension, usually in simplified translation) a festival


sim

cây (classifier)
枮 (CJK)
槮 (CJK)
𣑷 (CJK)

Rhodomyrtus tomentosa
Rhodomyrtus tomentosa#Translingual


主人

chữ Hán form of chủ nhân (“master or owner; proprietor”).


商品

chữ Hán form of thương phẩm (“merchandise; commodity; goods”).


lan

cây (classifier)
bông (classifier)
hoa (classifier)


két

con (classifier)
鴶 (CJK)
𪁄 (CJK)
鴼 (CJK)

Attested as kéc in the Dictionarium Anamitico-Latinum (1838) and Đại Nam Quấc âm tự vị (1895). It is not clear if this spelling was etymological or if it simply reflected the /k/-/t/ coda merger (both dictionaries were based on the Southern dialects).


két

case (used to store glass bottles of beer or soft drink)


bàn

Sino-Vietnamese word from 盤 (“plate; board game”).

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-bàn.wav


tanh

(automotive) bead wire, tire cord (wire inside a tire)


準備

chữ Hán form of chuẩn bị (“to prepare”).


kén

cái (classifier)
茧 (CJK)
絸 (CJK)
繭 (CJK)

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 繭 (“cocoon”, SV: kiển).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">kiển</i>


xa

Sino-Vietnamese word from 車. Compare hè and hạ, chè and trà.

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-xa.wav


mồng tơi

[məwŋ͡m˨˩ təːj˧˧]

[məwŋ͡m˦˩ təːj˧˧]

[məwŋ͡m˨˩ təːj˧˧]


thu

thiên/ngàn/nghìn thu


介詞

chữ Hán form of giới từ (“preposition”).


lát

cắt lát


lát

Lát nhớ đi học sớm đó.


兵器

chữ Hán form of binh khí (“weapon; weaponry”).


簡體字

chữ Hán form of giản thể tự (“Simplified Chinese”).


部隊

chữ Hán form of bộ đội (“military unit”).


訪問

chữ Hán form of phỏng vấn (“interview”).


gu

gu thẩm mĩ

(colloquial) taste (implicit set of preferences), especially esthetic taste


通信

chữ Hán form of thông tin (“information; news”).


男尊女卑

chữ Hán form of nam tôn nữ ti (“male chauvinism, valuing men above women”).


夫妻

chữ Hán form of phu thê (“married couple”).


羚羊

chữ Hán form of linh dương (“antelope”).


同胞

chữ Hán form of đồng bào (“compatriot, countryman”).


làn

chiếc (classifier)
cái (classifier)
籃 (CJK)
𬅉 (CJK)

xách làn đi chợ

handled handbasket with a flat bottom and wide mouth, made from rattan, rush, bamboo or plastics


làn

làn dành cho xe buýt


空中

chữ Hán form of không trung (“the air”).


百科

chữ Hán form of bách khoa (“various disciplines; miscellaneous subjects”).


能力

chữ Hán form of năng lực (“power; ability; energy”).


toa

From Teochew 單／单. Compare Thai ตั๋ว (dtǔua), Khmer តួ (tuə).


決定

chữ Hán form of quyết định (“decision”).


大事

chữ Hán form of đại sự (“important matter; big deal; major event; great thing”).


情報

chữ Hán form of tình báo (“intelligence”).


bò

From Proto-Vietic *bɔː (“zebu; bovine”). Probably ultimately of imitative origin.
Compare Vietnamese ụm bò (“moo”) and items such as Malay lembu, Khmu [Cuang] lmboʔ and Cebuano amba, which are superficially similar but lack straightforward correspondence with the Vietnamese word.

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-bò.wav

trâu bò

water buffaloes and Southern Yellow zebus

nuôi bò

chăn bò

thịt bò

a Southern Yellow zebu (a bovine of the breed Feng cattle)

bò sữa

(by extension) any bovine from the subtribe Bovina


bò

Vay vài bò gạo.

Lend me some condensed milk cans' worth of rice.

(informal) a unit of measurement for grain volume equivalent to the capacity of a condensed milk can


telu

[tɛ˧˧ lʊw˧˧]

[tɛ˧˧ lʊw˧˧]


liti

[lɪj˧˧ tɪj˧˧]

[lɪj˧˧ tɪj˧˧]

Ultimately from New Latin lithium, with the suffix -um removed as with most chemical elements.


樂器

chữ Hán form of nhạc khí (“musical instrument”).


信號

chữ Hán form of tín hiệu (“signal; sign”).


會議

chữ Hán form of hội nghị (“meeting; conference”).


形態學

chữ Hán form of hình thái học (“morphology”).


beri

[ʔɓɛ˧˧ ɹi˧˧]

[ʔɓɛ˧˧ zi˧˧]

[ʔɓɛ˧˧ ɹɪj˧˧]

[ʔɓɛ˧˧ ɹɪj˧˧]


語音學

chữ Hán form of ngữ âm học (“phonetics”).


物體

chữ Hán form of vật thể (“object; body”).


共和國

chữ Hán form of cộng hoà quốc (“republic”).


缺點

chữ Hán form of khuyết điểm (“shortcoming; defect; weakness”).


gali

[ɣaː˧˧ li˧˧]

[ɣaː˧˧ lɪj˧˧]

[ɣaː˧˧ lɪj˧˧]

Ultimately from New Latin gallium, with the suffix -um removed as with most chemical elements.


種類

chữ Hán form of chủng loại (“type, sort”).


言語學

chữ Hán form of ngôn ngữ học (“linguistics”).


考試

chữ Hán form of khảo thí (“examination, exam, test”).


關係

chữ Hán form of quan hệ (“relationship”).


資本主義

tư bản chủ nghĩa
tư bản chủ nghĩa#Vietnamese

chữ Hán form of tư bản chủ nghĩa (“capitalism”).


tru

North Central Vietnam form of trâu (“water buffalo”)


花魁

chữ Hán form of hoa khôi (“a beauty queen”).


全部

chữ Hán form of toàn bộ (“everything, all”).


國家

chữ Hán form of quốc gia (“nation, state”).


vua

vi-noun

(classifier vị, đức, nhà) vua • (𤤰, 𢃊, 𪻟)

vị (classifier)
đức (classifier)
nhà (classifier)
𤤰 (CJK)
𢃊 (CJK)
𪻟 (CJK)
con (classifier)

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-vua.wav

The Northern Middle Vietnamese form ꞗua (“king”) with lenition is attested in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum.
Compare North Central Vietnamese bua without lenition and the compound phân bua. Compare also Mang pua² and Tai Dam ꪜꪺ, borrowed from an older form of Vietnamese. Cognate with Chut [Mày] tapuo¹ (Babaev & Samarina, 2018).
Attested in Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經) as 𢃊, composed of 司 (MC si) + 布 (MC puH) (modern SV: tư bố).

Phan Châu Trinh Đạo đức và luân lí Đông Tây [Eastern and Western Ideas on Morality and Ethics]:
Một nước bao nhiêu triệu dân mà chỉ giao phó quyền chính cho một ông vua thì chẳng là ngu xuẩn lắm ư? Gặp được ông vua thông minh còn e lo chưa hết bổn phận thay, huống là gặp phải anh vua u mê làm ròng những sự độc ác, cấm dân có ăn học không được lo việc nước, thì dân có ăn học không được lo việc nước, thì dân khốn khổ biết bao, và còn có ai dám ra mà gánh vác. Một nhà không ai lo chủ trương, một nước không ai lo chủ trương, thì nhà nước ấy làm sao không tan không mất được.
A country with millions of subjects under the rule of a single monarch, does that not sound foolish? It's not even guaranteed a bright monarch can rule to his full capacity, so if there's a dim monarch who indulges in cruelty, who bans his educated subjects from contributing, those subjects can't contribute, everyone suffers, who would be willing to take responsibility then? A home without anyone taking charge, a country without anyone taking charge, is it surprising that it falls?


tự điển

[tɨ˧˨ʔ ʔɗiən˧˩]

[tɨ˨˩ʔ ʔɗiəŋ˧˨]

[tɨ˨˩˨ ʔɗiəŋ˨˩˦]

Sino-Vietnamese word from 字典 (“Han character dictionary”).

vi-etym-sino

(chiefly Sinology) a Han character dictionary

(by extension) Synonym of từ điển (“dictionary”)


空手道

chữ Hán form of không thủ đạo (“karate”).


áo

head

áo • (𬡢 - 奧, 襖, 袄)

vi-noun

(classifier chiếc, cái) áo • (𬡢 - 奧, 襖, 袄)

chiếc (classifier)
cái (classifier)
襖 (CJK)
袄 (CJK)

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-áo.wav

From Proto-Vietic *ʔaːwʔ, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *ʔaawʔ (“upper garment”). Cognates include Muong ảo, Bahnar ao, Khmer អាវ (ʼaaw), Pacoh ao and possibly Chinese 襖／袄 (ǎo).

inh

áo ngực/vú

a top undergarment for women; a bra, corset, etc.

áo ba lỗ

áo khoác/ấm/lạnh

áo len

(by extension, clothing, rare) an outfit


版權

chữ Hán form of bản quyền (“copyright”).


râu

head

𫘼, 𩭶, 𩅺, 𩯁, 鬍

vi-noun

𫘼, 𩭶, 𩅺, 𩯁, 鬍

bộ (classifier)
𫘼 (CJK)
𩭶 (CJK)
𩅺 (CJK)
𩯁 (CJK)
鬍 (CJK)

From Proto-Vietic *-soː, from Old Chinese 鬚 (OC *C-[s.n]o) (B-S) (SV: tu). Cognate with Muong thô. Doublet of tua.

cạo râu

vuốt râu hùm

to mess around with someone powerful or dangerous (literally, “to rub a tiger's whiskers”)

(by extension, of another mammal) whiskers

Râu tôm nấu với ruột bầu.
Chồng chan vợ húp gật đầu khen ngon.
A broth of shrimp antennae and gourd core.
The man scoops it, the woman slurps it, both nod in satisfaction.

(by extension, of an arthropod) antennae


râu

head

𫘼, 𩭶, 𩅺, 𩯁, 鬍

vi-noun

𫘼, 𩭶, 𩅺, 𩯁, 鬍

(classifier sợi, cọng) râu • (𫘼, 𩭶, 𩅺, 𩯁, 鬍)

sợi (classifier)
cọng (classifier)
𫘼 (CJK)
𩭶 (CJK)
𩅺 (CJK)
𩯁 (CJK)
鬍 (CJK)

(by extension, of another mammal) a whisker

(by extension, of an arthropod) an antenna

(by extension, of corn/maize) a strand of silk


sân

cái (classifier)
𡓏 (CJK)
𫸈 (CJK)
𡑝 (CJK)

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-sân.wav

sân trường

sân vận động

(by extension, sports) a ground for playing physical sports; a field, a pitch, a course, a court, etc.


tí

Probably borrowed from a dialectal or post-Old Chinese form of Chinese 子 (OC *tsəʔ) (B-S) (SV: tử).


oxy

Alternative spelling of oxi (“oxygen”) (chemical element)


天文

chữ Hán form of thiên văn (“astronomy”).


銀行

chữ Hán form of ngân hàng (“bank, financial institution”).


ná

cái (classifier)
chiếc (classifier)
𫸶 (CJK)

From Proto-Vietic *s-naːʔ (“crossbow”), from Proto-Mon-Khmer *snaʔ (“crossbow”). Cognate with Thavung ซะน่า, Khmer ស្នា (snaa), Koho söna. Doublet of nỏ.
Pain (2020) tentatively considered this to be a Chinese loan, from 弩 (OC *C.nˤaʔ) (B-S) (SV: nỗ), into Austroasiatic and Tai languages, likely through proto-Vietic.

(dialectal, weaponry) Synonym of nỏ (“crossbow”)


cú

From Proto-Vietic *kuːʔ, of imitative origin. Compare Proto-Tai *ɡawꟲ (“owl”) (whence Thai เค้า (káo), Lao ເຄົ້າ (khao)), Chinese 鵂 (OC *qʰ(r)u), 鴞 (OC *[ɢ]ʷ(r)aw) (B-S).


影響

chữ Hán form of ảnh hưởng (“influence”).


題目

chữ Hán form of đề mục (“heading, head of chapter; rubric”).


修士

chữ Hán form of tu sĩ (“clergyman; friar”).


mác

(classifier cái, cây) mác • (𢨃, 鏌, 鉳, 博)

cái (classifier)
cây (classifier)
𢨃 (CJK)
鏌 (CJK)
鉳 (CJK)
博 (CJK)

a kind of spear with a long blade, used for thrusting and slashing

a tool knife, consisting of a long handle and a curved blade

(calligraphy) a stroke that falls downwards towards the right (㇏)


mác

From French marque. Cognate of English marque.


mác

From German Mark. Cognate of English mark.


mác

From French marc. Cognate of English marc, English mark.


cót

Compare the village name Cót or Kẻ Cót (tên chữ (“literary name”) Yên Quyết 安決).

(Northern Vietnam) a kind of sheet woven from bamboos

(Northern Vietnam) cylindrical container comprising of a coiled bamboo sheet wall and a winnowing basket at the bottom, used for storing unhusked rice or maize


hát

From French ache. There is no "silent h" in Vietnamese, hence the insertion of the h, as with other borrowings from French. Compare English haitch.

Tôi xin đoán chữ "ache".
Ý anh là chữ "hát" đúng không ạ?
I'd like to buy an "aitch".
You mean a "haitch"?

The name of the Latin-script letter H/h.


超市

chữ Hán form of siêu thị (“supermarket”).


lau

From Proto-Vietic *k-luː, cognate with Arem alaw.

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-lau.wav


共產黨

chữ Hán form of cộng sản đảng (“communist party”).


活動

chữ Hán form of hoạt động (“activity; event”).


ngàn

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-ngàn.wav

trên ngàn


韓流

chữ Hán form of Hàn lưu (“Korean Wave”).


共產主義

cộng sản chủ nghĩa
cộng sản chủ nghĩa#Vietnamese

chữ Hán form of cộng sản chủ nghĩa (“communism”).


武術

chữ Hán form of võ thuật, vũ thuật (“martial art, wushu”).


sá

From Proto-Vietic *k-raːʔ, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *kraʔ (“road, way”); cognate with Muong khá, Pacoh carna (through an infixed form), Chong kraː and Proto-Palaungic *kraːʔ.

學(Học)隊(đòi)機(cơ)祖(tổ)詫(sá)禪(thiền)空(không)坤(khôn)卒(chút)別(biết)尼(nơi)

13th century, Trần Nhân Tông, Cư Trần lạc đạo phú 居塵樂道賦, Đệ thất hội 第七會:

By learning after the fore-elder's methods, on the path of Zen it shall not be any bit hard to know where.


太極拳

thái cực quyền
thái cực quyền#Vietnamese

chữ Hán form of thái cực quyền (“taijiquan”).


農曆

chữ Hán form of nông lịch (“lunisolar calendar”).


bê

The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

bê bò

The name of the Latin-script letter P/p.


社會主義

xã hội chủ nghĩa
xã hội chủ nghĩa#Vietnamese

chữ Hán form of xã hội chủ nghĩa (“socialism”).


規範

chữ Hán form of quy phạm (“standard; regulation; model”).


總統

chữ Hán form of tổng thống (“president”).


人民幣

chữ Hán form of nhân dân tệ (“renminbi (currency in the People's Republic of China)”).


quai

cái (classifier)
乖 (CJK)
𢮿 (CJK)
𨧰 (CJK)


blu

[ʔɓəː˨˩ lu˧˧]

[ʔɓəː˦˩ lʊw˧˧]

[ʔɓəː˨˩ lʊw˧˧]

From French blouse, short for blu trắng.


炭氣

chữ Hán form of thán khí (“carbon dioxide”).


ép

The name of the Latin-script letter F/f.


主義

chữ Hán form of chủ nghĩa (“-ism; doctrine”).


天理

chữ Hán form of thiên lí (“rules of nature; laws of nature; natural law”).


地方

chữ Hán form of địa phương (“region, area”).


駿馬

chữ Hán form of tuấn mã (“prized horse”).


mangan

[maːn˧˧ ɣaːn˧˧]

[maːŋ˧˧ ɣaːŋ˧˧]

[maːŋ˧˧ ɣaːŋ˧˧]


忍術

chữ Hán form of nhẫn thuật (“ninjutsu”).


月蝕

chữ Hán form of nguyệt thực (“lunar eclipse”).


首府

chữ Hán form of thủ phủ (“capital city”).


mái

mái ấm

loving home; shelter house (e.g. for disadvantaged children)

mái ngố


mua

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-mua.wav


夢想

夢想: Hán Việt readings: mộng tưởng (canonical)

Nôm form of mộng tưởng (“fantastic dream”).


thun

sợi (classifier)
cọng (classifier)
村 (CJK)
紨 (CJK)
𦀹 (CJK)

(dialectal, chiefly Southern Vietnam) elastic


天體

chữ Hán form of thiên thể (“celestial body”).


áng

Possibly the same element as that seen in đồng áng.

áng thơ


恆星

chữ Hán form of hằng tinh (“fixed star”).


bà

Sino-Vietnamese word from 婆 (“grandmother”). In Chinese and Japanese, the same character actually corresponds to 爺／爷 (yé, “grandfather”), as opposed to 翁 (“old man”) which yields Vietnamese ông.

vi-etym-sino

Hai Bà Trưng
the Two Ladies Trưng


軌道

chữ Hán form of quỹ đạo (“trajectory; (astronomy) orbit”).


信仰

chữ Hán form of tín ngưỡng (“traditional belief”).


ái

Sino-Vietnamese word from 愛 (“to love; love”).

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-ái.wav


vang

(colloquial) Short for rượu vang (“wine”).


vang

cây (classifier)
榮 (CJK)
𣞁 (CJK)
㮠 (CJK)

From Austronesian. Cognate with Muong Bi pang, Malay sepang, Khmer ស្បែង (sbaeng), Chinese 蘇枋／苏枋 (sūfāng).

Biancaea sappan
Biancaea sappan#Translingual


cà

head

茄, 𣖚, 柯, 𪲾, 𣘁, 𫉸

cà • (茄, 𣖚, 柯, 𪲾, 𣘁, 𫉸)

vi-noun

茄, 𣖚, 柯, 𪲾, 𣘁, 𫉸

(classifier cây, quả, trái) cà • (茄, 𣖚, 柯, 𪲾, 𣘁, 𫉸)

cây (classifier)
quả (classifier)
trái (classifier)
茄 (CJK)
𣖚 (CJK)
柯 (CJK)
𪲾 (CJK)
𣘁 (CJK)
𫉸 (CJK)

From Proto-Vietic *gaː; non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 茄 (SV: gia).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">gia</i>

vi-etym-sino

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-cà.wav

cà dầm tương

a type of egglant (cà bát) soaked in a local soy sauce


bì

Sino-Vietnamese word from 皮 (“skin”).
For a parallel where a Sino-Vietnamese item acquires cookery denotation, see huyết (“blood curd”) (vs. native máu (“blood”)). For a reverse case, compare Sino-Vietnamese não vs. native óc.

bì lợn


是非

chữ Hán form of thị phi (“right and wrong; quarrel”).


政變

chữ Hán form of chính biến (“coup d'état”).


bó

head

咘, 抪, 補, 𣔩, 𥿠

bó • (咘, 抪, 補, 𣔩, 𥿠)

vi-noun

咘, 抪, 補, 𣔩, 𥿠

cái (classifier)
咘 (CJK)
抪 (CJK)
補 (CJK)
𣔩 (CJK)
𥿠 (CJK)

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-bó.wav

From Proto-Vietic *pɔːʔ. Cognate with Nguôn pỏ, Arem pɑːˀ.

Bó hoa


月球

chữ Hán form of nguyệt cầu (“the Moon”).


báo

Sino-Vietnamese word from 豹 (“leopard”). Doublet of beo.

(by extension) a spotted panther; a jaguar or a snow leopard


báo

Sino-Vietnamese word from 報 (“to report; to tell”).


boong

bong (water pipe used to smoke cannabis)


cò

head

𫛈, 𪂲, 鷺, 𪂮, 孤

cò • (𫛈, 𪂲, 鷺, 𪂮, 孤)

vi-noun

𫛈, 𪂲, 鷺, 𪂮, 孤

con (classifier)
𫛈 (CJK)
𪂲 (CJK)
鷺 (CJK)
𪂮 (CJK)
孤 (CJK)

Cò Lả "The Graceful Stork" (Red River Delta's folk-song), performance by Thu Huyền
Con cò, cò bay lả, lả bay la; bay từ là từ cửa phủ, bay ra là ra cánh đồng.
The stork flies gracefully from the palace's gate out into the field.

stork (large wading bird of the family Ciconiidae)

(colloquial, slightly childish) penis, pee-pee


cò

head

𫛈, 𪂲, 鷺, 𪂮, 孤

cò • (𫛈, 𪂲, 鷺, 𪂮, 孤)

vi-noun

𫛈, 𪂲, 鷺, 𪂮, 孤

cò • (𫛈, 𪂲, 鷺, 𪂮, 孤)

It is proposed to be from French commission and to mean originally "commission" (still preserved in tiền cò (“commission money”)). If so, then it has semantically evolved from "commission" to "somebody who is commissioned" to "broker, mediator".
Doublet of còm in tiền còm, from the same French word.

(informal, chiefly derogatory) a broker (mediator between a buyer and seller), especially a deceptive one, or the money paid for such broker


cò

Abbreviated from cò my xe, from French commissaire.
Doublet of cẩm (“‘chief of police’ > ‘police officer’ > ‘police’”), from the same French word.

Tú Xương, "Ông Cò (Mister Superintendent / Monsieur le Commissaire)", Thơ Trần Tế Xương; published in 1998 by NXB Văn hoá - Thông tin (Culture & Information Publisher)
Hà Nam danh giá nhất ông cò; Trông thấy ai ai chẳng dám ho.
Hà Nam's most honoured person, Monsieur le Commissaire; Upon seeing him, cough none dares.

(obsolete) chief of police, head of police, superintendent

1932, Phan Khôi, “Một vụ án phân xử rất công bình (A Very Fair Trial)”, Trung Lập 6645
Như một vụ kiện vịt mới rồi trong cò bót Chợ Lớn, mà ông cò xử giỏi quá, chúng tôi chưa biết ông cò ấy là ông nào, nhưng hãy để lời khen ngợi ở đây và luôn tiện thuật đầu đuôi cho độc giả nghe.
For instance, a police officer - we still don't know which one - in Chợ Lớn police station has tried a recent duck-related case so competently that we praise him here and also tell you our readers the whole story.


cò

bóp cò

a trigger (finger-operated lever used to fire a gun)


bàng

Likely from Austronesian. Compare Malay ketapang.

Terminalia catappa
Terminalia catappa#Translingual


bàng

Tiếng ai giã bàng nhịp nhàng như tiếng lòng tôi.

1949, Ngô Huỳnh, Con kênh xanh xanh (Blue Canal):

The sounds of someone pounding grey sedges are as rhythmic as my heartbeats.


石膏

chữ Hán form of thạch cao (“plaster; gypsum”).


cào

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-cào.wav


無常

(Buddhism) chữ Hán form of vô thường (“impermanence”).


cáo

Cáo quần đảo Channel là loài cực kỳ nguy cấp.

The Channel Islands fox is critically endangered.


cáo

Bình Ngô đại cáo

Great Proclamation upon the Pacification of the Wu


chái

Nhưng bàn tay Vạn từ từ buông thõng khi bất chợt nhìn xuyên qua khe vách chái nhà, bắt gặp Thọ đang co rúm vì sợ hãi sau cánh cửa.

2016, Trầm Hương, Trong cơn lốc xoáy, part I, NXB Phụ nữ, page 65:

But Vạn's hand slowly fell to his side as he suddenly looked through the chinks in the walls of the lean-to and saw Thọ trembling in fear behind the door.


bé

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-bé.wav


精油

chữ Hán form of tinh dầu (“essential oil”).


會意

chữ Hán form of hội ý (“(Chinese character classification) compound indicatives, one of the six classifications of Chinese characters 六書 (lục thư)”).


kẹo sô-cô-la

[kɛw˧˨ʔ so˧˧ ko˧˧ laː˧˧]

[kɛw˨˩ʔ ʂow˧˧ kow˧˧ laː˧˧]

[kɛw˨˩˨ ʂow˧˧ kow˧˧ laː˧˧]


事變

chữ Hán form of sự biến (“incident; emergency”).


神話

chữ Hán form of thần thoại (“mythology”).


反射

chữ Hán form of phản xạ (“reflex; response”).


phút

head

丿, 發, 笔, 筆, 𤼵

vi-noun

丿, 發, 笔, 筆, 𤼵

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-phút.wav

From Middle Vietnamese phút (“(in) an instant, a very short moment”).

inh

5 phút

4 giờ 5 (phút)

4 giờ kém 5 (phút)


ngày

LL-Q9199 (vie)-Jessica Nguyen (Pamputt)-ngày.wav

From Proto-Vietic *-ŋiː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *t₂ŋiiʔ (“day, sun”); cognate with Muong ngày, Khmer ថ្ងៃ (thngay, “day”), Koho töngai (“day”), Pacoh ingay (“day”), Khasi sngi (“day”), Mon တ္ၚဲ (“sun, day”).
The Vietnamese words for "day" and "night" (and their cognates) have the same distribution within Vietic: reflexes of *-ŋiː (“day”) and *teːm (“night”) are only attested in Thổ, Pong and Viet-Muong, i.e. the "innovative Vietic" group, lacking cognates in the generally more conservative languages.
Tonal evidence for a presyllable *t-
* The upper register tone in Thổ Cuối Chăm - ŋaj¹ (A1) - shows that there probably was a presyllable with voiceless initial: if the presyllable had been voiced or if this word had been monosyllabic with a nasal onset, the expected tone would have been A2.
* The tone of the Vietnamese word is huyền (A2), showing that the presyllable was already lost by the Common Viet-Muong stage, before tones started to develop.
The presence of a presyllable, although it can not be explicitly identified as *t- by Vietic evidence alone, is indicated with a dash *- in the Proto-Vietic reconstruction. This presyllable corresponds to the *t- in other Austroasiatic languages (or some other sound in Northern Austroasiatic in this case: see đêm (“night”) for examples).
All in all, the relationship between Proto-Vietic *-ŋiː and other Austroasiatic words is secure.

ngày nghỉ

a day (period of 24 hours; period from midnight to the following midnight; rotational period of a planet; part of a day period which one spends at one's job, school, etc.)

ngủ ngày

a date (that which specifies the time of writing, inscription etc.; point of time at which a transaction or event takes place)


死神

chữ Hán form of tử thần (“Death (personified), God of Death, Grim Reaper”).


表現

chữ Hán form of biểu hiện (“expression, manifestation”).


成績

chữ Hán form of thành tích (“achievement”).


色情

chữ Hán form of sắc tình (“pornography”).


花椒

chữ Hán form of hoa tiêu (“Sichuan pepper”).


trường đại học

head

trường đại học • (場大學)

vi-noun

trường đại học • (場大學)

[t͡ɕɨəŋ˨˩ ʔɗaːj˧˨ʔ hawk͡p̚˧˨ʔ]

[ʈɨəŋ˦˩ ʔɗaːj˨˩ʔ hawk͡p̚˨˩ʔ]

[ʈɨəŋ˨˩ ʔɗaːj˨˩˨ hawk͡p̚˨˩˨]

trường (“school”) + đại học (“university”).


環境

chữ Hán form of hoàn cảnh (“environment”).


道理

chữ Hán form of đạo lí (“moral code, principles, standards; moral philosophy”).


móc

cái (classifier)
木 (CJK)
鈢 (CJK)
𠣛 (CJK)
𢪮 (CJK)

From Proto-Vietic *ɓɔːk, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *dɓɔk; cognate with Muong Bi bóc and Khmer ថ្ពក់ (thpŭək, “to hook”).


móc

From Proto-Vietic *k-mɔːk, from Old Chinese 霧 (OC *kə.m(r)[o]k-s) (B-S). Cognate with Phong kʰmɔːk⁸, Thai หมอก (mɔ̀ɔk). Doublet of mù (as in sương mù).

16th century, Nguyễn Thế Nghi's Vietnamese translation of "The Story of the Virtuous Wife in Khoái Châu" Truyền kỳ mạn lục ("Casual Record of Transmitted Strange-Tales") by Nguyễn Dữ.
花芙蓉𤀒湥霂梗楊柳拂式𤐜
Hoa phù dung nhỏ giọt móc. Cành dương liễu phất thức khói.
The rosemallow flowers dripped dew-drops. The willow's branches whisked a whiff of smoke.

Lý hạng ca dao 里巷歌謠 (Folk-ballads from the hamlets and alleys), folio 8b
恩𡗶𩄎霂沛辰
尼辰耚𣴓尼辰𦓿漊
Ơn trời mưa móc phải thì.
Nơi thì bừa cạn, nơi thì cày sâu.
Thanks to Heaven's grace, there are rain and dew on time.
Here shall be shallow harrowing; there shall be deep ploughing.


代表

chữ Hán form of đại biểu (“representative”).


學院

chữ Hán form of học viện (“institute; academy”).


電影

chữ Hán form of điện ảnh (“film, movie”).


氧氣

chữ Hán form of dưỡng khí (“oxygen (molecular oxygen)”).


可能

chữ Hán form of khả năng (“ability; capability; competence”).


反對

chữ Hán form of phản đối (“opposition”).


方面

chữ Hán form of phương diện (“aspect; bearing”).


良心

chữ Hán form of lương tâm (“conscience”).


方向

chữ Hán form of phương hướng (“direction”).


形態

chữ Hán form of hình thái (“shape; form”).


流行

chữ Hán form of lưu hành (“to circulate”).


幹部

chữ Hán form of cán bộ (“(politics) cadre (person)”).


基本

chữ Hán form of cơ bản (“basic; essential; fundamental”).


太子

chữ Hán form of thái tử (“crown prince”).


工業

chữ Hán form of công nghiệp (“industry”).


快樂

chữ Hán form of khoái lạc (“pleasure; delight; satisfaction”).


工人

chữ Hán form of công nhân (“blue-collar worker”).


領域

chữ Hán form of lĩnh vực (“field; domain; sphere”).


天皇

chữ Hán form of thiên hoàng (“Emperor or Empress (regnant) of Japan”).


儒教

chữ Hán form of Nho giáo (“Confucianism”).


武士

chữ Hán form of võ sĩ (“combat sport contender; warrior; samurai”).


海馬

chữ Hán form of hải mã (“seahorse; walrus”).