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Thomas' Mon-Khmer etyma

Wilson's Muong and Khmer word lists

Nguyễn Ngọc San's Muong and Cambodian wordlists

 

Vietnamese       Chinese
What Makes Chinese so Vietnamese?

An Introduction to Sinitic-Vietnamese Studies

(Ýthức mới về nguồngốc tiếngViệt)

DRAFT
Table of Contents

dchph

(Chapter Nine [IX] continued)

 

C) Comparative Mon-Khmer and Vietnamese basic words

Overall, lexical correspondences in those basic words among other Mon-Khmer languages that have cognates in Vietnamese could point to ancient Viet-Muong as the root because, anthropologically, traces of the ancient Mon-Khmer inhabitants in the ancient North Vietnam immigrated from today's southwest region in Lower Laos. Loanwords of from some ancient languages could be very fundamentally basic and borrowed from either direction, though. Etymologically, many of them were descended from the same Taic and Yue ancestral language families that had existed in China-South prior to the emergence of the proto-Chinese when the sixteen Bak tribes from the Southwest Asia moved in there and their early mixed ancient language that is grouped in what is known as Sino-Tibetan linguistic family. The new rulers of the land advanced southwards and mixed with other indigenes in Cochin-China (Lacouperie. Ibid. 1967 [1887]) who later on further infused again with the next waves of the Han-mixed Southern Yue who continued to emigrate from China-South; the fusion of all those people evolved into the ancient Annamese as discussed in the previous chapters. Linguistically, the mixture of all the languages spoken in China by the later northern resettlers with the local language spoken then gave birth to the earliest Annamese language that has evolved into modern Vietnamese over the time. Given the grouping of the Ancient Annamese language into the Austroasiatic family by modern Western linguistics, it might be considered as a sister – to be exact, 'cousin' – language of those Mon-Khmer ones as we know it. The fact that, on the one hand, Vietnamese is not a Sinitic language would not constitute it as a descendant of the Austroasiatic linguistic family as theorized by the "Mon-Khmerists". On the other hand, if Annam had not broken off from China in the 10th century and were a province like Canton, Annamese could have been now classed as a Chinesedialect. In the next sections, we are going to explore more of those Sino-Tibetan issues in a full chapter of its own.

For what "Mon-Khmerism" and its relationships with ancestral Taic-Yue sub-families were meant in this passage, I would like to paraphrase the lines set forth by Merritt Ruhlen (1994. Ibid. p. 92) by substituting certain nominal concepts and apply them to the cases being referred to in the theory below. Don't be dismayed if they sound similar to what Ruhlen spoke of Greenberg and the Amerind family that were criticized against by the "Bantuists" – where Greenberg's positions are adapted by myself and "the Amerind family" is to be substituted with the Taic-Yue family, plus the "Bantuisms" "the Austroasiatic Mon-Khmerism", so to speak, when Greenberg's classification of Native American languages appeared in 1987.

In support of the existence of earlier forms of the Taic-Yue family before what has been known about the Sinitic languages of the Sino-Tibetan family, I , the author of this paper, presented in this survey nearly 300 cognate words in all across Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer and Sino-Tibetan languages with those fundamental words found in Vietnamese in addition to grammatical elements such as prepositions and particles used in constructing composite sentences. I think I can borrow the written words by Ruhlen to mimick what was said that "the Mon-Khmerists" simply ignored regarding to those commonalities among Chinese dialects similar to those of Vietnamese that are on par with numerous fundamental core words – say, 'one', 'two', 'sky', 'heaven', 'father', 'mother', 'sister', 'head', 'eye', 'fire', 'water', 'eat', 'drink', etc., as listed in his multiple tables in Ruhlen's work The Origin of Language (1994) – that are concurrently cognate to some extant Mon-Khmer basic words as well. Surprisingly to the contrary, they are so commonplace in all southern Chinese dialects but absent in the Mon-Khmer languages spoken in the Indo-Chinese region. A myriad of explanations from Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer camp that suggested that those similarities in lexical and grammatical items – including the tonal system that matches on one-to-one basis among Chinese and Vietnamese languages – were due to "relationships of multilingualism and intense linguistic diffusions in Asia," before the various Taic-Yue groups migrated further southwards into Indo-China and to the west the present Thailand in the advance of the emreging Chinese in the upper northern region now known as China South throughout Chinese history. The "Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer" terminology for the root for the Vietnamese language is simply a euphemism to avoid admitting that there existed the Chinese connection with various Yue groups in China South that was identified by (De Lacouperie. Ibid. [1887] 1963). as "Bok" people (as in "百姓") and later "BaiYue" (百越) in Chinese history. In a similar vein – and towards the same end – those who proposed "Austro-Thai" hypothesis to explain the similarities between Tai-Kadai languages such as Siamese and Laotian. As the hypothesis of "Austro-Thai" did not catch on as well as that of the Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer family discussed in the Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer linguistic literature today, the latter has been discussed designating the Austroasiatic family has been the common origin for all the languages being spoken in China-South and the Indo-Chinese peninsula. The Mon-Khmerists' attack on the Taic-Yue theory of both Chinese and Vietnamese has been remarkably similar to that of Sino-Tibetan family eight decades earlier. At that time, the Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer pioneers would rather make a shortcut to initiate the new Austroasiatic family theory than devote time to study "China before the Chinese". They have done their best only to misunderstand and they acted with determination to miss the point – as if it was their business to act like the judges.

Categorically, on the whole, "it is possible to classify languages into language families on the basis of similarities in words, the assumption being that over time a single original word can change in various ways, through both phonetic and semantic shifts, in various daughter languages" (Ruhlen. 1994. Ibid. p. 29) as seen in the comparative Mon-Khmer Vietnamese tables below. To identify the relationship and changes in languages, the practice of mechanic tabulation has been commonly followed as a linguistic norm set off probably by a school initiated by Bloomfield. Ruhlen believed that in the 20th century there was a shift in focus from historical explanation to structural explanation, a change that essentially bequeathed historical linguistics to Indo-Europeanists and let them do it as they wished. The focus of theoretical linguistics became equated with Indo-European linguistics. (Ruhlen. Ibid. 1994. p. 80) Here is a word of caution for those newcomers who will rely heavily on such methodology to come up with something new for the Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer camp, that "language-specific problems can only be solved by considering that language in a larger context" (Ruhlen. Ibid. 1994. p. 99), and that such an approach needs to be proceeded with some reservation and adjustment herewith because related Mon-Khmer ~ Vietnamese basic correspondents under scrutiny have been found to be scattered widely among those Mon-Khmer languages and proved NOT uniformly to belong to specifically similar lexical classes nor even under the same realm of more broadly general categories in different languages of the same sub-family. For example, for the two numbers, especially, 'one' and 'two', between languages statistically being the most borrowed words, while Khmer numbers are based on 1 to 5, speakers in several other Mon-Khmer languages count 1 to 10 with ten-digit based numbers.

Etymologically, for those similarities in basic realm, such as vocables /ba/ and /pa/, /mama/, /mig/, /mwei/, /mua/, /mjəkw/, /myak/, /mat/... being equivalent to mean the concept 'eye' (VS 'mắt'), or even 'fly' (VS 'bay') in world's languages, they being similar to /bej/, /fej/, /par/, pere/, /puaRR/, /p'er/, /parV/, /phur/, /apir/, /paru/, etc., could be a mere coincidental factor that is oftentimes associated with monosyllabic words and their reduplicative ones, especially those starting with certain sounds such as b-, p-, m-, n-, etc.., and such phenomenon of cognacy seems to exist in almost all Austroasiatic, Austronesian, and Sino-Tibetan languages. Some authors account that as lexical residues from ancestral mother language of all world's languages today (see Roland Breton, J.-L. 1991; Merritt Ruhlen, 1994). However, with Chinese and Vietnamese samples such as 'cha' and 'tía' for the Chinese 爹 diè (father), 'mẹ' and 'mợ' for 母 mǔ (mother), 'bay' 飛 fei (fly), 'uống' 飲 yǐn (drink), 'xơi' 食 shí (eat), etc., all actually "belong to the basic vocabulary and are thus highly resistant to borrowings. In addition to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever proposed any sound-symbolic connection beetween these particular meanings and any particular sequence of sounds. So if we find that one meaning is consistently represented by the same phonetic shape in many different languages families, the only reasonale explanation is that all these forms have evolved from a common source." (Ruhlen. Ibid. 1994. p. 106) Besides, we normally have to sift loanwords as such from vocabularies under examination as opposed to those of true genetic affiliation from the same root.

In Vietnamese, historically, dialectal variants of the same words have been re-introduced – such as 'cha' vs. 'tía' and 'mẹ' vs. 'mợ' as cited above – partly due to migratory resettlements in a series of separately advancing southward movement that used the same original words that earlier emigrants had spoken when they left their homestead in addition to what was new they had brought to unrelated languages, which made them closer within their geographical peripheries, say, from a zero tone language to a new tonal language with 2 or more tones. Such migratory patterns mirrored the early advances that had not only caused the split-up of aboriginal Chamic speakers between today's Vietnam's central region and their cousin descendants of China's Hainan's Li ethnic tribes whose languages have evolved into distinct dialects in the Austronesian linguistic family but also recurred once again as the early Chinese colonialization broke up the linguistic unity of the ancient Viet-Muong group.

Methodologically, linguists of Vietnamese usually started out with a premise and followed some common approaches – such as techniques of comparative linguistics – set forth by many precedessors in the field to discover, establish, classify, and enforce novel theorization of language families, yet new theories always take the seat of the previous ones. There is no surprise that such an analytic methodology has been widely employed by most Vietnamese specialists in their surveys based on glossarial interchanges in Vietnamese with other Mon-Khmer languages because that is the safe way to start one's career in Vietnamese historical linguistics, unfortunately. Newcomers in the field would come up with some similar tabulation like the case of Danaw, a Tiberto-Burmic language sharing many of Mon languages, including those of Mon-Khmer, as previously cited in the wordlist provided by Luce, G. H. (ibid.) From the onset such Mon-Khmer basic words made widely available by predecessors in the Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer camp were extensively quoted. So what was their methodology then? They normally examined and compared only those scattered basic words in Vietnamese to identify cognates in those existing in neighboring languages of Mon-Khmer origin, on the one hand, but they have actually left out the Chinese correspondences, on the other hand, due to their lack of conversance in the latter.

To conduct a comparative analysis, the following table is set up in a similarly imitated arrangement after the table loaded with well established basic words as substantiated by Merritt Ruhlen (ibid. 1994. p. 44). Basic words are grouped together with regional neighboring languages to illustrate how one of the techniques of comparative linguistics has been employed in identifying a linguistic family that a language would supposedly belong to. Our particular words has been picked arbitrarily so as to avoid personal bias – i.e., not selectively chosen in favor of more lexical cognacy that is abundant in Chinese and Vietnamese correspondences as to appear in the tables of word lists below; hence, for what follows, that is why "snow" being included, instead of "cold", "rain", "wind", etc., that are mostly Chinese ~ Vietnamese cognates – and the words are tabulated in such as way that as they are as reliable as Ruhlen's original table. And for all the listings, I shall just post the data without elaboration saving it as an exercise worksheet later on so that readers to identify what language that listed items supposedly belong to (hint: the abbreviation by a single alphabet may give some).

Table 9C.1 – Basic words in Vietnamese and other regional Asian languages

Language Two Three Bird Eye Give Blood Water Stone Name Snow Who Say
A njidh səm ghjəm mjəkʷ kjəp maŋ tujʔ khiagw ɕiŋ⁵¹ snhot duj ghwra:ts
B nhait sone nghaat myetlone payy shaayy ray kyaww kya nar m tyaww ko moe pw ng a bhaalsuu sai pwayar so
C ˀɑɻ⁵¹ san⁵⁵ ʨin⁵ mu⁵¹ ʨj²¹⁴ huaŋ⁵ świ²¹⁴ tan⁵¹ seŋs ɕɥ̯œ²¹⁴ świ⁵ xu̯a⁵¹
D du se sae nun jugi pi mul dol seong nun nugu malhada
F dalawang tatlo ibon mata magbigay ng dugo tubig bato pangalan snow sino sinasabi
G jiː²² saːm⁵⁵ kam⁴⁴ mʊk̚² kap⁴⁴ fong¹¹ sɵy³⁵ taːm³³ sɛːŋ³³ syːt̚³ sɵy²¹ waː³⁵
H ob peb noog qhov muag muab ntshav dej pob zeb lub npe daus uas hais
I dua tiga burung mata memberikan darah air batu nama salju siapa mengataka
J ni san tori me ataeru etsueki mizu ishi furunēmu yuki dare Iu
K pir bei baksaei phnek phtal aoy chheam tuk dom th chhmoh pril del niyeay
L song sam nok sanid ta hai leuod noa hin su hima thi vao
M dua tiga burung mata memberi darah negara batu nama salji yang berkata
S Ssxng s̄ām nk tā H̄ı̂ leụ̄xd pratheṣ̄ f̄in chụ̄̀x f̄ima khır phūd
T ñii sum bya mig sbyin ƫhaa ćhū to miŋ qhań sū smra
V haːj˧ ɓaː˧ ʨim˧ mat˥ ʨɔ˧ maw˥ nɨək˥ ɗaː˥ ten˧ twiət˥ aːj˧ nɔj˥
X jī saⁿ   ba̍k     chuí   sèⁿ seh chuí hoā

The followings are two major Mon-Khmer wordlists that are frequently extracted and quoted for the reason that they have become influential works in the Vietnamese linguistics for their cognateness of basic etyma. Both lists were compiled by Thomas (1966. p.194) and Wilson (1966) in the sixties of the previous century. We are going to bring in other perspectives from an insider in Vietnam, Nguyễn Ngọc San (1993), who categorized all the wordlists in numerous tables. Note that all the listings of those basic words below are believed all what they found in Mon-Khmer languages that might have cognates in the Vietnamese language, inclusively. Meanwhile, in comparison, the listings for Chinese and Vietnamese appear to be inexhaustible. We are about to examine each list one after another.

Firstly, in the Mon-Khmer listing surveyed by Thomas, the author started out with the premise that "language relationships can only be established with certainty by a study of phoneme shifts and mergers, as their imprint is indelible, while lexical and syntactical features are easily erased." Interestingly, as one may or may not agree, the essence of that statement is also particularly true for the comparative work on many Vietnamese lexicons with those of Sino-Tibetan languages as languages changed. "In fact, it has long been clear that there is no single, simple reason why languages change; rather, there are a whole series of reasons – which interact in incredibly complex ways – to produce the linguistic variation that we perceive in the world's language family." (Ruhlen. Ibid. p. 29)

Let us first examine all the entries in the wordlist of Mon-Khmer languages as selected by Thomas who stated that those basic words are genetically related with those of Vietnamese. Be aware that Thomas completed the work with the help of local field recorders, though.

Table 9C.2 – Basic words in Vietnamese and some Mon-Khmer languages by Thomas

Vietnamese English Sedang Katu Brôu Chrau Comments
*Comments and elaboration with possible cognate to Chinese etyma by dchph. A count of stars * to ****** indicates degrees of cognateness between the Vietnamese and Chinese etyma in relation with the respective cited Mon-Khmer etymon.
mũi nose moâh moh múh muh * 鼻 bí (SV tỵ) [ M 鼻 bí < MC pɦji < OC *bji | Pulleyblank: The Yuan and modern Mandarin readings as well as in many other modern dialects (e.g., Taiyuan piə', Amoy literary pit), imply E. bjit, L. pɦjit. given the pattern ¶ b- ~ m-; cf. 蜱 pí, bí, miáo (SV 'tỵ' and 'miêu', VS 'rận') 'mite, tick' \ ¶ m- ~ r-, § 民 mín (dân) \ ¶ m- ~ j- || Note: Obviously the Mon-Khmer forms are all cognate. Postulation of the Chinese cognate is solely speculative to match the pattern of a case of parallelism in human anatomy, such as that of the basic 'đầu' 頭 tóu (head), 'mắt' 目 mù (eye), 'mồm' 吻 wěn (mouth), 'cổ' /ko3/ 喉 hóu (throat), or /tai1/ 耷 dā (ear) among other body parts as listed herein. Also, cf., '髀 bì (SV tỳ, VS vế, 'thigh'), etc.]
mắt eye mañ mat moat mat **** 目 mù (SV mục) [ M 目 mù < MC mouk < OC *moukʷ | Chin. dialect: Hainanese /mat7/ || Note: However, interestingly, this etymon appears to exist with similar forms virtually in other Asian languages, such as Malay /mat/. ]
tai ear tuat katǒr kutôur tôr ** 耷 dā (tạp) [ M 耷 dā (big ear), Siamese, Lao tūp_ (pendant ears) (p. 71) | (Haudricourt) Daic Siamese, Lao, Ahom, Shan, Tay noir, Tay blanc, Dioi ta, Tho tha, Nung ha (p. 456), Also: Viet. 'say' (?), tai, *tśru Daic Siamese, Lao, Shan, Tay noir, Tay blanc hu, Tho su, Nung khyu, Cao-lan lɯ Sui qha, Mak tśha, Bê sa, Li say (p. 488) || Note: alternatively, Chin. 耳朵 ěrduo (SV nhĩđoá) ~> VS #'lỗtai' ~> ® VS 'tai' | M 耳 ěr, rén, rěng < MC ɳy < OC *nhjəʔ || M 朵 duǒ < MC twʌ < OC *to:jʔ | Note: The phenomenon of contraction that picks up the secondary modifer and turns it the only mono-sound for a new word-concept, for example, M 脊梁 jǐliáng ~ VS 'sốnglưng' (spine) ~> ® VS 'lưng' (back), 驚恐 jīngkǒng (SV kinhkhủng) ~> ® VS 'khủng' ('terrible' ~> 'terrific') ]
đầu head ko âkoq plaư bôq ***** 頭 tóu (đầu) [ M 頭 tóu < MC dɤw < OC *dho: || Note: Of course this word is really a basic one. As with other basic words that were resistant ot borrowings, didn't the Vietnamese have the concept of 'head' before borrowing that from the Chinese? The precise etymon for this item should be 首 shǒu, to be exact, and in Vietnamese it also means 'sọ' (crania) by itself. For 頭 tóu (SV đầu), interestingly, this lexeme appears in other form for other peculiar concepts in Vietnamese such as 'đầunậu' 首腦 shǒunăo ~ 頭腦 tóunăo SV 'đầunão' (brain, head, headquarter, leader, ringleader, etc.) Similarly, we can apply similar posits for virtually all those basic words which are cognate to Chinese. ]
miệng mouth rakong bop bouq mưnh *** 吻 (脗) wěn (SV vẫn) [ VS 'mồm' ~> 'miệng'; also, VS 'hôn' (kiss) | M 吻 (脗) wěn < MC ʋyun < OC *ʋun, mun | ¶ w- ~ m- | See elaboration in the above section and the next chapter on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. ]
răng tooth haneq kaiâng kaneing sềch *** 齡 líng (SV linh) [ M 齡 líng ~ phonetic stem M 令 líng, lìng (SV linh, lịnh) < MC leŋ < OC *riŋ | FQ 呂貞 | Dialects: Cant. ling4, Hak lin2 | Shuowen: 年也。 从齒令聲。郎丁切〖注〗臣鉉等案:《禮記》:“夢帝與我九齡。”疑通用靈。武王初聞九齡之語,不達其義,乃云西方有九國。若當時有此齡字,則武王豈不達也。蓋後人所加。 文一 新附 | Kangxi: 《唐韻》《集韻》《韻會》𠀤郞丁切,音靈。《廣雅》齡,年也。古者謂年爲齡。齒亦齡也。 | Guangyun: 靈郎丁 來 青開 平聲 青 開口四等 梗 青 lieŋ leng. || Note: Alternatively, modern M 牙 yá 'tooth' (SV nha) that also means 'tusk, ivory’ VS 'ngà' | M 牙 yá < MC ŋya < OC *ŋrya: | For the posit of the item 牙, the argument is mainly based on the sound change pattern ¶ y- ~ r-: 硬 yìng: VS 'dai' ~ 'rắng' (stiff), 阮 Ruăn (Nguyễn) ~ 元 yuán (ngọn); 悒悒 yìyì: rayrứt (depressed); 耀 yáo: rọi (illuminate); 隐 yǐn (VS riêng) as in 隐私 yǐnsī: riêngtư (private); 夭夭 yāoyāo: rậmrạp (bushy); 蝇 yíng: VS ruồi (SV nhặng), 崖 yá: rặng(núi) (cliff), 曰 yuè: rằng (that), etc. | ex. quányá 犬牙: # 'răngkhểnh' (cranine), yáròu 牙肉: # 'nướurăng' (~ 'lợirăng') (gum), yáchǐ 牙齒: 'răngcỏ' (teeth), etc. (See Tsu-lin Mei APPENDIX G – The case of "ngà") ]
lưỡi tongue rapiê ntak liaiq lơpiêt *** 舌 shé (SV thiệt) [ M 舌 shé < MC ʑet < OC *lat | According to Starostin, Tibetan: ltɕe tongue; blade; flame. Protoform *la>j(H) ( / *la>t; m-). Meaning: tongue. Chinese: 舐 *lajʔ (*leʔ) to lick; 舌 *lat tongue. Burmese: hlja tongue, LB *s-lja. Kachin: s^iŋlet2 the tongue, (H) lai id. Lushei: lei tongue, KC *m-lei. Lepcha: li/, a-li/ the tongue. Comments: PG *le\; Mikir de; BG: Garo sre, Dimasa salai; Namsangia thali; Kham se:; Kanauri le; Rgyarung smi; Rawang phjəle|, Trung pjə3-la>i2; Vayu li; Newari me ~ mye. Sh. 40, 121, 124, 136, 166, 434; Ben. 64. || Note: Interestingly, there exists 脷 lěi (SV lợi), Cant. /lei/, M 脷 lěi, lì ~ Phonetic stem M 利 lì < MC lɪ < OC *rhijs || Dialects: lei6, lei32, Hm li 32 (lit.), lai32 | Handian: 脷 lì ◎ 方言,牲畜 的 舌頭。 亦稱 “脷子”。 ◎ 粤語 lei6 (animal's tongue), Cant. 'tongue' (See more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan Etymologies.) ]
vai shoulder kasyah chrlang apal pơniq ** 肩 jiān (SV kiên) [ M 肩 jiān, xián, hén < MC kien, ɠien < OC *ke:n, *ghe:n, *ghə:n | ex. 肩膀 jiānbăng ~ 肩背 jiānbèi: VS 'bảvai' (shoulders), 並肩 bìngjiān: VS 'chenvai' (shoulder to shoulder) || Cf. (1) bả, (2) vai, (3) bắp 膊 bó (SV bạc), M 膊 bó, bo, chún, fū, liè, pēi, pò < MC phak < OC *phʌk | Shuowen: 薄脯,膊 之 屋 上。从 肉 尃 聲。 匹各 切 | Kangxi: 【唐韻】【集韻】【韻會】【正韻】𠀤 匹各 切,音粕 {VS 'bã' (dregs)}。 又 肩膊 也。【儀禮·鄕飮酒禮·介俎脊脅胳肺註】後 脛骨 二, 膊胳 也。又【少牢饋食禮】不 升 肩臂,臑 膊骼。| Handian: 形聲。 從 肉, 尃 (fū) 聲。本義: 肩臂。同 本義 (arm) 。如: 膊子 (膀子, 胳膊); 赤 膊。| ex. 胳膊 gēbó: VS 'cánhtay' (shoulder, upper arm) ]
cổ neck krôk tuar takong ngko *** 喉 hóu (SV hầu) [ M 喉 hóu < MC ɠʊw < OC *ghro: | According to Starostin, for OC *gh- cf. Xiamen, Chaozhou au2, Protoform: *khrjə:w (~gh-,qh-,Gh-), Meaning: throat, Chinese: *gh(r)o: throat, Tibetan: kru-kru windpipe (cf. also mgur, mgul throat, neck, ko-ko throat, chin), Kachin: z^|jəkhro1 the throat, gullet. | cf. 'cổ' 胡 hú (SV hồ), M 胡 hú < MC ɠo < OC *gha: | Shuowen: 《肉部》胡:牛 𩔞 垂 也。 从 肉 古 聲。(dewlap) | Kangxi: 又 胡故 切,音護。頸也 (~> VS '(càng)cổ')。 || ex. 喉嚨 hóulóng: VS 'cổhọng' (larynx), 《詩經·狼跋》: 狼跋其胡、載疐其尾。 “Shījīng·Láng bá”: Láng bá qí hú, zài zhì qí wěi。 (VS 'Sói đạpphải cổ mình, lại vướng đằngđuôi.') where 狼跋其胡 Lángbáqíhú => SV 'langbạkỳhồ' (wanderer) ]
tay hand koq tey atêi ti *** 手 shǒu (SV thủ) [ M 手 shǒu < MC ʂjəw < OC *ɫhuʔ | Dialects: Amoy chiu3, Chaozhou chiu3, Fukienese: chiu3. | Starostin: Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *tǝj, Proto-Viet-Muong: *sɤj, Proto-Vietic: *sɤj, Thomon: sai.4, Tum: sǝj.45, Proto-Katuic: *tǝj., Khmer: taj < OK taj | Note: From MC FQ, we have: th+ ữu ~&dt; thửu % tửu ~> tay (?) | cf. 空手道 Kōngshǒudào: SV 'khôngthủđạo' (Eng. 'Karate') <~ kara 'không' + te 'thủ' (Japanese) | Ex. 'cùichỏ' ~ 'khuỷutay' 手肘 shǒuzhǒu (SV thủtrửu), 空手 kōngshǒu: VS 'taykhông' (empty-handed), 手藝 shǒuyì: VS 'taynghề' (skill), 一手 yīshǒu: VS 'mộttay' (single-handed), 親手 qīnshǒu: VS 'chínhtay' (with one's own hand), 手冊 shǒucè: VS 'sổtay' (notebook), 'bàntay' 手扳 shǒubăn (SV thủbản), cf. 巴掌 bāzhăng \ @ 掌 zhăng (SV chưởng) ~ 'tay' 手 shǒu. There is also 臂 bì (SV tý /tej5/) for 'arm' ~ > VS 'tay' /tej1/ for 'hand' | M 臂 bì, bèi < MC pje < OC *peks ]
da skin kea ngkar nghkâr ntô *** 膚 fū (SV phu) [ M 膚 fū < MC pʊ < OC *pra | Note: Alternatively, it could also be 皮 pí (SV 'bì') for 'da' /ja1/ (skin) ]
xương bone kasyeng nghang nghang ntin ** 腔 qiāng (SV xoang) [ M 腔 qiāng (xoang, khang) < MC khjawŋ < OC *khaɨwŋ | Shuowen: 内 空 也。从 肉 从 空,空 亦 聲。苦江 切 | Kangxi: 《唐韻》苦江切《集韻》《韻會》枯江 切,𠀤 音 啌。《說文》內 空 也。《集韻》骨體 曰 腔。 又 馬 膁 也。《齊民 要術》相 馬 法,腸 欲 充,腔 欲 小。| ex. 腔骨 qiānggǔ: 'xươngcốt' (bone) ]
mỡ fat romañ nchiâng naseing lơvau **** 肥 féi (SV phì) [ M 肥 féi < MC bwyj < OC *bjəj | ¶ f-, b- ~ m-, also, VS 'mập' (fat), 'phệ' (obese) ]
máu blood mahêámp aham aham n'ham **** 衁 huāng (SV hoang) [ M 衁 huāng, nǜ ~ phenetic stem M 亡 wáng (vong, vô) < MC mwaŋ < OC *maŋ | According to Bodman, Nicholas C. 1980. 'Proto-Chinese and Sino-Tibetan,' (in Frans Van Coetsem et al. (eds.) Contributions to Historical Linguistics) (p.120) : 'An interesting hapax legomenon for 'blood' appears in the Dzo Zhuan which has an obvious Austroasiatic origin: Proto-Mnong *mham, Proto-North Bahmaric *maham, 衁 hmam > hmang > ɣuáng.' | See item "máu" for more of Chinese etymology. ]
tim heart ihiam yâyul kớl palhaưm nus ****** 心 xīn (SV tâm) [ M 心 xīn < MC sjɔm < OC*sjɔm | Note: Chinese dialect Hainanese /tim1/ matches Vietnamese /tim1/ exactly while Mon-Khmer forms seem to be unrelated to that of Vietnamese, of whic h the closest form plausibly cognate is/'ihiam/. ]
ruột intestines hatêa/klea luânh ruaiq tơlaq * 腸 cháng (SV trường) [ M 腸 cháng < MC ɖaŋ < OC *ɫaŋ | cf. Xiamen tŋ2, Chaozhou tŋ2, Fuzhou toŋ2, Jianou toŋ2 | ¶ ch-, sh-, s- ~ r-, d- , ex. 長 cháng: VS 'dài' (long), 蛇 shé: VS 'rắn' (snake), 祟 suì: VS 'rủi' (misfortune) ]
lưng back roq hông kloong vưt ** 脊梁 jǐliáng (SV tíchlương) [ VS 'lưng' <~ ® VS 'sốnglưng' ~ M 脊梁 jǐliáng | M 梁 liáng < MC laŋ < OC *raŋ || cf. 喉嚨 hóulóng ~ 'cổhọng' (larynx, throat) ® ~> 'cổ' (neck) / @ 喉 hóu, 耳朵 ěrduō ~ VS 'lỗtai' (ear, ear canal) ® ~> 'tai' (ear) / @ 朵 duō, or 肩膀 jiāngbăng ~ VS 'bảvai' ~> 'vai' (shoulder) / @ 膀 băng, etc. ]
hông hip pangtêa -- bran jèt *** 胸 xiōng (SV hung) [ M 胸 xiōng < MC xɔujə < OC *snojə | According to Starostin: breast, chest (L.Zhou). Regular Sino-Viet. is hung (in fact, Viet. hông 'hip, side, flank' may be a chance coincidence – because of the semantic difference). | Note: Starostin might miss the point that it is a common phenomenon in historical linguistics that one can find derived meanings on its variable vocables where the borrowing language could have changed completely; in reality this is a fundamental 'derivation' rule, so to speak. So, if 胸 xiōng is now the concept for 'chest', what is the form for 'waist' in Chinese then? It is 腰 yāo in Chinese and in Vietnamese it is 'eo' (waist). ]
ba father pa ama mpoaq vàp **** 爸 bā (SV 'ba') [ M 爸 bā ~ phonetic stem M 巴 bā < MC ba < OC *bae | Note: since virtually most appellatives of blood kins and relatives in Vietnamese originated from Chinese, so the /ba1/ herein is considered as of the same categorry of loanwords. ]
mẹ mother nôw ameq mpiq mê **** 母 mǔ (SV mẫu) [ Also, VS 'mẹ', 'mệ', 'mợ', 'mạ' (all synonymous to VS 'mẹ' | M 母 mǔ < MC myw < OC *mjəʔ ]
chồng husband kanôw kayik kayak siklô *** 君 jūn (SV quân) [ M 君 jūn < MC kyn < OC *kun | Note: Alternatively, contraction of the Chinese 丈夫 zhàngfū ~ SV 'trượngphu' (gentleman) plus both 夫君 fūjūn (SV 'phuquân') and 郎君 lángjūn (SV 'langquân') ~> ® (dropped or contracted to) VS 'chồng' and 'chàng', of the latter which is in opposition of 娘 niáng ~ VS 'nàng' (girl) ® <~ 娘子 niángzi ~ SV 'nươngtử' (husband addresses to 'wife'.) ]
vợ wife kajay ka-diâl lakuoi si-ùr **** 婦 fù (SV phụ) [ M 婦 fù < MC bjəw < OC *bjəc | Note that the modern Vietnamese form is 'vợ' while 'bụa' an old usage, all meaning 'wife'. Alternatively, like variant forms of 'husband' either 君 jūn or 丈夫 zhàngfū (vs. 娘子 niángzi), 妻 qī or 妾 qiē form can possibly evolve into the same word. For the SV 'phụ' it mostly appears as a morphemic-syllable in dissyllabic compound words such as 'phụnữ' 婦女 (lady). ]
con child kuat akǒn kon kòn **** 子 zǐ (SV tử) [ M 子 zǐ < MC tsjɤ < OC *cɑʔ | Dialects: M 囝 jiăn (a dialectal variant of 子 zǐ) ’child’ Fukienese (Amoy) /kẽ/, nasalized to evolved into 'con' , Hananese /ke1/, which could be cognate to the Austroasiatic form /kiã/ ‘son, child’. ]
chó dog chó amuq acho so **** 狗 gǒu (SV cẩu) [ M 狗 gǒu < MC kjəw < OC *ko:ʔ | Note: Proto-Vietic **kro. Categorically analogous to the case of 衁 huāng ~ VS 'máu' (blood), 血 xié ~ VS 'tiết' (blood) and other basic forms, this might be another Yue loanword in the Chinese language. Cf. 犬 quán ~ VS 'cún' (puppy), 亥 hài ~ VS 'heo' (pig), 腞 dùn (etymologically, 'piglet') ~ VS 'lợn' (pig), etc. ]
heo pig chu sdơk alik sưl **** 亥 hài (SV hợi) [ M 亥 hài < MC ɠɤj < OC *ghə:ʔ | Note: Interestingly the form Sedang /chu/ matches C 豬 zhū (SV trư). Howevwer, in the Chinese 12 animal zodiac table 亥 hài stands for 'pig' -- as in 'Year of the Boar' and it could have originated from a form of the Yue languages. If Thomas was not supplied with the wrong Vietnamese etymon by his informant, based on the forms /sdơk/, /alik/, or /sưl/, the Vietnamese word for this item could be 'lợn' which is surely cognate to 豘 tún (SV đồn, độn) ~ M 豚 tún < MC don < AC *lhwǝ̄n < OC *ɫhwǝ̄n < PC **ɫhūn. Dialects Cant. tyun4, Hakka tun3 | ¶ t- ~ l-, and in Chinese it means 'piglet' ]
gà chicken í atưit nutruoi iêr ****** 雞 jī (SV kê) [ M 雞 < MC kiej < OC *ke: | cf. VS 'gởi' 寄 jì (SV ký) 'send', 'gươm' 劍 jiàn (SV kiếm) 'sword', 'gần' 近 jìn (SV cận) 'near'. There is no need to elaborate further on the fact that both the Vietnamese and Chinese cognate forms are highly plausible while all others are not. ]
cánh wing maná nang khlap pơnar ** 翅 chì (SV sí) [ M 翅 chì, shī, jì, qí < MC ʂi < OC *kjeh, *kes | According to Starostin, phonetically difficult: xiesheng points definitely to a velar initial, but *x- can hardly be reconstructed – first, because of an affricate in most modern dialects (although one would rather expect a non-aspirated c- (ć-)), second, because the character is used in Mengzi as a loan for *tek-s (probably pronounced as *t́eh at that time, in MC - also śè) 'only'. If the reconstruction *kes is correct, this would be an only known case of the fricativization *k- > *ć- > MC ś-. | ex. 展翅 zhănchì ~ VS 'dangcánh' (spread the wings) ]
trứng egg kata karau tareil chap **** 蛋 dàn (SV đản) [ M 蛋 dàn < MC ʈan < OC *dan | cf. ¶ /d- ~ tr-/, ex. 'trò' 徒 tú (SV đồ) 'pupil'. Interestingly, An Chi (ibid. Vol. 3. 2016), a Vietnamese scholar, posited this etymon as a derivative of 種 zhǒng (SV chủng) VS 'giống' (breed), zhòng (SV chúng) ~ VS 'trồng' (cultivate) that might not be plausible because the Chinese 蛋 dàn is so obvious a cognate for VS 'trứng'. ]
chuột rat kanáy chlâng are kunâi kine **** 鼠 shǔ (SV thử) [ M 鼠 shǔ < MC ʂo < OC *ɬhaʔ || Note: cf. **** 子 zǐ (SV tý) for "rat" as in "the Year of the Rat" in the Chinese and Vietnamese zodiac tables for the names of 12 animals. ]
rắn snake pah kaseng kusân vis ** 蛇 shé (SV xà) [ M 蛇 shé < MC ʑa < OC *liaj | According to Starostin: snake. Also read *laj (MC je, FQ 弋支, Mand. yí) in the compound 委蛇 *ʔw|aj-laj 'be compliant, gracious'. | ¶ /s- ~ r-/, cf. 祟 suì: VS 'rủi' (misfortune) | See more elaboration of this etymon in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologied. | Note: for the vocable /yí/, cf. *** 乙 yǐ, also means "snake" in the original etymon. ]
ruồi fly róy raroi ruai rơwei *** 蠅 yíng (SV dăng) [ ~ VS 'nhặng', 'lằng' | M 蠅 yíng < MC jiŋ < OC *ljəŋ | FQ 余陵 | According to Starostin: a fly. Viet. lằng 'bluebottle' is archaic, reflecting a form like WH *ljəŋ. A later loan from the same source is probably Viet. nhặng 'bluebottle' (nh- reflecting MC j- with assimilatory nasalisation); regular Sino-Viet. is dăng. || According to Tsu-lin Mei, "ruồi" is of Austroasiatic origin. ] (Read more at APPENDIX F: The case of "ruồi")
cây tree luáq long aluang chhơ ** 棵 kē (SV khoả) [ M 棵 kē < MC ko < OC *kwo | Note: There are no cognates in those Mon-Khmer forms while the case of VS "cây" could have been derived from different etyma where there exist different forms in Chinese, such as 樹 shù, ex. 樹皮 shùpí ~ VS 'vỏcây' (bark), 株 zhū, ex. 兩株梅 liăng zhū méi ~ VS 'hai cây mơ' (two plum trees), etc. ]
gỗ woods kong -- arưih nggô *** 材 cái (SV tài) [ M 材 cái < MC ʒʌj < OC *ʒhǝ̄ | Note: Alternatively, we can also try to posit 木 mù, which could fit well into the semantic realm of 'wood' while 材 cái then evolved into VS 'của' as in 'củacải' (property). Derivation is could be emphasized for its plausibity in cognacy. ]
lá leaf hlá asơq(?) sala la **** 葉 yè (SV diệp) [ M 葉 yè < MC jep < AC *lhap < OC *lap < PC **lɒp | Note: the patter of the nterchange /j-/ ~ /l-/ is the most pupular in historical linguistics. Besides the OC and PC cognates, note that most of the Tibetan languages carry the the sound near Vietnamese 'lá'. Tibetan: ldeb leaf, sheet, Burmese: ɑhlap petal., Kachin: lap2 leaf, Lushei: le:p bud, Lepcha: lop leaf, Rawang ʂɑ lap leaf (for food wrapping) ; Trung ljəp1 leaf, Bahing lab. Sh. 138; Ben. 70. (See Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.) ]
vỏ bark katôw halăk ndắk mòq *** 皮 pí (SV bì) [ M 皮 pí < MC be < OC *bhaj | FQ 符羈 || ex. 樹皮 shùpí: VS 'vỏcây' (bark) ]
bông flower rêaq pơq piar ngkau **** 葩 pā (SV ba) [ M 葩 pā < MC bɒ < OC *bra: | cf. Cant. /fa1/ for 花 huā that is 'hoa' (flower) in Sino-Vietnamese. ]
trái fruit play pale palái plai *** 實 shí (SV thực) [ M 實 shí < MC ʑit < OC *lit | Note: in this specific etymon, /plai/, /play/, /palái/, and /pale/ are posited to be cognate to Vietnamese 'trái' \ ¶ pl- ~ tr- . Meanwhile, the C 實 shí (SV thực) is also possibly cognate, given ¶ ʃ- ~ ʈ- \ V /tr-/ = /ʈ-/. Dissyllabically, 結實 jiéshí: VS 'kếttrái' (bear fruits), 果實 guǒshí: VS 'câytrái' (fruit). ]
rễ root rê riah rêh diyeh *** 蒂 dì (SV đế) [ M 蒂 (蔕) dì < MC tiaj < OC *tɛjs | ¶ d- ~ r- || ex. 深根固蒂 shēngēngùdì: SV 'thâmcăncúđế' (deeply rooted tree – or of an issue). cf. 'gốc' 根 gēn: SV căn (root) ]
chuối banana priat priq priat prit ****** 蕉 jiāo (SV chiêu) [ M 蕉 jiāo ~ phonetic stem M 焦 jiāo (SV tiêu, VS cháy 'charred' ) < MC tsjew < OC *ɕew. || Note: The Chinese form must have been loaned from the same etyma in the Yuè languages. Amusingly, no other Mon-Khmer forms are close to the V. This basic word is fundamental in rebutting Mon-Khmer vs. Taic-Yue relationship, so to speak. ]
cỏ grass ña bơi bát kinji *** 草 căo (SV thảo) [ M 草 căo < MC chʌw < OC *shʊʔ | According to Starostin: grass, small plants. Also used for a homonymous *shūʔ 'be rough, coarse; grossly'. The original character consisted of just one radical (see Shuowen 22); the character 草, according to the Shuowen, original meaning 'acorn'. | ¶ c- ~ c-(k-), cf. 餐 cān (SV xán): VS 'cơm' (rice), 財 cái: (SV tài) VS 'của' (properties), 存 cún (SV tồn): VS 'còn' (in store, remain, still, there still exists) ]
lúa unhusked rice báw haviq saro va *** 來 lái (SV lai) [ M 來 lái < MC ljəj < OC *rjə: | VS 'lúa' <~ 來 lái (lúamì, lúamạch (wheat - Triticum aestivum)) | According to Starostin: In Shijing rhyme jə OC *rjəs | OC *r- cf. dialects: Amoy, Chaozhou lai2, Fuzhou li2, Jianou lej2, lai9, Jianyang le2, Shaowu li2; | Note: Starostin posited 'lúa' for 稻 dào, an archaic loanword; regular Sino-Vietnamese is đạo. (see 'gạo'). Similar to the case of VS 'chuối' (Chin. 蕉 jiāo, SV 'chiêu'), strangely, there are no Mon-Khmer cognates with this basic word. ]
gạo rice páy chineh rakáu phe **** 稻 dào (SV đạo) [ M 稻 dào < MC dɑw < OC *lhu:ʔ ~ *ɫhu:ʔ (Schuessler: MC dâu < OC *gləwʔ or *mləwʔ) | According to Starostin, Viet. lúa is an archaic loanword; regular Sino-Viet. is đạo. Protoform: *ly:wH (~ ɫ-), Meaning: rice, grain, Chinese: 稻 *lhu:ʔ (~ɬh-) rice, paddy, Burmese: luh sp. of grain, Panicum paspalum, Kachin: c^jəkhrau1 paddy ready for husking. Kiranti: *lV 'millet' | Note: Except for the form 'rakáu', no other Mon-Khmer cognates with this basic word in Vietnamese, which is similar to the case of VS 'chuối' (Chin. 蕉 jiāo ~ SV 'chiêu'), 'lúa' 來 lái (paddy), or 'gạo' 稻 dào (unhusked rice). ]
muối salt po poh(?) boi voh *** 硭 máng (SV mang) [ M 硭 máng ~ phonetic stem M 亡 wáng (vong, vô) < MC mwaŋ < OC *maŋ | *OC 硭 亡 陽 亡 maŋ | cf. 衁 huáng: 'máu' (blood) ]
lửa fire ón aih ôuih uinh *** 火 huǒ (SV hoả) [ M 火 huǒ < MC xwʌ < OC *smjə:jʔ | ¶ /hw- ~ l-/ : cf. 大伙 dàhuǒ: 'cảlũ' (whole group), 同伙 tónghuǒ: 'đồngloã' (complice), 過 guò: quá /wa5/ 'lỗi' (fault), 灣 wān: SV 'loan' (bay); 裸體 luǒtǐ: 'loãthể' (phonetic stem 果 guǒ: quả /wả/), cf. 大夥 dàhuǒ = 大伙 dàhuǒ, 同夥 tónghuǒ = 同伙 tónghuǒ. If any Mon-Khmer form of this basic word is cognate to C 火 huǒ, they all probably are to /Ø/. ]
khói smoke ngôy gơyuâk phêak nhuq *** 汽 qì (SV khí) [ ~ VS 'hơi' (vapor) | M 汽 qì < MC khɤj < OC *khjəjs) | Dialect: Cant /hei31/ | According to Starostin: vapor, odor, steam, gas. Attested already in Yijing, but absent in Schussler's dictionary. Viet. hơi is colloquial; regular Sino-Viet. is khí (cf. perhaps also Viet. khói 'smoke' ?) (See elaboration on this item in the Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.) ]
tro ashes pló ón plah bắh vùh *** 渣 zhā (SV tra) [ M 渣 zhā, zhă, zhà ~ phonetic stem 查 chá, chái, zhāi, zhā < MC ɖa < OC *ɫa: | ¶ zh- ~ tr- | Note: Speculation of this etymon is partly based on the articulation of Middle Chinese and Sino-Vietnamese. There may exist another word for 'tro' in AC or C dilalects given analogical cognates of 'than' 炭 tān (charcoal) , 'lửa' 火 huǒ (fire), 'củi' 柴 cái (firewood), 'mồi' 煤 méi (coal), 'đốt' 燒 shāo (burn), 'cháy' 焦 jiāo (charred), etc.| ex. 爐渣 lǔzhā: 'trolò' (stove ashes), 灰渣 huīzhā (burnt ashes), 炭渣 tànzhā (coal ashes) ]
nước water tea dơk daưq dăq *** nước 水 shuǐ 'water' (SV thuỷ) [ M 水 shuǐ < MC ʂwi < OC *tujʔ | Note that the OC *tujʔ, ended with -ʔ which easily will give rise to ~ /-k/ of 'nước' where old Vietmương form is /dak/. Compare Chin. 踏 tà, tā ~ SV 'đạp' (trample), 沓 tà, dá (SV 'đạp) ~ VS 'đầy' (full), with the phonetic stem 水 ended /-k/ and /-ʔ/. Should that be the case, it is not hard to reconstruct /dak/ for Vietic /nak/ to have evolved into VS 'nước'. For the interchange ¶ /sh- ~ n-/: ex. 說 shuō (SV thuyết) VS 'nói', 山 shān (SV san) VS 'non' ~>; 'núi'. Most of dialects start with an initial s- such as Amoy san11 (lit.); suã11, Chaochou suã11, but Hainanese reads /twi2/ { ¶ s- ~ t-} just like 'núi' 山 shān (Hai. /twa1/). From t- we can assume the sound changed into n-, hence 水 *tujʔ ~ 'nước', and similarly for the latter 'núi' (mountain). According to Starostin, MC ʂ- is irregular; a clear indication of *t- is given by Min forms: Xiamen cui3, Chaozhou, Fuzhou cui3. Protoform: *tujH. Meaning: water, Chinese: 水 *tujʔ water (which is similar to Hai. /twi2/) Burmese: LB: Achang ti water. Kachin: mjədi1 be wet. Lushei: tui, KC *Dui\ water. Lepcha: da a pond, a lake, stagnant water. || cf 淂 dé (SV đắc) Vietic "đắk" (water) ]
núi mountain ngo karung kalong(?) kóh gung *** 山 shān (SV sơn ) [ VS 'núi' <~ VS 'non' \ /-n ~ -i/ | M 山 shān < MC ʂən < sra:n | ¶ /sh- ~ n-/ : ex. 說 shuō: SV 'thuyết', VS 'nói' | ¶ /-n ~ -i/ : 蒜 suàn (SV toan) ~ VS 'tỏi' (garlic). Note that most dialects have the initial s- such as Amoy san11 (lit.); suã11, Chaozhou suã11, except for Hainanese 山 /twa1/, ¶ /s- ~ t-/. From /suã11/, /twã/, or /twa1/ we can posit the initial /n-/ in the place of /t-/, to have given rise to something like /nwã/, then 'non' => núi. The ¶ /t- ~ n-/ interchanges are commonplace in Chinese ~ Vietnamese coresponding sound patterns, ex. 尿 niào (SV niệu) ~ VS tiểu ~ VS đái (urinate), 鳥 niăo ~ SV điểu (bird). Also, let's not rule out 垚 yáo: SV 'nghiêu', VS 'núi' (hill), though. Per Starostin, the MC reading /san/ is irregular (*s.a.n would be expected). In the meanwhile no Mon-Khmer forms are cognate to VS 'non' or 'núi', a basic word.]
đất earth tanê katiơk kuteiq nteh **** 土 tǔ (SV thổ, độ, đỗ) [ M 土 tǔ < MC dwo < OC *daʔ (Li Fang-Kuei: OC *dagx ) ]
đá stone hmố dơl tamáu tamô **** 石 shí (SV thạch) [ Also, VS 'tạ' /ta6/ (=100 kilograms) | M 石 shí, dàn < MC tsjak < OC *djak | § 妬 dù (SV đố), 拓 tuò, tà (SV thác) | Chinese dialects: Cant. daam3, sek6, Hakka shak8 | Shuowen: 山石也。 常隻切〖注〗𥐘,古文。 | Kangxi: 〔古文〕𥐘【唐韻】【集韻】【正韻】常隻 切【韻會】常亦 切,𠀤 音 碩。|| According to Starostin: Min forms pointing to *ʒ́: Xiamen cioʔ8, Chaozhou cieʔ8, Fuzhou sioʔ8, Jianou ciɔ6. | Note that Tibetan: rdo | See more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan Etymologies. ]
sông river taê 'kan karung kroung dàq ****** 江 jiāng 'river' (SV giang) [ M 江 jiāng < MC kawŋ < OC *kraŋ | Cf. 工 MC koŋ (SV công) | Pulleyblank: EM kaɨwŋ | FQ 古雙 | According to Starostin: river; Yang-zi River. Viet. sông 'river' may be an older loan from the same source | Note: Old Viet. *krung > *krong > 'sông' which are cognate to /karung/, /kroung/. (Read more at APPENDIX D: The case of "sông") ],
trời sky pleng pleng paloăng trôq ** 天 tiān (SV thiên) [ M 天 tiān < MC thien < OC *thi:n | Note: FQ 他前 where 前 qián (Hainanese /taj2/) | (See 'giời' 日 rì and more of its etymology in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan Etymologies.) ]
ngày day hany tangay tangái nar *** 日 rì (SV nhật) [ Also, VS 'giời' (the sun) ~ M 日 rì < MC rit < OC *ɲit. | Cf. Cantonese /jat8/ | (See etymology in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan Etymologies.) ]
đêm night kamaq hayum sadâu mang *** 宵 xiāo (SV tiêu) [ M 宵 xiāo < MC sjew < OC *saw, ¶ /-w ~ -m/ ]
sao star haloq chitur mantour simanh **** 星 xīng (SV tinh) [ M 星 xīng < MC sieŋ < OC *she:ŋ < se:ŋ | Dialects: Hainanese /se11/, cf. shēng 生 (SV sanh): VS 'đẻ' Hai. /de1/ (give birth), Hankou: ʂin11, Sichuan: ʂin11, Yangzhou: ʂĩ11, Chaozhou: sin11, Changsha: sin11, Shuangfeng: $ ʂin11, ʂiõ11, Nanchang: $ ʂin11, ʂiaŋ11 ]
trăng moon -- kache rliang kasâi khai ** 月 yuè (SV nguyệt) [ VS 'giăng' ~ 'trăng' ~> 'tháng' (month) | M 月 yuè < MC jwjat < AC *jwot | cf. Cant. /jyut6/,藥 yào: VS 'thuốc' (medicine) | (See more elaboration in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan Etymologies. ) ]
mây cloud syok dơluk ramưl tuq *** 雲 yún 'cloud' (SV vân) [ M 雲 yún < MC hʊn < OC *whjən, ¶ OC *wh- ~ m- | FQ 王分 | Cf. 雨 yǔ (SV vũ): VS 'mưa' (rain) | ¶ /y-, v- ~ m-/ and /-n ~ -j/, ex. 蒜 suàn: VS 'tỏi' (garlic) | Also, the character 霧 wù (SV vụ, VS mù) denotes 'misty' and 'foggy' and in Vietnamese this meaning as a noun appears only in the compound 'mùsương' or 霜霧 shuāngwù. So for 霧 wù if the 'mist' is high in the sky then this word can be related to mean 'cloud'. | (See elaboration on 'mây' listing in the previous chapter and more of etyma in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan Etymologies.) ]
mưa rain mêny bă mia mi *** 雨 yǔ (SV vũ) [ M 雨 yǔ < MC hʊ < OC *haʔ | FQ 王矩 | According to Starostin: precipitation, rain. Also read *whaʔs, MC h|u\ (FQ 王遇) 'to rain upon, fall'. For *wh- cf. Xiamen ho|6, Chaozhou hou4, Jianou xu6. Protoform: *qhw|aH ( *r-). Meaning: rain, Chinese: 雨 *whaʔ rain. Tibetan: kha-ba snow, mkha heaven. Burmese: rwa rain, LB *r-jua rain, cf. also *wax snow. Kachin: ru1 to pour, to fall in torrents, as rain. Lushei: ruaʔ rain, KC *r2uaʔ Lepcha: so rain (?) Kiranti: *wə . Comments: BG: Garo mikka wa, Dimasa ha to rain, Bodo ha rain; Digaro kəra rain; Bahing rya-wa. Sh. 39, 43, 138, 431; Ben. 109, 168. For Jnp. ru1 see also notes under *g(h)w|rə 'wash'. | ¶ /y-, v- ~ m-/ | Cf. 雲 yún (SV vân): VS mây, 舞 wǔ (SV vũ) VS múa 'dance' | (See more etymologies in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan Etymologies.) ]
đường road choát kalơng rana tròng *** 道 dào (SV đạo) [ Also, VS 'đàng' | M 道 dào < MC djəw < OC *lhu:ʔ | FQ 徒皓 | According to Starostin: road, way, route, method. Since Chinese dentals are in some cases rendered by Viet. n- , we may compare also Viet. nẽo 'way, direction'. A derived word is 導 OC *lhu:ʔ -s, MC da^\w 'to lead', which has a colloquial Xiamen reflex chua6, allowing to reconstruct aspiration for OC. Alternatively, 唐 táng (SV đường) in ancient usage meant 'passage, path in the palace'. Besides, 途 tú (SV đồ) also a good candidate. | Cf. 彤 tóng (SV đồng): VS 'đỏ' (red), 痛 tòng (SV 'thống'): VS 'đau' (pain). Note that in Chinese there also exists the word 唐 táng (SV 'đường' and 'đàng') used for the Tang Dynasty, originally meaning "path in theimperial palace" (See Kangxi Dictionary for more details.) ]
nhà house hngêny dong dống nhi **** 家 jiā (SV gia) [ M 家 jiā < MC ka < OC *kra: | ¶ /j- ~ nh-/: ex. 撿 jiăn: VS 'nhặt' (pick up) ]
dây rope kasáy ngon(?) kansái chhe *** 線 xiàn (SV tuyến) [ VS 'dây' ~ 'sợi' ~ 'chỉ' ~ 'nhợ' | M 線 xiàn < MC sjɜn < OC *sars, *sors | ¶ x- ~ j- | According to Starostin: thread (L.Zhou) Hsieh-sheng and Sino-Viet. suggest rather an OC form like *sors, which would normally yield MC sjwe\n, in which case loss of labialisation in MC would be secondary. On the other hand, the Sino-Viet. form can go back to a dialectal MC *sjwe\n with secondary labialisation on analogy with 泉 (MC z|jwen, q.v.). The choice between OC *sars and *sors is thus not quite clear. | Note: the of 'sợi' is a much more plausible for this word 線 xiàn, though. ]
một one môny muy muoi mwòi *** 一 yī (SV nhất) [ M 一 yī < MC ʔjit < OC *ʔit < PC **ʔɨt (~ɠ-) | (See more elaboration on Mon-Khmer ~ Vietnamese numbers in the next chapter.) ]
hai two pêá bơr bar vàr *** 二 èr (SV nhị) [ M 二 èr < MC ɳɨ < OC *nijs | Note: The Mon-Khmer forms, started with bilabial initials, are assumed to be cognate to VS 'hai' by positing their numbers 1, ..., 3, 4, 5 as cognate to those in Vietnamese. On the one hand, number 2 is lumped into the whole set together to make number '2' in both languages to appear to be cognate to all the Mon-Khmer forms above of which the /b-/ vocable does not appear to be cognate to V /haj1/ for '2'but betray VS "ba" /ba1/ for '3' (cf. /páy/, /pe/, /pái/, /pe/ for "ba"). On the other hand, for the Chinese cognates, is it possible that SV nhị /ɲhej6/ would have denasalized to VS /hej1/ (northern Central Vietnamese subdialects such as Quangtri and Hatinh) then /haj1/? | (See more elaboration on number "2" in the Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan Etymologies.) ]
ba three páy pe pái pe *** 三 sān, sàn (SV tam) [ M 仨 sā (SV ta) ~ M 三 sān, sàn < MC sɑm < *OC sjə:m | Note: Hainanese /ta1/ suggests a smooth ease in to /ba1/ in Vietnamese. The interchange ¶ /b- ~ t-/ is common bewteen Middle Chinese and Sino-Vietnamese. Note that for all the forms above that start with the initial /p-/ modulate different connotation of the vocables of /pêá/, /bơr/, /bar/, /vàr/ for "hai" (two) while most of the Vietnamese speakers could not differentiate the initial /p/ from /b/, phonetically. | (See more elaboration on numbers in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.) ]
bốn four puán puân poun pwổn * 四 sì (SV tứ) [ M 四 sì < MC sjɨ < OC *slhijs | Note: It appears that the Sinitic-Vietnamese and Chinese forms are hardly cognate while all the MK forms are. Again, the Vietnamese always have problems in pronouncing vocables starting with the initial /p/ sound while the Mon-Khmer speakers are quite keen of distinguishing /p-/ from /b-/ as in other numbers such as 2 and 3. | (See more elaboration on the Mon-Khmer ~ Vietnamese numbers in the next sections to follow.) ]
năm five patáp châng saưng pram * 五 wǔ (SV ngũ) [ M 五 wǔ < MC ŋɔ < OC *ŋha:ʔ | Note: For the VIetnamese vocables "lăm" and "nhăm" used with numbers over 10, it is interesting to see that the Chinese Hainanese carries the vocable /lan1/. Again, Khmer form /pram/ is assumed to be cognate to VS 'năm' just because of their whole set of numbers is lumped together as mentioned in the case of 'four' /pwổn/. Meanwhile other Mon-Khmer forms do not appear to be cognate to the V /năm/ for "five". Is it possible that VS numeral 'năm' could be possibly related to 'wǔ' for the interchange ¶ /w- ~ n-/ and /-uw ~ -m/? | (See more elaboration on the Mon-Khmer ~ Vietnamese numbers in the next sections to follow.) ]
sáu six tajów chapat tapoât praw *** 六 lìu (SV lục) [ M 六 lìu < MC lʊk < OC *rhuk | FQ 力竹 | ¶ l- ~ s- | Note: for forms from 6 to 10, it seems to suggest that the other Mon-Khmer languages borrow back those of the Vietnamese forms, where the process had stopped before it reached the modern Khmer language, that is, Cambodian. | (See more elaboration on Mon-Khmer ~ Vietnamese numbers in the next sections to follow.) ]
bảy seven tapah tapăl tapul poh * 七 qī (SV thất) [ M 七 qī < MC chjit < OC *shit | Note: Same as above. See elaboration on Vietnamese numbers in the next sections to follow.) ]
tám eight tahéñ takǒl takual phàm * 八 bā (SV bát) [ M 八 bā < MC pat < OC *pre:t | Note: Same as above. See elaboration on Vietnamese numbers in the next sections to follow.) ]
chín nine tachen takia takêh sưn *** 九 jǐu (SV cửu) [ M 九 jǐu < MC kʌw < OC *kwjəʔ | Note: Same as above. See elaboration on Vietnamese numbers in the next sections to follow.) ]
mười ten monychat majet muoi chit mớt * 十 shí (SV thập) [ vs. VS 'chục' | M 十 shí < MC ʂʌp < OC *ʈjəp | Note: While 'mười' is not cognate to SV 'thập', the variant of M 十 shí, it is doutbless the VS form 'chục' /tʂowk8/ is. In the meanwhile, all other Mon-Khmer forms, except Khmer itself, carry variants cognate to the Vietnamese form of the number10. | Note: Same as above. See elaboration on Vietnamese numbers in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan Etymologies. ]
những all 'taytang babơt nyeq leq *** 眾 zhòng (SV chúng) [ M 眾 (衆) zhòng < MC tʂʊŋ < OC *tuŋs | Ex. 眾名 zhòngmíng (những tên), (萬物之名), 眾有 zhòng yǒu (nhữngcó) (萬物); 眾物 zhòngwù (những vật) (萬物;諸物); 眾聖 zhòngshèng (những thánh) (諸聖人) | Note: Depending on the context it could be a coination of 一切 yìqiè, or 凡 fàn (SV phàm) M 凡 fàn < MC bwym < OC *bljəm | FQ 符泛. | Ex. 全 書 凡 四 卷; 凡 年滿 十八 歲 的 公民; 凡 是 逆 歷史潮流 而 動 的 人. | See more elaboration on the etymon in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan Etymologies. ]
nhiều many hen bơk sa-ơưi goq **** 饒 ráo (SV nhiêu) [ M 饒 ráo < MC riaw < OC *ɲiew | Note: Not sure which words in all those of Mon-Khmer languages is cognate to that of Vietnamese but there is no problem to posit VS 'nhiều' with C 饒 ráo that shares also with matching dissyllabic forms, such as 有饒 yǒuráo: VS 'rấtnhiều' (numerous) ]
to big kan gơmak toâr maq ****** 大 dà (SV đại) [ M 大 dà < MC dɒj < OC *dha:ts | (See elaboration on this word in the previous chapter.) ]
nhỏ small kuat katuiq kớt kèn *** 小 xiăo (SV tiểu) [ M 小 xiăo < MC sjɜw < OC *sewʔ | Dialect: Hainanese /njɜw21/ | ¶ x- ~ nh- | Note: all other Mon-Khmer words appear not to be cognate at all. ]
dài long syát yal kuti jòng *** 長 cháng (SV tràng) [ VS dài ~ lớn (grown-up) | M 長 cháng, zhăng < MC ɖaŋ < OC *draŋ, MC ʈɒŋ, OC *traŋʔ | According to Starostin: be long, tall, long-lasting. Also read zhăng, MC t.a/ŋ, OC *traŋʔ, Viet. trưởng 'to grow up; grown up; elder, senior; to preside' || ¶ /ʈ- ~ ch- ~ gi-, d-/, ex. 腸 chăng (SV trường) ~ VS 'ruột' (intestines). ]
ngắn short nang nay ep kakéh dêh **** 短 duăn (SV đoản) [ Also, VS 'lùn' (short in height) | M 短 duăn < MC twʌn < OC *to:nʔ | ¶ d- ~ l-, ng-, ex. 停 tíng (SV đình) ~VS 'ngừng' (stop) ]
nóng hot tôw pưih kutâu duh *** nóng 燙 tàng (SV tháng) [ ~ VS bỏng, phỏng | M 燙 tàng < MC thʌŋ < OC *ɫa:ŋ | Note: In Chinese, there are many words that carry the concept of "hot", e.g. 焱 yàn, 炎 yán, 融 róng, 熱 rè, 烔 tóng, etc., which might have originated from the storching heat and sub-zero freezing weather in today's China's Northwestern areas, a birth cradle of the original "Chinese". ]
lạnh cold rahngew kau sangeit kakàt ****** 冷 lěng 'cold' (SV lãnh) [ M 冷 lěng < MC lɒiŋ < OC *re:ŋʔ ]
đỏ red khêy brông kusáu pơhor *** 彤 tóng (SV đồng) | M 彤 tóng < MC doŋ < OC *dhūŋ, *lhūŋ, *ɫhūŋ | Note: interchange between endings ¶ /-wŋ ~ -w/, cf. 痛 tòng (SV 'thống') ~ VS 'đau' (pain) ]
xanh green ñiat taviâng ramoong sanh **** 青 qīng (SV thanh) [ VS xanh 'blue' | M 青 qīng < MC chieŋ < OC *she:ŋ | Note: there are many words in Chinese that connote the concepts of color 'green', 'blue, 'azure', 'jade', etc., and one among them could also be 蒼 cāng ~ VS 'xanh' (green). They are plausible cognates in the form of doublets. | (See elaboration on 'xanh' in the previous chapter.) ]
đen black praq tam kôum sindôch *** 玄 xuán (SV huyền) [ M 玄 xuán < MC ɠwien < OC *ghwi:n | Note: In effect, in Chinese there are many other words for the concept of 'black' and this is simply one among them, ex. 黔 qián, 縝 chēn, etc., where there exist common the Chinese-Vietnamese interchanges of the pattern ¶ /S- ~ d-/ ]
bạch white bông bǒk klok vòq ***** 白 bái (SV bạch) [ ~ VS 'bạc' | M 白 bái < MC bɐk < OC* brak | Note: Like 'black' it could also be 素 sū (SV tô) fpr VS 'trắng' or any of several other words for 'white'. The 白 bái (SV bạch) is picked here for its OC *br- in *brak which could give rise to tr- in Vietnamese as in some other cases to account for a possible derivative of VS 'trắng'. ]
phải right paro-wañ atuâm atoam ma * 右 yòu (SV hữu) [ M 右 (佑) yòu < MC hjəw < OC *wjəʔ | FQ 于救 | According to Strarostin: be right (side), be to the right. The concept of 'right' (as well as 'left'!) in Chinese is closely connected with 'help, assist': we thus have related or identical words 佑 wjəʔs (MC h|jə\w, Mand. yo\u) 'to aid, support' (note: 'phò', ''phù' = 佑 yòu \ /¶ y- ~ ph-/ ) (this word has even transferred its 去聲 to 右 which otherwise should have been read MC h|jə/w, Mand. yǒu), 友 wjəʔ (MC hjə/w, Mand. yǒu with regular 上聲) 'friend'. All these words have reflexes of *w- (not *wh-) in Min dialects: cf. 右, 佑 > Xiamen iu6, Chaozhou iu4, Fuzhou eu6, Jianou iu6, 友 > Xiamen, Chaozhou, Fuzhou iu3. | Note: this etymon is speculated based on an analogy of the antonymous 'trái' (left) 左 zuǒ (SV tả) while sound change patterns could be speculated as { ¶ /y- ~ b-/ ~> /ph-/ } as in many cases, e.g., 郵 yóu: (SV bưu) 'postal', 游 yóu: (VS bơi) 'swim', 柚 yóu: (VS bưởi) 'pomelo', 由 yóu: (VS bởi) 'because', etc. In Vietnamese, 'phải' and 'trái' are also associated with the concepts 'right' and 'wrong' which is meant to conote the concept of 是非 shìfēi: VS 'phảitrái' (right and wrong). ]
trái left paro-êó adai avêr gyau *** 左 zuǒ (SV tả) [ M 左 zuǒ < MC cʌ < OC *ca:jʔ | FQ 臧可 | ¶ z- ~ tr- | According to Starostin: be left (side), be to the left. In some inscriptions glossed also as 'to oppose' (note: 'chống') which is rather dubious. Etymologically connected is 佐 OC *ca:jʔs, MC ca^\, Mand. zuǒ (phonetically under the influence of 左) 'to help, assist' q.v. cf. 右 (佑) yòu: phải (right), phò (support), phù (bless) as in 護佑 hùyòu VS 'phùhộ'. ]
xa far rahngế chingai yơng ngài **** 遐 xiá (SV hà) | M 遐 xiá < MC ɠa < OC *ghra: | FQ 胡加 Kangxi:【唐韻】胡加 切【集韻】【韻會】【正韻】何加切,𠀤 音 霞。【說文】遠 也。| Note: The Chinese form /xiá/ is plausibly cognate to the Vietnamese form /xa/ while the Mon-Khmer forms are far away from it. ]
gần near ache dan cheq mờch ****** 近 jìn (cận) [ M jìn 近 < MC gɣn < OC *gjərʔ | ¶ j- ~ c-(k-), g- | According to Starostin: Also read *gərʔs, MC gy\n, Mand. jìn 'to come near to, keep close to'. In Viet. cf. also gần 'near, close; adjacent, beside' (obviously from the same source). For etymology cf. ´幾 *kəj 'near' (an old *-r/-l variation?) | Note: cf. 雞 jī (kê) gà 'chicken', jì 記 (ký) ghi 'to write down', jì 寄 (ký) gởi 'send', jí 及 (cấp) gấp) 'urgent'. Like the C hinese form /xiá/ 遐 SV hà for VS /xa1/, it is certainly a sure cognate to the Chinese form. ]
tốt good lém liâm o yah *** 吉 jí (SV cát, kiết) [ M 吉 jí < MC kjit < OC *kjit | ¶ j- ~ t-, ex. 節 jié VS 'Tết' (Spring Festival). In other cases, alternatively, it could be 德 dé (SV đức), denoting more of the 'virtues' as a character of the good. ]
xấu bad ratôh môp sâuq viêm ****** 醜 chǒu (SV xú) [ VS 'xấu' (ugly) | M 醜 chǒu < MC tʂjəw < OC *thuʔ | According to Starostin: be ugly, evil, ominous. Standard Sino-Viet. is xú. Also used for synonymous *thuʔ 'multitude'; *thuʔ 'anus'. | Note: etymologically 'xấu' is also related to 丑 chǒu (SV sửu'), which is known as 'sửu' or 'trâu' (water buffallo) in the Vietnamese 12-animal zodiac table and borrowed by Ancient Chinese now also used as a placement of 醜 chǒu. ]
nhớp dirty kamônw nhơp nhơp soq **** 污 wū (SV ô) [ ~ VS 'nhơ' ~ 'dơ' | M 污 wū < MC ʔo < OC *ʔʷā | According to Starostin: Also written as 汙 q.v. Another reading (attested in LZ) is *ʔʷrā (MC ʔwạ, Pek. wā) 'impure, vile, mean (probably connected with *ʔʷā); dig a hole in the ground'. | ¶ w- ~ nh-, j- | Note: the Sinitic-Vietnamese form 'nhớp' carries the 'greasy' connotation that could possibly be cognate to C 膩 nì. ]
rữa rotten su-wáng kung nsóq ôm **** 腐 fǔ (SV hũ) [ M 腐 fǔ < MC bʊ < OC *bhoʔ ]
nặng heavy hngáp haleng ntâng kinjoq **** 重 zhòng, chóng (SV trọng, trùng) [ M 重 zhòng < MC ɖɔuŋ < OC *dhroŋʔ | C dialects: Hainanese /dang2/, Chaozhou taŋ22 ~ teŋ12 | ¶ zh- ~ n- : ex 這 zhè (VS nầy) 'this' ]
trơn smooth têá sasil(?) siel ntiêl *** 潤 rùn (SV nhuận) [ M 潤 rùn < MC ryn < OC *ɲwin | Note: The Mon-Khmer forms also suggest the C 跌 diē, diè (SV điệt, trật) for VS 'trợt', 'té' (slipery and fall) | M 跌 diē, diè < MC ʈiat < OC *djɛ ]
đúng correct cho -- -- gàl **** 中 zhòng (SV trúng) [ M 中 zhōng, zhòng < MC ʈʊŋ < OC *truŋ, *truŋs | Note: Usage of 中 zhòng (VS đúng) is much more coloquially popular in many dialects, interchangeable with the same meaning of 對 duì in modern Mandarin 對 duì (SV đối) for 'correct"; M 對 duì < MC toj < OC *tu:ts, which, i.e., /toj/ in turn might have arised from MC 中 zhòng from which those two respective lexicons have evolved to differentiate themselves to take on other semantic roles where, literally, 中 zhòng, of an arrow or darts, etc., is more like 'hit right in spot'. ]
bước walk lám vôiq paưq ayơng sàq **** 步 bù (SV bộ) [ M 步 bù < MC bo < OC *ba:ks | ex. 'cấtbước' 起步 qǐbù (raise one's feet) ]
tới come lám akô dơk toâq tơt **** 逮 dài (SV đại) [ M 逮 dà < MC dɤj < OC *lhjə:ps | FQ 徒耐 | According to Starostin: to come to, reach, come forward; be perfect MC has also a parallel (originally dialectal) reading di\ej (FQ 特計) id. Viet. tới is colloquial; standard Sino-Viet. is đại. During Early Zhou sometimes written as 棣 (thus in Shi 26.3), which allows to reconstruct *lh-. OC *lhə:p-s is an *-s-derivate from OC *lhə:p 'to reach'. | Note: like many other doublets, the C 到 dào (SV đáo) could be its doublet in modern usage, M 到 dào < MC tʌw < OC *ta:wʔs ]
vô enter mont mot mut lap *** 入 rù (SV nhập) [ M 入 rù < MC ɲip < OC*njəp | FQ 人執 | Dialects: Beijing: ʐu3, Xian: vu11, Taiyuan: zujəʔ41, Hankou: y12, Changsha: zu12, Yangzhou: ljəʔ4, Wenzhou: zai42, Ts: y4, Shuangfeng: y31, Nanchang: lat41, Hakka: ɲip 42. Cant: jap42, Xiamen : ʑip42, Fuzhou : iʔ42 | Zhongyuan Yinyun: zɨu43 | Note that in ancient sound there was no /v/ phoneme in both C and V. Cf "dô" /jo/ (Viet. central and southern dialectal variations) = vô (cf. modern M 入 rù or /ju4/, to be exact. ]
đứng stand sông yong(?) taứng tiyaq **** 站 zhàn (SV trạm) [ M 站 zhàn < MC tʂən < OC *tars | ¶ zh- ~ d- ]
ngồi sit ôý-anay tơt taku guq *** 坐 zuò (SV toạ) [ M 坐 zuò < MC ʑwʌ < OC *dzuaj | ¶ z- ~ ng- | cf. 座 zuò ~ VS 'ngôi' (seat) ]
nằm lie koy bech bếq viq *** 躺 tăng (SV thảng) [ M 躺 táng ~ phonetic stem M 尚 shàng, cháng < MC ʂaŋ (ʂhaŋ) < OC *dʑɨaŋ | ¶ t- ~ n- | Note: in the meanwhile the C form 臥 wò could relate to 'nằm' beside its meaning 'sleep'. ]
lội swim klê baluâh loui re **** 游 yóu (SV du) [ Also, VS 'bơi' | M 游 yóu < MC jəw < OC *lu | Schuessler : MC jiəu < OC *ljəw || ¶ y- ~ l- > b- : ex.: 郵 yóu (SV bưu), 葉 yè (SV diệp) ~ VS 'lá', 兵 bīŋ (SV binh) ~ VS 'lính', 杯 bēi (SV bôi) ~ VS 'ly', etc. ]
bay to fly lapah par pâr par **** 飛 fēi (SV phi) [ M 飛 fēi < MC pwyj < OC *pjəj | FQ 甫微 ]
nói say tapuy praq taq ntaưng nhai *** 說 shuō (SV thuyết) [ M 說 shuō, shuì < MC ʂwet, ʂwej < OC *ɬwet, *ɬots | ¶ d- ~ n-: | cf. phonetic stem 兌 duì (SV đối): VS 'đối' ~> 'nói' | ¶ l- ~ n- : ex.. 聊 liáo (SV liêu) ~ VS 'nói' (talk) \ OC /*ɬwet ~ n-/, /-t ~ -j/ , ex. 聊天 liáotiān: VS 'nóichuyện' (chat) | According to Starostin: Protoform: *l^o>t. Meaning: speak, say. Chinese: 說 *l^ot speak, explain. Tibetan: s/od (p. bs/ad) to say, to declare; a~c/had (p., f. bs/ad, i. s/od) to explain; cf. also rz|/od (p., f. brz|/od) to say, to declare. Kachin: (H) brat, prat to speak, as a foreign dialect with ease and accuracy. Sino-Tibetan to explain, excuse, speak; speech, words, agreement. Also read *l^ot-s, MC s/we\j (FQ 舍芮), Mand. shuì 'to halt, rest overnight'; often used instead of 脫 *l^o:t 'to take off, let loose' and 悅 *L^ot 'to delight in, be pleased'. ]
cười laugh tó kachâng cacháng gờm *** 笑 xiào (SV tiếu) [ M 笑 xiào < MC sjew < OC *shaws | According to Starostin: to laugh, smile. For *sh- cf. Min forms: Xiamen chio5, Chaozhou chie5, Fuzhou chieu5. | ¶ x- ~ k- ]
khóc weep krôw nhim nhiam nhìm **** 哭 kù (SV khốc) [ M 哭 kù < MC khuk < OC *kho:k | (See more elaboration on this etymon in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. ) ]
xơi eat ka cha cha sa **** 食 shí (SV thực) [ Also, VS 'xực' | M 食 shí < MC ʑik < OC *ljək | FQ 乘力 | cf. 吃 chì (SV ngật): VS 'ăn' | (See more elaboration on this etymon in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.) ]
nhìn see hlo lei nhêng sưn *** 眼 yăn (SV nhãn) [ M 眼 yăn < MC ŋan < OC *ŋhrjənʔ | FQ 五限 | Note: In addition there exist several words in Chinese that convey the concept 'look', for example, 相 xiāng, 朢 wàng, etc., which fits into the pattern ¶ /x- ~ nh-/ and /w- ~ nh-/ repectively. ]
nghe hear tang châng tamứng chang *** 聽 tīng ‘hear’ (SV thính) [ M 聽 tìng, tīng < thieŋ < OC *ɫhe:ŋ | Dialects: Hainanese /k'ɛ1/, Amoy thiɛŋ11 $, thiã11, Chaozhou thiã11 ]
ngửi smell sú huin hôun ta-nơm *** 嗅 xìu (SV khứu) [ M 嗅 xìu < MC xǝ̀w < OC *xus || Also, VS 'hửi' ]
khạc spit ka-chôw katwiq kuchóh chhoh **** 咳 ké (SV khái) [ Also, VS 'ho' (cough) ~ M 咳 ké < MC khaj < OC *khjə:ks, *khə:k | According to Starostin: cough. Mod. ké must reflect an unattested variant *khə:k, MC khaj ]
mửa vomit hêa kâta kuta hòq ** 嘔 ōu, ǒu (SV âu) [ Cf. VS 'ói', 'ộc' (throw up) | M 嘔 ōu, ǒu < MC ʔɤw < OC *ʔo | ¶ ow- ~ mw- ]
chết die hêa chet kuchêit chưt ** 死 sǐ (SV tử) [ M 死 sǐ < MC sji < *OCsijʔ | See etymology in APPENDIX E: The Case of "chết" ]
sống live reh mâmông tâmoong hômrih ****** 生 shēng (SV sinh, sanh) [ Also, VS 'đẻ' (give birth) | M 生 shēng < MC ʂɒiŋ, ʂɑiŋ < OC *shreŋ, *shreŋs | FQ 所庚 (SV sanh) ~ 所敬 (SV sinh) | Dialects: Hainanese te11 (cf. đẻ), Chaozhou: sẽ 11, Xiamen : sĩ11 ~ cĩ11, Wenzhou siɛ1, Pk chiaŋ1. | Note: Degree of plausibility of cognateness for this Chinese and Vietnamese etyma is six stars ****** for 'sống', not to mention derived variants of 'đẻ' (give birth) or 'dưng' /jiəŋ1/ as in 'ngườidưng' @#生人 shēngrén (stranger) ]
đánh hit tok mbi toân pom ****** 打 dă, dá (SV đả) [ M 打 dă < MC tiɛŋ < OC *te:ŋ | According to Starostin: to hit, strike, beat (L.Han). Also read OC *tre:ŋʔ, MC t.a/.iŋ id. The strange -ŋ-less reading is first attested in Zhengyun (FQ 都瓦 = *ta/). Most Sino-external systems reflect the latter reading; note, however, Viet. đánh 'to beat, hit' which probably directly reflects MC ti/eŋ (although with an aberrant tone). | ¶ d- ~ w- for 'quánh' (colloquial) ]
cắt cut chyeh iât kứt chit ****** 割 gē (SV cát) [ M 割 gē < MC kat < OC *ka:t | According to Starostin: to injure. A somewhat later meaning (attested since L. Chou) is "to cut, clip". Viet. cắt is colloquial; regular Sino-Viet. is cát. ]
đâm stab tapet tak choat jùh ****** 捅 tǒng (SV đồng) [ M 桶 tǒng < MC thʊŋ < OC *slho:ŋʔ ]
vỡ (?), chẻ (?) split pa ploh(?) ploah vlah *** 伐 fá (SV phạt) [ Also, VS: (1) phạt, (2) phát, (3) bạt, (4) bửa, (5) bổ | M 伐 fā, fá, pèi < MC bwǝt < OC *bhat | Pt 房越 | Cant. fat6, Hẹ fat8 | Shuowen: 擊也。从人持戈。一曰敗也。房越切 | Kanxi: 《唐韻》《集韻》《類篇》《韻會》𠀤房越切,音罰。征伐。《詩·小雅》薄伐玁狁。《周禮·夏官》大司馬以九伐之灋正邦國。《左傳·莊二十九年》凡師有鐘鼓曰伐,無曰侵。 又攻殺擊刺也。《書·牧誓》不愆于四伐五伐六伐七伐,乃止齊焉。《註》少不下四五,多不過六七而齊,所以戒其貪殺也。 | Guangyun: 伐 fá, byat/bvat, /bʰĭwɐt/, 伐 房越 並 月合 入聲 月 合口三等 元 臻 || Note: The word 伐 fá means 'cut down', 'cut off', 'chop off'... Thomas' postulated word 'vỡ' appears out of place unless that means VS 'bể' (broken) while 'chẻ' is, amusiningly, not cognate to any of the Mon-Khmer forms, probably another misleading translation from his local informant. ]
nặn squeeze rang, rup kapât daíq bat **** 捏 niē (SV niết) [ M 捏 niē < MC niet < OC *nhi:t ]
gãi scratch wo kabǒk piaiq khwàch *** 抓 zhuā (SV trảo) [ Also, VS 'cào' ~> 'quào' | M 抓 zhuā < MC tʂaw < OC *tʂaɨw ]
quăng throw wang mpeq tôi hwot **** 扔 rēng (SV nhưng) [ M 扔 rēng < MC ɲiŋ < OC *nhjəŋ | Dialects: ʐjəŋ11, Xi'an ʐjəŋ2, Taiyuan zjəŋ1, Hankou njən 11, Wenzhou zeŋ12 || Note: Possibly, the word 'quăng' /wjaŋ1/could be a derived doublet 'vất' in Vietnamese. ]
rơi fall kaneh ntôq dớm vùng **** 落 luò (SV lạc) [ ~ VS 'rụng', 'rắc', also as 'lạc' to denote 'peanut' | M 落 luò < MC lak < OC *ra:k | According to Starostin: to fall, drop, die. The word is used in modern Chinese in 落花 'fallen flowers' and 落花生 'earth-nut, Arachis hypogaea' (attested since Qing) - which is obviously related to Viet. lạc 'earth-nut' (although the direction of borrowing is not quite clear). Cf. perhaps also (as a more archaic loan) Viet. rắc 'to sprinkle, to dredge, to sow' ('to let fall').]
đẩy push kachot daluaq kutớl chlưl **** 推 tuī (SV thôi) [ M 推 tuī < MC thoj < OC *thu:j | Note: the Mon-Khmer forms show similarities in the forms 'daluaq' and 'khutớl'. ]
kéo pull huá pajuâk(?) âk dưk *** 牽 qiān (SV khiên) [ M 牽 qiān (khiên, khản) < MC khien < OC *khɨn | FQ 苦堅 | Note: Chin. 拽 zhuāi is also plausibly another candidate since 牽 qiān implies 'to pull by a rope'. ]
rửa wash jíw erưoh ariau rau **** 洗 xǐ (SV tẩy) [ M 洗 xǐ < MC siej < OC *sjə:rʔ | ¶ x- ~ r- : ex. 婿 xū (SV tu) ~ VS 'rể', 鬚 xū (SV tu) ~ VS 'râu' | Note: V 'tẩy' also means 'bleach'. Besides the similarities that the Mon-Khmer forms carry, M 洗 also reads 'xiăn' (SV tiển), cf. 'tắm' (wash) which Starostin accounts to 浸 jìn (SV tẩm) 'soak' because of the closeness of the Sino-Vietnamese sound. ]
chùi wipe chuat jut(?) chut jùt *** 擦 cā (SV sát) [ ~ VS 'chà', also, 'xát' /sat7/ > 'xớt' (rub) | M 擦 cā < MC tʂat < OC*srat ]
chà rub play krdil, kôrjiut chut -- **** 擦 cā (SV sát) [ ~ VS 'chùi', also, 'xớt' (rub) | M 擦 cā < MC tʂat < OC*srat | According to Starostin: The word is attested very late (the MC reading is taken from Zihui), and the reconstruction is thus unreliable. In Viet. cf. also xớt 'to rub, touch lightly, pounch on'. Standard Sino-Viet. is sát. | Ex. 擦鹽 cāyán: VS 'xátmuối' (rub salt on) ]
tặng give ám dăng youn àn ***** 贈 zèng (SV tặng) [ M 贈 zèng < MC tsɦəɒŋ < OC *dzəŋ || Note: for VS 'cho' (give), we could posit 給 jǐ, gěi (SV cấp), but for 'tặng' obviously this is a loanword from Chinese for which the variant 送 sòng (SV tống) which is possibly a doublet. ]
lấy take syo pai êit nhưp **** 拿 ná (SV nã) [ M 拿 ná < MC na < OC *nhra: || Dialects: Nanchang lak41, Cantonese na12 (coloquial /lɔ12/, /lɔ3/) ]
dệt (?) sew chep ih yêih jinh **** 織 zhī, zhì (SV chức, thức) [ M 織 zhī < MC tʂək, tʂɨ < OC *tjəkh, *tjək | Note: the word 'dệt' cited here does not mean 'sew', for which the corresponding Vietnamese form should be VS 'may' or C 鑝 péng. Vietnmese 'dệt' appears to be an attempt to match the Mon-Khmer forms to denote the concepts of 'weave' or 'plait'. In the sense of 'sew' that might be a flaw in translation that shows the poor knowledge of linguistics by Thomas' informants that went unchecked. ]
cột tie takue ngkat chằq nchap **** 結 jié (SV kết) [ M 結 jié < MC kiet < OC *ki:t ]
đào dig chia pich(?) piq khwày **** 鑿 záo (SV tạc) [ M 鑿 záo < MC ʑʌk < OC *ʑha:kʷ ]
thở breathe ihianm ahâm tangứh ta-nơm **** 吸 xī (SV hấp) [ ~ VS 'hít' (inhale) | M 吸 xī < MC xip < OC *sŋjəp | According to Starostin: to inhale, to absorb (L.Zhou). In Viet. cf. also 'hớp' (sip), 'húp' (drink) | ex. 呼吸 hūxī ~ VS #'hítthở' (breathe) ]
thổi blow hluap kabru kuhôuh khlôm **** 吹 chuī (SV xuy, xuý) [ M 吹 chuī < MC tɕwe < OC *thoj | ¶ ch- ~ th- | Note: No Mon-Khmer etymon fits in the picture but Chinese 吹 chuī is plausibly cognate to Vietnamese 'thổi'. ]
biết know nany nal dáng gứt **** biết [ M (?) | VS biết ~ Chin. Hainanese /bat7/, Fuzhou /paiʔ/ AM /bat/ ‘to know, to recognize’, AM b-generally corresponds to FC m-; the upper register tone with a voiced initial is also incongruous. Douglas gives a Tung-an form pat for Southern Min, so we regard the AM form as irregular. We can compare all these forms with V 'biết' ‘to know, to recognize.’ Source: The Austroasiatics in Ancient South China: Some Lexical Evidence ]
sợ fear takhen kakhin ngkắh phung **** 懼 jù (SV cụ) [ Vh @ M 懼 (惧) jù < MC gǜ < OC *ghʷas | cf. 怯 qiē (SV khiếp) ~ VS 'nhát', 'khớp' (scared) | Note: in reality, as doublets in other languages, there are several Chinese words all conveying the notation of of 'fear'. If we take frequency of common use then 怕 pà would come into the picture, M 怕 pà (SV phạ) pà < MC pɑ < OC *phra:ks, ¶ /b- (p-) ~ s-/, among other similar words such as 怵 chù, 悚 sǒng, 懾 shè​, or 慴 zhé, etc., simply to convey the concept of 'fear'. ]
semi-phonemic list by Kenneth Smith, using Richard Phillips' script semi-phonemic list by Eva Burton semi-phonemic list by John Miller semi-phonemic list by David Thomas

Let us continue to examine another representative work by Wilson (1966) in which the author sided with the views of J. Przyluski, Thomas, and Buttinger in her quoted statement: “Both the Vietnamese language and the Mường dialects are based on a Mon-Khmer (Cambodian) vocabulary. The words for numbers, family relationships, and domestic animals are of Mon-Khmer origin.” (p. 203) In that survey she calculated the percentage of

“196 basic Mường words compared with the Mon-Khmer family, 65 or 33% are apparent cognates with three or more Mon-Khmer languages. Another 30 possible cognates appear on the second list. Together the two lists yield 48%. Either of these percentages seems to establish Mường as a member of the Mon-Khmer family. This in turn would lend additional strength to the arguments for the inclusion of Vietnamese in the Mon-Khmer family.” (p.213)

Note that in the cited percentages above, the proposed cognates were actually scattered among "three or more Mon-Khmer languages" that might not be related and their cited items could possibly be loanwords from the highly Sinicized ancient Annamese – an ancestral form of modern Vietnamese — after the split of both Viet and Muong from the supposedly common parent language Vietmuong approximately 1,000 years ago (Nguyen Ngoc San. 1993. p. 5). We could further postulate that their basic cognates were likely influenced by those neighboring Mon-Khmer languages. This proposition will fit into Wilson's comment that “Mường seems to show greater similarities to the Mon-Khmer languages than does Vietnamese.” (p. 204)

Regarding to Wilson's statement we could assert the same argument for the Chinese and Vietnamese cogantes, much more plausible, in the realm of basic words with stronger supposition, e.g., virtually all words of family relationships are the same in both Vietnamese and Chinese, including, interestingly, dialects of the latter. Like all wordlists cited in the tables below, the point to be made here is that Wilson was unaware that many basic Chinese words (“Both the Vietnamese language and the Mường dialects are based on a Mon-Khmer (Cambodian) vocabulary.” ) also show similarity within her wordlist, which accordingly takes even a much higher command of percentage in terms of cognateness.

The same provision is made for what exactly appears in the list collected by Thomas above because many of the quoted words commonly listed between them are, again, partly shared by either or both Chinese and several Sino-Tibetan languages (see Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.) In any cases, it is noted that this phenomenon is a typical and their approaches have been followed closedly or based on as a springboard for their research by many specialists of Vietnamese. Everything has been revolving around this worn-out axis and nothing new emerges from all those weather-beaten paths with faulty axioms, that is, 'Muong < Viet-Muong', and 'Muong ~ Mon-Khmer', hence, 'Vietnamese = Mon-Khmer', similar to those of Wilson's of which her conclusion had been drawn from a list compiled from local interpreters on some institute-funded summer fieldtrip.

The followings are all “the better attested cognates listed first in the list” (p. 204) and more.

Note: The Mon-Khmer languages considered are Bahnar (Bah), Sedang (Sed), Bơnam (Bnm), Jeh, Rơngao (Rng), Cua, Hre of the Kontum area; Mnong Gar (Gar), Mnong Biat (Biat), Chrao (Chr), Koho of the southern area of South Vietnam highlands; Katu, Bru, Pơkoh (Pko) of the northern area of South Vietnam; Boloven (Bol), Laʔven (Lv), Alak of southern Laos; Kui of east Thailand; and Khmer (Khm) of Cambodia. (p.204)

(Note for the immediate table below: Chinese correspondences as suggested by dchph. A count of stars from * to ****** indicates degrees of cognateness, i.e., plausibility, between the Chinese and Vietnamese etyma in relation with the respective cited Mon-Khmer etymon.)

Table 9C.3 – Basic words in Vietnamese and some Mon-Khmer languages by Wilson

English Vietnamese Mường Mon-Khmer cognates Comments
         
animal convật kon vật kon se mprem (Bah); kon tye (Sed); kon kohnem (Jeh); kong kyak (Rng) *** 禽獸 qínshòu (SV cầmthú) [ Also, VS 'conthú' (animal) | M 禽獸 qínshòu \ @ 禽 qín ~ con, @ 獸 shòu ~ vật | M 禽 qín < MC gim < OC *ghjəm || M 獸 shòu < MC ʂjəw < OC *ʔjəwʔh | See item 'chim' in this table.]
bird chim chim chium (Biat); tyim (Sed); tym (Rng); sim (Koho) **** 禽 qín (SV cầm) [ M 禽 qín < MC gim < OC *ghjəm | Note: modern M 鳥 niăo (điểu), Hai. jiăo, Chaozhou ʑin12, Wenzhou ʑiaŋ12, Shuangfeng: ʑin12 | According to Starostin, the character is more frequently used (since L.Zhou) with the meaning 'wild bird(s)' ('something caught'), whereas for the meaning 'to catch, capture' one uses the character 擒. ]
bone xương sương kusieng (Sed); kưseng (Rng); seng (Hre); ksiing; ch'eng (Khm) ** 腔 qiāng (SV xoang) [ M 腔 qiāng < MC khjawŋ < OC *khaɨwŋ | See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas. ]
child trẻcon dươkon kon (Hre, Pko, Bru); kon (Chr, Briat, Koho, Bah); koon (kui) **** 稚子 zhìzǐ (SV trĩtử) | M 穉 (稺, 稚) zhì < MC ɖì < OC *ɫhǝjʔ || M 子 zī, zǐ, zì, zí, zi, cí (tử, tý) < MC tsjɤ, tsjy < OC *cɑʔ, *cɑʔs || Dialects: M 囝 jiăn (~ 子 zǐ) ’child’ Fukienese (Amoy) /kẽ/, Hananese /ke1/, which could have originated from an Austroasiatic form as /kiã/ ‘son, child’. || Handian: 稚子 zhìzǐ 亦作 “穉子”, “稺子”。幼子;小孩。 唐 寒山《詩》之二四八:“餘 勸 諸 稚子,急 離 火宅 中。三 車 在 門外,載 你 免 飄蓬。” 元 楊載《春 晚 喜 晴》詩:“歌 呼 從 穉子,談笑 或 嘉賓。” | Note: the 稚子 zhìzǐ postulated hereof is to match the cited "trẻcon", but, in effect, the monosyllabic "囝 jiăn 子 zǐ)" would suffice.]
cloud mây mơl hamơl (Bah); Kamơl (Kui); hmưl (Bru); hmol (Lv) *** 雲 yún (SV vân) [ M 雲 yún < MC hʊn < OC *whjən, ¶ OC *wh- ~ m- | According to Starostin: For *wh- cf. Min forms: Xiamen hun2, Chaozhou hŋ2, Fuzhou huŋ2. | § 雨 yǔ (vũ) mưa | ¶ y- ~ m- | Note: See etymon in the list above for 'mây' and also for 霧 wù (SV vụ, VS mù) listings in the previous chapter and more in Chapter Ten on the Sino-Tibetan etymologies. ]
cut cắt kayk kơtac (Katu); kat (Bah, Bru, Hre, Chr); chiat (Lv); siat (Kojo) **** 割 gē (SV cát) [ M 割 gē < MC kat < OC *ka:t | According to Starostin: to injure. A somewhat later meaning (attested since L. Chou) is "to cut, clip". Viet. cắt is colloquial; regular Sino-Viet. is cát. | Note: Undisputably both forms in Vietnamese and Chinese are cognate, and, interestingly, so are other Mon-Khmer forms; they all might be either related or mearly coincidental, just like 'cut' in English or 'couper' in French. ]
heart tim tláy nó plii noyh (Hre); Ple nuih (Bah); nuyh (Chr) ****** 心 xīn (SV tâm) [ M 心 xīn < MC sjɔm < OC*sjɔm | Dialects: Hainanese /tim1/ | Note: Undisputably both forms in Vietnamese and Chinese are cognate and they could not be coincidental. For this basic word, no other Mon-Khmer forms are cognate to that of VS 'tim'. ]
here nầy luơ nì nih (Khm); ne (Bol); n'he (Chr); nẹẹ (Kui) *** 這 zhè (SV giả) [ ~ VS 'đây' | M 這 zhè, zhèi | ¶ zh- ~ d(đ)-, d- ~ n- ]
hunt săn payng pơn pain (Alak); pănh (Chr); tow bănh (Khm) *** 田 tián (SV điền) [ Also, VS 'đồng' (paddy field) | M 田 tián < MC dien < OC *lhi:n | ¶ (*OC) l- ~ s- : ex.. lián 蓮 (SV liên) ~ VS sen (lotus). Cf. modern M 獵 liè: VS 'săn' (hunt), ex. 打獵 dăliè: VS 'đisăn' (go hunting), 獵手 lièshǒu: VS 'thợsăn' (hunter) | According to Starostin: For *lh- cf. Min forms (with secondary palatalization): Chaozhou chaŋ2, Fuzhou cheŋ2, Jianou chaiŋ2. Used also for a homonymous (and possibly related) *lhi:n 'to hunt'. ]
husband chồng owng ong (Bnm); ʔong (Hre); kơmong (Sed) *** 君 jūn (SV quân) [ M 君 jūn < MC kʊn < OC *kur | According to Starostin: lord, lady; prince, ruler; head. Cf. Tib. bkur-ba 'veneration, worship', Kach. s^akawn 'to praise, extol' > ST *kur. | Note: modern Chinese word for 'husband' is a dissyllabic 丈夫 zhàngfu which could have evolved into the etymon for the Vietnamese contracted form 'chồng' whence 君 jūn at the same time becomes associated with 'chàng' or 郎 láng (man) as in '何日君再來? Hérì jūn zàilái? 'Ngàynào chàng trởlại?' ("When will my man come back?", or "When will 'you' come back?") in which 君 jūn could be assimilated with chồng (husband), both can be used as a personal pronoun in address. See the previous list for elaboration on this etymon, more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan Etymologies. ]
leaf lá lá la (Chr); là; laa (Rng, Lv); hla (Bah, Hre, Cua, Katu); hlaa (kui); hala/sala (Bru) **** 葉 yè (SV diệp) [ M 葉 yè < MC jep < AC *lhap < OC *lap < PC **lɒp || Note: it appears that all forms cited here are cognate. (See the previous list for elaboration on this etymon and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. )]
liver lòng, gan lom klơm (Bah, Biat); k'lơm (Bol); kloom (Lv, Alak) ****** 肝 gān (SV can) [ Viet. 'gan' (liver) = M 肝 gān < MC kan < OC *kan. | Note: On the one hand, Vietnamese 'lòng' is 心 xīn 'heart' (VS tim) ~ M 心 xīn < MC sjəm < OC *sjəm (< *ljəŋʷ). Note pre-Sino-Vietnamese *sjʌmʔ, § Cant. /sʌm5/, Old Viet.: lâm. For VS 'lòng' /lɔŋʷ/ and 'tim', SV tâm /tʌm/. Cf. 點心 diănxīn: SV 'điểmtâm' ~> VS 'lótlòng' (snack, breakfast). On the other hand, while the Mon-Khmer forms 'lom', 'klơm', and 'kloom' point to 'lòng', we cannot relate either with VS 'gan' (liver) here . Does Wilson imply /kl-/ for both here? ]
louse chí chí ch'i (Biat); chai (Lv, Alak); si (Chr); nhcee (Kui) **** 虱 shī (SV siết, sắt) [ M 虱 shī ~ M 蝨 shī < MC ʂit < OC *srit | Note: it appears that all forms cited here are cognate. ]
mother mẹ mê mè (Koho); me (Bah); meʔ mey Chr)' meeʔ (Katu, Alak); ʔameeʔ (Kui) **** 母 mǔ (SV mẫu) [ ~ VS 'mẹ, mệ, mợ, mạ' | M 母 mǔ < MC myw < OC * mjəʔ ]
nose mũi mũi mui (Katu); mu (Bol); muh (Koho, Bah, Cua, Chr); mụh (Khui, Bru, Hre) ** 鼻 bí (SV tỵ) [ M 鼻 bí < MC pɦji < OC *bji | Pulleyblank: The Yuan and modern Mandarin readings as well in other modern dialects, e.g. Taiyuan piə', Amoy literary pit, imply E. bjit, L. pɦjit. | ¶ b- ~ m- || Except for the Chinese, there is no doubt that all forms are cognate. However speculative it is, based on the pattern ¶ b- ~ m-, there still exists the possibility for the Chinese-Vietnamese cognacy. See elaboration on this etymon in in the previous list by Thomas. ]
rain mưa mưa mưa (Lv); mia (Kui, Bru); mih (Gar); mi (Bah, Chr) *** 雨 yǔ (SV vũ) [ M 雨 yǔ < MC hʊ < OC *haʔ | FQ 王矩 | See elaboration for this etymon in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. ]
right side phải tăm tam (Kui); ơtơm (Pko); atơm; sdam (Khm); tươm (Katu) ** 右 yòu (SV hữu) [ M 右 yòu < MC hjəw < OC *wjəʔ | FQ 于救 | cf. trái 左 zuǒ (left) | See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas. ]
root rễ reyk hrex (Alek); reh (kui); re (Sed); ria (Koho) *** 蒂 dì (SV đế) [ M 蒂 (蔕) dì < MC tiaj < OC *tɛjs | ¶ d- ~ r- ]
rub chà chuih chuy (Chr); kơkoy (Bah) toyh (Katu); Koyh (Hre) **** 擦 cā (SV sát) [ M 擦 cā < MC tʂat < OC*srat | Note: Interestingly, the two Mon-Khmer forms look more like 'chùi' (rub) in Vietnamese. If Wilson's local interpreter had been familiar with some linguistics, he would have had related this word to 'chùi' right away. ]
salt muối mơi/bóiʔ/boei ʔboi (Bru); mboh (Rng); mboh (Cua); boh (Koo, Bah); mwoyʔ (Kahu); pooh (Kui) *** 硭 máng (SV mang) [ M 硭 máng ~ phonetic stem 亡 wáng (vong, vô) < MC mwaŋ < OC *maŋ | *OC 硭 亡 陽 亡 maŋ | cf. 衁 huáng: 'máu' (blood) ]
scratch gẫy [sic] kãiʔ kai (Bah, Khm); kwaiʔ (Cua); kayʔ (Rng); kayh (Katu); Kar (Bru) *** 抓 zhuā (SV trảo) [ VS 'gãi' | M 抓 zhuā < MC tʂaw < OC *tʂaɨw | Note: Linguists mispell words once in a while, but mispellings like this IS NOT misspelled but incorrect, probably provided by local Mon-Khmer ethnic interpreters. In addition, other mistakes hereof shed doubts on Wilson's capacity as a specialist in Vietnamese or Mon-Khmer for the same matter. ]
sky trời tlơy trơy (Katu); trôʔ (Chr); trok (Gar); trồ (Koho); trok (Hre) ** 天 tiān (SV thiên) [ M 天 tiān < MC thien < OC *thi:n | FQ 他前 (Hainanese: 前 /tai2/) | Note: In V, 'trời' is 'giời' and a cognate to 日 rì (the sun) | See etymology in the previous list by Thomas and earlier chapters on this item.]
smell ngửi hít hiet (Bol); het (Khm); hip (Cua); hiep (Bah); huut (Lv) Based on the meaning and cited words given by Wilson, there are two different Chinese etyma for this:
(1) hít: 吸 xī (SV hấp) [ M 吸 xī < MC xip < OC * sŋjəp | Note: It is closer to those Mon-Khmer forms /hít/, /hiet/, /het/ with Vietnamese /hit7/. |
(2) hửi ~ ngửi: 嗅 xìu (SV khứu) [ M 嗅 xìu < MC xǝw < OC *xus | Note: This form is what it actually 'to smell' means and makes the Chinese 嗅 xìu (SV khứu) and Vietnamese forms 'hửi' ~ 'ngửi' that are cognate. ]
day ngày ngày ngay (Chr); ngăi/tơngăi (Khm), tangay (Kui); tơngai (Bol); tơngyi (Katu) *** 日 rì (SV nhật) [ ~ VS 'giời' | M 日 rì < MC rit < OC *ɲit. | See elaboration on the etymon in the list by Thomas above or other previous chapters on the Vietnamese etyma 'trời' and 'giời'. ]
die chết chét chet (Katu); chit (Chr); tset (Cua); cachet (Bnm); kơchit (Hre) ** 死 sǐ (SV tử) [ M 死 sǐ < MC sji < *OCsijʔ | See etymology in the list above or other previous sections.]
dog chó chó cho (Bol); choo (Lv); ch'o (Biat);tyo (Katu); tyoo (Rng); so (Chr) **** 狗 gǒu (SV cẩu) [ M 狗 gǒu < MC kjəw < OC *ko:ʔ | Proto-Vietic **kro | Note: This could be an early Viet. loanword in Chinese which then had become completely Sinicized. | See etymology in Thomas' list in the previous table above. ]
face mặt màt mat (Bol); mũh măt (Chr); mỗh măt (Biat); mukh meẫt (Khm) **** 面 miàn (SV diện) [ M 面 miàn < MC mjen < OC *mhens ]
eye mắt mặt mat (Koho, Cua, Hre, Katu, Bah, Sed, Chr); mạạt (Kui); matʔ (Lv) **** mù 目 (SV mục) [ M 目 mù < MC mouk < OC *moukʷ | Hainanese /mat7/ | See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.]
fat mỡ mỡ lơma (Koho); rơma (Bah, Hre); rưma (Rng, Sed) **** 肥 féi (SV phì) [ M 肥 féi < MC bwyj < OC *bjəj | See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas. ]
fish cá ka ka (Koho, Bah, Biat, Chr); kaa (Sed, Rng, Gar) **** 魚 yú (SV ngư) [ M 魚 yú < MC ŋʊ < OC *ŋha | See more of the case of the etymon "cá" in the Appendix M about origin of the English words 'catsup' and 'ketchup'. ]
fly bay pal pal (Cua); paal (Kui); par (Koho, Gar, Bru, Katu, Chr); par (Rng) **** 飛 fēi (SV phi) [ M 飛 fēi < MC pwyj < OC *pjəj | Note: The connotation of "fly" somehow are very similar in forms thoughout many languages involved. ]
leg chân chơn jơng (Bah, Bol, Koho); djong (Biat); jưng (Gar) *** 腳 jiăo (SV cước) [ M 腳 jiăo < MC kak < OC *kak || Also, 足 zú ~ SV 'túc' (foot) | M 足 zú < MC tsjouk < OC *ɕok | The Vietnamese forms both point to the modern Mandarin sounds that start with /j-/ and /z-/ while other Mon-Khmer forms are cognate. (See also "bànchân" in this table or etymologies on this item in the previous list by Thomas. ],
foot bànchân pan chơn pan tyeng (Rng); pang jơng (Bol); pyang dyeng (Bnm) *** 巴腳 bājiăo ~ #腳板 jiăobăn (SV cướcbàn) [ M 腳 jiăo < MC kak < OC *kak | cf. bàntay 手板 shǒubăn | Note: As discussed previously, the concept of the morphemic syllable "bàn" also appear in some other C dialects such as that of southwestern mandarin in Sichuan Province, China. Literally, "bàn" means "table", "panel", or a "flat surface". (See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas..) ]
four bốn pón pon (Bru); poon (Alak); pwon (Hre, Chr); phoon (Rng); puon (Bah) * 四 sì (SV tứ) [ M 四 sì < MC sjɨ < OC *slhijs | See elaboration oon etyma of numbers in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. ]
fruit trái tlai plai (Koho, Chr); plai (Bol); plăi (Biat); plei (Bah) *** 實 shí (thực) [ M 實 shí < MC ʑit < OC *lit | See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. ]
intestines ruột rwayk/ruot rway/rueʔ (Bru); rụạk (Kui); royʔ (Pko); proac (Koho); proit (Gar) ** 腸 cháng (SV trường) [ M 腸 cháng < MC ɖaŋ < OC *ɫaŋ | cf. Xiamen tŋ2, Chaozhou tŋ2, Fuzhou toŋ2, Jianou toŋ2 | For r-, cf. ¶ ch-, sh- ~ r- , ex. rắn: 蛇 shé (snake), sui: 祟 suì (misfortune) | See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. ]
hair tóc thák/sák sak (Brm); sẫk (Khm); sok (Alak); soʔ (Kui); chok (Biat) ** 髮 fā (SV phát) [ M 髮 fā < MC pjɐt < OC *piat | ¶ p- ~ t- ]
hand tay thay tai (Lv, Bol); taii (Katu); dăi/dăy (Khm); atai (Vru); t'i (Chr) *** 手 shǒu (SV thủ) [ M 手 shǒu < MC ʂjəw < OC *ɫhuʔ | Note: Also, there is 臂 bì (SV tý) 'arm' ~ > VS 'tay' for 'hand' | M 臂 bì, bèi < MC pje < OC *peks | See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas. ]
spit khạc chủ xàk kơchuʔ (Hre); choh (Koho); kacheh (Kui); kachoh (Katu) **** 咳 ké (SV khái) [ Also: VS 'ho' (cough) | M 咳 ké < MC khaj < OC *khjə:k, *khjə:ks | According to Starostin: cough. Mod. ké must reflect an unattested variant *khə:k, MC khaj | See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas.]
suck bú púʔ pu (Biat, Chr); pouʔ (Koho); bàu (Khm) **** 哺 bǔ (SV bộ) [ M 哺 bǔ < MC bo < OC *ba:s || Note: It is amusing to posit the Vietnamese word 'bú' as cognate with the Chinese 哺 bǔ. This basic word reveals something about their linguistic kinship that spread to other Mon-Khmer words as well. The puzzling thing is why the forms appear uniformly throughout all languages hereof? In all probabilities it is unlikely that speakers of any language needed to borrow from the others at all. It may be all coincidental or it could be residual from the common ancestral language simlar to those words 'ba', 'ma', 'mat', 'bay', etc., as previously mentioned. | See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas. ]
swim bơi, lội pơi loiʔ loi (Bru); looy (Kui); glơy (Hre); glai (Rng); glưy (Bah); zilois (Cua) **** 游 yóu (SV du) [ M 游 yóu < MC jəw < OC *lu | Schuessler : MC jiəu < OC * ljəw | According to Starostin: to float, swim; to wander about, ramble. With the meaning 'wander about, ramble, divert oneself' usually written as 遊. For OC *l- cf. Xiamen, Chaozhou, Fuzhou iu2. | For the pattern ¶ y- ~ l- ~ b-, cf. 由 yóu ~ 'bởi' (because), 柚 yóu ~ 'bưởi' (pamelo), 郵 yóu ~ 'bưu' (postal), etc. | See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas. ]
three ba pah paa (Lv); pai (Alak, Pko, Bru); pay (Gar); peh (Cua); pae (Katu); ʔapay (Kui) *** 三 sān, sàn (SV tam) [ M 仨 sā (ta) ~ M 三 sān, sàn < MC sɑm < *OC sjə:m | See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas and more on numbers in the next chapter on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. ]
tree cây kơl kạl (Kui); ơl (Cua); kơlaa 'bamboo' (Hre, Sed, Koho) *** 棵 kē (SV khoả) [ M 棵 kē < MC ko < OC *kwo | See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. ]
water nước dák dak (Bah, Biat); ʔdak (Katu); ndak/tak (Cua); daʔ (Chr); daak (Lv, Alk, Gar); diak (Hre); diaʔ (Kui) *** 水 shuǐ (SV thuỷ) [ M 水 shuǐ < MC ʂwi < OC *tujʔ | FQ 式軌 | See elaboration on the etymon in the previous list by Thomas for the ancient Vietic forms /dak5/, /nak4/, which is 淂 dé (SV đắc): Vietic "đắk" || cf. 踏 tă ~ VS 'đạp' (trample). ]
year năm năm năm (Biat); nam (Koho, Gar); hu-nam (Rng); ch'năm (Khm); xanâm (Bah) ***** 年 nián (SV niên) [ M 年 nián < MC nian < OC *ɲiɛn | Note: Apparently this is a loanword from Chinese. ]
green xanh seng seng (Cua); ceng (Bru); seeng (Pko) **** 青 qīng (SV thanh) [ Also, VS xanh 'blue' | M 青 qīng < MC chieŋ < OC *she:ŋ | Note: There are many words in C that connote this concept of color, and one among them could be 蒼 cāng VS 'xanh' (green), a plausible cognate. | See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.]
because bởi po pho (Bol); tai boh (Koho); phroʔ (Kui) **** VS ''bởi' [ M 由 yóu < MC jəw < OC *ɫu | ¶ y- ~ b-, ex. 游 yóu: VS 'bơi' (swim), 郵 yóu: SV 'bưu' (postal), 柚 yòu: VS 'bưởi' (pamelo) ]
dry khô xo xo (Chr); kro (Bah); kroo (Rng) ***** 枯 kū (SV khô) [ M 枯 kū < MC kho < OC *kha: | The Chinese and Vietnamese are obviously cognate, so those Mon-Khmer forms are much more like of coming from Vietnamese. Is this a Chinese loanword in Vietnamese? The lexeme appears in other compounds such as 'khôcằn' ~ khôcạn' ~ 'khôkhan' 枯幹 kūgān (dry up). ]
father cha, ba băk ʔbaʔ (Cua); ba (Khm); mba (Hre); bap (Gar, Chr) ****** 爹 diè (SV ta) [ M 爹 diè | VS 'tía' is more close to M diè, in the meanwhile 'cha' is more archaic: MC reading 假開三平麻知: FQ 知麻 tr+a ~> cha (M 知 zhī: SV 'tri', Hai. /tai/ < t-), in the meanwhile 'ba' is certainly cognate to C 爸 bā. | Note: The only thing is the uncertainty that Wilson did not know what to posit for this word, 'cha' or 'ba'? Her informants were apparently unable to relate the etymon to which Vietnamese word, i.e.,'cha' or 'ba'. It is not, therefore, mechanically to symply apply solely phonological rules alone would probably work with Indo-European languages but, in both Chinese and, hence, Vietnamese historical linguistics, here how this word might evolve into { VS 'cha' < 爹 diè (SV ta) < 爸 bā (Shanxi dialect /ta1/) }. Similar cases like this appear here and there in the list, e.g., VS 'chị' (sister): 姐 jiě (SV thư) for 姊 zǐ (SV tỷ). | See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan Etymologies. ]
head đầu tlok plo (Pko); plơ (Bru); ploo (Kui); bôk (Biat); boʔ (Chr) ***** 頭 tóu (SV đầu) [ M 頭 tóu < MC dɤw < OC *dho: | Note: Like several other basic words on human body parts, it is puzzling that how come a language borrowed so basic a word if they are not of the same root, given the disparities among other distant Mon-Khmer lexicons cited herein? Obviously, 頭 tóu = SV 'đầu', there is no coincidence here. See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.]
hear nghe mang hmang (Sed); mưng/pang (Bah); tơmưng/kamang (Bru); nang (Katu) *** (1) 聽 tìng, tīng ‘hear’ (SV thính) [ M 聽 tìng, tīng < thieŋ < OC *ɫhe:ŋ | MC reading 梗開四平青透 | FQ 他丁 | Dialects: Hainanese /k'ɛ/, Amoy: thiɛŋ11 $; thiã11, Chaozhou : thiã11 ],
Interestingly, Mường form of 'mang' points to this word:

(2) *** 聞 wén, wèn (SV văn, vấn, vặn) [ M 聞 wén, wèn < MC mün < OC *mǝn | According to Starostin: to hear; to smell, perceive; as wèn 'be heard, renowned' || See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas. ]

one một mòt mo (Khm); moy (Sed); mwoi (Chr); mooe (Lv); mooi (Alak); mơyʔ (Katu) *** 一 yī (SV nhất) [ M 一 yī < MC ʔjit < OC *ʔit < PC *ʔɨt (~ɠ-) | MC reading 臻開三入質影 | FQ 於悉 | See etymologies on numbers, especially 2 and 3, in the next chapter. ]
push đẩy dun tun/tul (Bah); runh (Khm); drung (Koho) **** 推 tuī (SV suy, thôi) [ M 推 tuī < MC tho < OC *thu:j | See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.]
river sông xong/khônh krong (Bah, Sed); karung (Katu); Klong (Bru); rong (Gar, Koho); dakhom (Lv); n;hong (Biat); khroang Hre) ****** 江 jiāng (SV giang) [ M 江 jiāng < MC kawŋ < OC *kraŋ | Pulleyblank : EM kaɨwŋ | FQ 古雙 | For /krong/ cf. 工 MC koŋ 'công') | See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.]
tail đuôi tuơy kan tui (Km); suwai (Lv), suêi k'nai (Bol); sooy (Kui) ** 末端 mòduàn (SV mạtđoạn) [ M 末端 mòduàn ]
ashes tro buing buh (Chr, Gar); bǔh (Biat); bu (Koho) *** 渣 zhā (SV tra) [ M 渣 zhā, zhă, zhà ~ phonetic stem 查 chá, chái, zhāi, zhā < MC ɖa < OC *ɫa: | ¶ zh- ~ tr- | Note: Speculation of this etymon is partly based on the articulation of Middle Chinese and Sino-Vietnamese. There may exist another word for 'tro' in AC or C dilalects given analogical cognates of 'than' 炭 tān (charcoal) , 'lửa' 火 huǒ (fire), 'củi' 柴 cái (firewood), 'mồi' 煤 méi (coal), 'đốt' 燒 shāo (burn), 'cháy' 焦 jiāo (charred), etc.| ex. 爐渣 lǔzhā: 'trolò' (stove ashes), 灰渣 huīzhā (burnt ashes), 炭渣 tànzhā (coal ashes) ]
breathe thở thǒ/thôn taʔ nhom (Koho); tangoh (Kui); tơngưh (Bru); tơnguh (Pko); tơng chap (Chr) **** 息 xī (SV tức) [ M 息 xī, xí < MC sjɤk < OC *sjək | According to Starostin: Shuowen 喘 也. 從 心 自. to rest. The original and more common now meaning is 'to breathe'; but during Early Zhou the word is attested only with the meaning 'to rest'. | ex. 氣息 qìxī: VS 'hơithở' (breath). Cf. 呼吸 hūxī (SV hôhấp): VS 'hítthở' (breathe). ]
narrow hẹp hèp hrap (Bah); hat (Koho, Gar, Rng); rhat (Biat) **** 狹 xiá (SV hiệp) [ M 狹 xiá < MC ɣɒp < OC *ghrēp | According to Starostin, not in Schuessler's dictionary (although attested already in Shujing). Regular Sino-Viet. is hiệp; cf. perhaps also xép 'small, narrow'. ]
neck cổ kel kal koong (Kui); ơkor (Bah); ka (Khm); kao (Gar) **** 喉 hóu (SV hầu) [ M 喉 hóu < MC ɠʊw < OC *ghro: | Note. 喉嚨 hóulóng: VS 'cổhọng' (throat) > VS 'cổ' (neck) | See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. ]
road đường tàng xá trong (Biat, Bah, Gar, Hre); ntoong (Alak; crong (Chr) *** 道 dào (SV đạo) [ VS 'đường' ~> 'đàng' | M 道 dào < MC djəw < OC *lhu:ʔ | FQ 徒皓 | ex. 街道 jièdào: VS 'đàngxá' (road) | See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.]
squeeze bóp póp bop (Chr); rop (Bah); katop (Bnm); kadap (Hre); rup (Katu) **** 壓 yā (SV áp) [ ~ VS 'bẹp' | M 壓 yā, yà < MC ʔap < OC *ʔrɒp | According to Starostin: Viet. 'ẹp' (crushed, flattened) probably borrowed from the same source). Regular Sino-Viet. is áp. | Note: similar to the pattern ¶ /y- ~ b-/, e.g., 柚 yóu: VS 'bơi', VS 郵 yóu: VS 'bưu', 由 yóu: VS 'bởi', 游 yóu: VS 'bơi'..., and for ¶ /Ø- ~ b-/, ex. 案 àn (SV án): VS 'bàn' (table), 按 àn (SV án): VS 'bấm' (press) (See more of sound change patterns in previous sections.) ]
wash rửa thươ/sữa rua (Katu); brưa (Lv); ruh (Rng); rao (Koho); riaw (Kui) *** 洗 xǐ (SV tẩy) [ M 洗 xǐ < MC siej < OC *sjə:rʔ | ¶ x- ~ r- : ex. 婿 xū (tu) rể, 鬚 xū (tu) râu | M also reads 'xiăn' (tiển) | See etymology in Thomas' list in the previous table above and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.]
woods rừng rừng krong (Gar); krơng (Katu); kong (Sed) **** 林 lín (SV lâm) [ M 林 lín < MC lim < OC *rjəm < PC **rjəɱ | See etymology in Thomas' list in the previous table above and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.]
small nhỏ nhỏ yo/yoh (Hre); ơnoh (Cua); yoh (Rng); ʔyoh (Bnm) *** 小 xiăo (SV tiểu) [ M 小 xiăo < MC sjɜw < OC *sewʔ | Dialect: Dialect: Hainanese /njɜw21/ | ¶ x- ~ nh- | Note: In Chinese the concept of 'small' has several forms, animate and inanimate, for example, 少 shào, 幼 yōu, 么 yāo, 微 wēi, etc. ]
hit đánh tayng nhaw toang (Bnm); ting (Bru); tiơn (Cua); ton/toʔ (Bah) ****** 打 dă, dá (SV đả) [ M 打 dă < MC tiɛŋ < OC * te:ŋ | Note: The Chinese and Vietnamese form are apparently cognate. | See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.]

Note by Ruth S. Wilson: The following words are possible cognates which may be more firmly established by further study.

+English +Vietnamese +Mường +Mon-Khmer cognates +Comments
         
- - - - -Chinese correspondences as suggested by dchph. A count of stars * to ****** indicates degrees of cognateness between the Chinese and Vietnamese etyma in relation with the respective cited Mon-Khmer etymon.
at ở ở a (Biat); ae (Km); a 'from' (Chr) **** 於 yú (SV vu) [ M 於 yú < ʔə < OC *ʔa | Note: in the Chinese dialect Cantonese 在 is used in its place and pronounced alternatively as /hɐj3/, which is also plausibly cognate to V 'ở'. ]
bark vỏ ta ntoh (Chr); kdoh (Rng); kưtoo (Sed); toʔ (Katu); kadoʔ (Bah); ʔndoh/ndoh (Bru) *** 皮 pí (SV bì) [ Also, VS 'da' (skin) | M 皮 pí < MC be < OC *bhaj | FQ 符羈 | According to Starostin: hide, fur, animal skin. Cf. perhaps also Viet. vảy 'fish scale, thin skin'. For *bh- cf. Min forms: Xiamen phe2, Chaozhou phue2, Fuzhou phui2, Jianou phue|2. | See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.]
big to to toh (Cua); tơr (Bru); t'om (Khm); tomix (Alak); trok (Hre) ****** 大 dà (SV đại) [ M 大 dà < MC dɒj < OC *dha:ts | Note: Interestingly, all forms appear to be cognate. The possibility is that this C word might have spread to other Mon-Khmer languages via Muong after its breakup from Vietmuong. | See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.]
blow thổi wơl hul (Jeh); thuơl (Bah); thor (Bru); thui (Hre) **** 吹 chuī (SV xuý) [ M 吹 chuī < MC tɕwe < OC *thoj | According to Starostin: to blow; play a wind instrument. Traditionally read as *thoj-s, MC c/hwe\,Mand. chu\i in the second meaning ('play a wind instrument'). Standard Sino-Viet. readings are xuy, xuý. || Note: There is no doubt that V 'thổi' and C 吹 chuī are cognate. | See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.]
burn cháy chal choh (Alak, Lv); choh (Chr) **** 灼 zhuó (SV chước) [ M 灼 zhuó < MC tʂak < OC *tekʷ ]
come đến tíơng teang hane (Alak); tuoh/ơtơt (Katu); tươʔ (Bru); tơrong (Bah) *** 逮 dài (SV đại) [ ~ VS 'tới' | M 逮 dà < MC dɤj < OC *lhjə:ps | See elaboration on this etymon in the previous list by Thomas. ]
dig đào tàw taa/tò (Koho); tyơ (Bnm); tong, tuh (Bah) **** 鑿 zào (SV tạc) [ M 鑿 záo < MC ʑʌk < OC *ʑha:kʷ ]
drink uống óng oʔ (Bnm); ʔoʔ (Rng); okʔ (Lv); ok (Bol) **** 飲 yǐn (SV ẩm) [ M 飲 yǐn < MC ʔɪm < OC *ʔjəmʔ | Dialects: Cant. jəm21, ZYYY: ijəm2 || Note: The Mon-Khmer forms /oʔ/, /okʔ/, and /ok/ sound more like V 'ực' /əjk8/ (swallow). ]
dust bụi pul thuli (Khm); gơthul (Koho) *** 灰 huī (SV muội) [ M 灰 huī < MC xuaj < OC *xwəj | Note: Another Chinese cognate should be 粉 fěn (SV phấn) \ | ¶ /f- ~ b-/, /-n ~ -i/, ex. 蒜 suàn: VS 'tỏi' (garlic) ]
fall bổ (?) pôʔ/poʔ bo/bong (Chr) * 爬 pá (SV bà) [ ~ VS 'bò' (crawl, climb) | M 爬 pá < MC pha < OC *baɨ | Note: Not sure what "bổ " exacly means here with the definition of "fall"; it is probably derived from "bổnnhào". An arbitrary Chinese word is temporarily posited here, which could be replaced with 奔 bèn. ]
fire lửa kủi ʔuing (Bah); ʔuing (Hre); uinh (Bol, Chr); ʔuyih (Bru, Pko) *** 火 huǒ (SV hoả) [ M 火 huǒ < MC xwʌ < OC *smjə:jʔ | See elaboration on the etymon in the previous list by Thomas. ]
flower bông hoa pong pooh/ʔbowng (Katu) *** 葩 pā (SV ba) [ M 葩 pā < MC bɒ < OC *bra: | Cant. 花 huā (SV hoa) /fa1/ | Note: Again, it seems Wilson did not to know that "bông hoa" could be used separately as a monosyllabic word and "bông" perfectly match the Muong and the other Mon-Khmer form. | See elaboration on the etymology of this term in the previous list by Thomas. ]
heavy nặng nạng ntong (Kui); leng (Katu) **** 重 zhòng, chóng (SV trọng, trùng) [ M 重 zhòng < MC ɖɔuŋ < OC *dhroŋʔ | ¶ zh- ~ n-: ex 這 zhè: VS 'nầy' (this), | Dialects: Hai. /dang2/, Chaozhou: taŋ22, teŋ12 | Note: It appears that the C 重 zhòng and the V 'nặng' are plausibly cognate. | See elaboration on the etymology of this term in the previous list by Thomas. ]
how thếnào thiớ nò neh nó (Gar) * 如何 rúhé [ M 如 rú < MC ɲo < OC *na || M 何 hé < MC ɠʌ< OC *gha:j Note: for 如 rú ~ VS 'nào' \ ¶ /y- ~ n-/ |, and 何 hé ~ VS 'thế' \ ¶ h- ~ th- ]
left trái tlai trai (Cua); ʔdaiy (Katu) ** 左 zuǒ (SV tả) [ M 左 zuǒ < MC cʌ < OC *ca:jʔ | FQ 臧可 | ¶ z- ~ tr- | See elaboration on the etymology of this term in the previous list by Thomas. ]
many nhiều từ ti dơng (Rng); diʔdong (Bnm); didong (Sed) *** 饒 ráo (SV nhiêu) [ M 饒 ráo < MC riaw < OC *ɲiew | See elaboration on the etymology of this term in the previous list by Thomas. ]
near gần khơyng khang (Khm); kơnh 'about to' (Chr) ****** 近 jìn (cận) [ M jìn 近 < MC gɣn < OC *gjərʔ | It is so obvious that both the Chinese and Vietnamese forms are cognate; cf. the antonym is 'xa' 遐 xiá (SV hà) 'far'. ]
rope dây thừng chaak ch'ẽ (Chr); che (Koho); sih (Hre);ksiʔ (Sed); kachii (Bnm) *** (1) dây: 線 xiàn (SV tuyến) [ M 線 xiàn < MC sjɜn < OC *sars ]
**** (2) thừng: 繩 shéng (SV thằng) [ M 繩 shéng < MC ʑiŋ < OC *ljəŋ | FQ 食陵 ]
*** (3) dâythừng 繩子 shéngzi [ If we treat this word in its dissyllabic form, as provided by Wilson's local informants, posited in reverse order, 繩子 shéngzi is the right word with 子 zi associated with 線 xiàn for 'dây', and it appears as loanword from C. ]
skin da ta tao (Gar); nto (Chr); n'tou (Biat) *** 膚 fū (SV phu) [ M 膚 fū < MC pʊ < OC *pra | According to Starostin: human skin. Used also for a homonymous *pra 'fine, beautiful, admirable'; during Late Zhou also for *pra 'pork; cut meat'. | ex. 皮膚 pífū: VS 'dadẻ' (complexion) | See elaboration in Thomas' list in the table above
smoke khói xoi juui (Alak); nhoy (Hre); nhoi (Bah) *** 汽 qì (SV khí) [ ~ VS 'hơi' | M 汽 qì < MC khɤj < OC *khjəjs) | Cant: hei31 | According to Starostin: vapour, odour, steam, gas. Attested already in Yijing, but absent in Schussler's dictionary. Viet. hơi is colloquial; regular Sino-Viet. is khí (cf. perhaps also Viet. khói 'smoke'?) | See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas. ]
split chẻ chẻ sre (Koho); treh (Chr) *** 切 qiē, qiè (SV thiết) [ M 切 qiē, qiè < MC chiet < OC *shi:t | See elaboration where M 伐 fā, fá, pèi (VS 'bổ', 'bạt'...) were posited for the questionable 'chẻ' listed by Thomas above. ]
stand đứng twãng tayưng (Bru); tưk (Cua); yuang (Bnm); yoong (Rng); yong dang (Sed) **** 站 zhàn (SV trạm) [ M 站 zhàn < MC tʂən < OC *tars || See more in the next chapter on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. ]
that cái kia káy lưaʔ laeʔ (Lv) *** 那個 nèigè (nỏcá, nảcá) [ VS 'cáiấy' <~ 'cáiđấy' <~ # M 那個 nèigè \ ¶ n- ~ đ- | M 那 nà, nuó, nèi < MC nʌ < OC *nha:r || M 個 gè (SV cá) M 個 gè < MC kʌ < OC *kajs | Note: Wilson's postulation of these vocables makes it difficult to find Chinese roots, if exist, for the Vietnamese cognates. ]
turn đi vòng [sic] kwong kuan (Khm) *** 拐彎 guăiwān (?) [ ~ VS quẹovòng | M 拐彎 guăiwān | M 拐 guăi < MC kwaj < OC *kwrjəs || M 彎 wān < MC yajŋ < OC *wiajŋ | Note: Wilson obviously had taken the face value of the V "đi vòng" given to her by her local informant without being aware the that the V "vòng" was totally fit those Mon-Khmer monosyllabic forms /kuan/ and kwong. In any case, I try to match her word 'đi vòng' with C 拐彎 guăiwān that is equivalent to V "quẹovòng", or 'make a U turn'. ]
what gì chì nchi (Koho) **** 啥 shà (SV xá) [ Also, VS 'chi' | Bk 啥 shà | phonetic stem M 舍 shè < MC ʂia < OC ɕia ]
and và và baʔ/pảng (Sed); ma (Bah); mơ (Koho) **** 和 hé (SV hoà) [ M 和 hé < MC ɠwʌ < OC *ghwa:j | FQ 戶戈 | MC reading A: 果合一平戈匣; B: 果合一去過匣 | Dialects: Wenzhou A: vu12; B: vu12 ]
black đen yòm gam (Hre); nggơm (Bah); tam/yong (Katu); jong (Lv) *** 玄 xuán (SV huyền) [ M 玄 xuán < MC ɠwien < OC *ghwi:n | Shuowen : 幽遠也.象幽.**覆之也.黑而有赤色者為玄.凡玄之屬皆從玄 || In C there are several word for the concept of 'black', for example, 黔 qián (kiền) | M 黔 qián < MC kɦiam < OC *giam | ¶ q- ~ đ- | ex. 黔首 qiánshǒu (SV kiềm thủ) 'đầuđen' (black hair) | In reality, like the color concept of red,in C there exist many word for "black". | See elaboration in Thomas' list in the table above. ]
cold lạnh chá khaw (Katu); tkat (Alak); kat (Gar); Kơkaat (Chr); takooʔ **** (1) lạnh: 冷 lěng (SV lãnh) [ M 冷 lěng < MC lɒiŋ < OC *re:ŋʔ | See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas. ]
**** (2) giá: 淒 qī (SV thê) [ ~ VS rét) || Based on other Mon-Khmer forms 淒 qī is likely related. | M 淒 qī < MC chiej < OC *shjə:j | According to Starostin: Protoform : *chijə: l Tibetan: bsil cool, coolness. Kachin: gjəci1 cold, gjəcin2 be cool, jəsi4 cold! (interj.), (H) ci cold, cin be cool. | Note: Wilson gives us "lạnh" which is not cognate to any of the Muong and Mon-Khmer forms while V giá and C 淒 qī strike a harmonious note on the etymon with other forms. Did Wilson just go to Vietnam just for a vacation on the linguistics summer institute or what? | See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas. ]
earth đất tất kơtiiak (Katu); dơkieʔ (Chr) **** 土 tǔ (SV thổ, độ, đỗ) [ M 土 tǔ < MC dwo < OC *daʔ (Li Fang-Kuei: OC *dagx ) | See elaboration in Thomas' list in the table above. ]
five năm nam tam (Hre); pơtam (Sed); podam (Bah); pudeem (Rng), pram (Chr); prăm (Khm) * 五 wǔ (SV ngũ) [ M 五 wǔ < MC ŋɔ < OC *ŋha:ʔ | See more on numbers in the next chapter on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. ]

Ruth S. Wilson's analysis:

"Four points can be seen from the cognate lists: First, frequent correspondences. Second, Mương form intermediate between Vietnamese and Mon-Khmer forms. Third, a wide geographical distribution of the cognates. Fourth, significant cognate percentages between Mương and the Mon-Khmer family."

Comments:

A different conclusion drawn from the same aforementioned lists demonstrates that the correspondences between those of Chinese and Vietnamese or Sino-Tibetan words (see Shafer's wordlists in Chapter Ten on their etymologies) are as much frequent and their frequency is much more with high percentage of plausible cognates.

The fact that the Mương forms stand in between Vietnamese with those of Mon-Khmer could be regarded as an intermediate vehicle that spreads those very words from one language to another, synchronically, possibly including numeral and basic words that scatter here and there. This view fits into the theory of "lexical ripling effect" of neighboring languages where, spatially, the Mương have been much more in geographical proximity closer to the Kinh people. Their languages undoubtedly intermingled and shared many comnunal words of the same origin, starting from the early stage of development of the basic to abstract concepts before the VietMuong split (Nguyen Ngoc San. ibid.), that are annotated with additional illustrations demonstrating possible Chinese matches, which could help substantiate postulates of cognates via cross-reference of different speeches in the Sino-Tibetan linguistic family.

What Thomas called “fundamental words” in Mon-Khmer are also fundamental to both Chinese and Vietnamese and, importantly, they are actually cognate to each other for more than 85% of the cases. As a result, the question of whether the Vietnamese genetic affinity with the Mon-Khmer languages can be established by being based solely on those wordlists is undoubtedly shadowed by the resemblance between Chinese and Vietnamese of the same words to the extent that they are reciprocal. Many of their basic words are proved to be closer than those of Mon-Khmer languages, not to mention their phonetic appearance and attributes are uniform in all other lexical features as well, i.e., tonality, semantics, etc., that is, all the subtleties existing only in genetically affiliated languages.

Let us go on to compare wordlists of Cambodian (the modern representative Khmer language spoken in the Kingdom of Cambodia), Mường, Vietnamese, Chinese by Nguyen Ngoc San (Ibid. 1993. pp. 48, 56) for which the author stated that they had no direct relation but did share commonn basic lexicons from the same origin (?) and where we can see that those fundamental words that are cognate to both Khmer and Mường may be cognate to Chinese as well, and that is likely the case, though. Similar to what is listed in both Thomas and Wilson above, note that all the listings below are inclusive, that is, no more plausible cognates or interchanges could be found among the cited Mon-Khmer languages. Meanwhile, the listings for Chinese and Vietnamese appear to be inexhaustible. That is to say, other etyma are not selected to list here for the reason that they do not bear any close commonalities to those etma under investigation.

Table 9C.4 – Basic words in Vietnamese and Khmer by Nguyễn Ngọc San (a)

English meaning Vietnamese Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách) Cambodian Chinese
(a) Body parts
belly bụng   puok ******腹 fú
neck cổ   ko ****喉 hóu
hand tay tay   ***手 shǒu
hair tóc   sok ***髮 fá (SV phát) \ ¶ /f- ~ t-/
armpit nách   kliêk ***腋窩 yèwā
trunk vòi   compuôi ***喙 huì
bone xương   choâng **腔 qiāng [ cf. 腔骨 qiānggǔ: VS 'xươngcốt' (bone) ]
chin cằm   thkiêm ****頷 hàn
meat thịt   sach ***膱 zhí (SV thức)
breath hơithở   comhai ****氣息 qìxī
tail đuôi toy atui **尾 wěi (SV vĩ)
tooth răhg răng   ***齡 líng
beard râu tho   ****鬚 xū
heart tim     ******心 xīn (Amoy tim1, Hainanese tim1)
face mặt   ****面 miàn (Amoy menkh)
buttocks đít     ****臀 diàn (Amoy kđất)
swipe gạc kaak   *****擱 gē
leg cẳng   keeng ****脛 jìng
nose mũi mus chromuh **鼻 bí
tongue lưỡi las   ****脷 lì (Cant. /lei6/)
spine sống(lưng)   khnong ***脊(梁) jǐ(liáng)
mouth mỏ   chompuh ***嘴 zuǐ
testicle dái tar/kơtal   ****玉(丸) yù(wăn) #VS '(hòn)dái'
knee gối kor/ơkul   ***膝蓋 xīgài [ cf. 'đầugối' ]
eyelash mí bir (Uýlô)   ***睫 jié
skin (thin) vảy paj   ***皮 pí
mouth mồm   moat ****吻 wěn
breast vú pu   ****乳 rǔ
skin da ta   ***膚 fū
gut mật   promăt *膽 dăn [ As Vietnamese names are mostly from Chinese, "mật" is more like "脾 pì", meaning 'spleen', though, not 'galebladder'. ]
sweat (oily) mồhôi (nhớt)   nhơts ****冒汗 màohàn [ cf. 膩 nì ~ VS 'nhớt' (oily) ]

Table 9C.5 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese (b)

English meaning Vietnamese Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách) Cambodian Chinese
 (b) Action verbs by men and animals
lose mất   bât ****失 shī (SV thất)
jump (nhảy)cởn kal   ****跳 tiāo (SV khiêu)
swallow (nuốt)ực   ak ****咽 yàn (SV 'yết')
swagger nghênhngang   srônghanh srôngngang ****昂揚 ángyáng [ cf. symnonymous doublet VS 'ngôngnghênh' ]
sway chạngnạng   changnang ***儣俍 kuăngliáng [ Also, variant VS #'lạngchạng' }
stagger kềng(càng), khệnh(khạng) (?)   nokiêng ****蹌 蹌) qiāngqiāng
wait chămchắm (đợi)   chăm ****等等 děngděng
? thelè   tlec ?
squat chồmhỗm (ngồi trướcmặt)   chrohok [in Khmer: 'sit in the front of' ] ****犬坐 quánzuò [ in Vietnamese: 'sit like a dog' (straight up with fore legs and squatting hind legs) ]
stand chànghãng, chòhõ chòhõ (đứng)   ***伸腳 shēnjiăo, [ Also, 'dangchân' (stretch out legs). For the meaning of 'stand', however, ****站 zhàn will be the word. ]
gaze lóngngóng   lngong ***望望 wàngwàng [ cf. variants 'trôngngóng', 'ngótrông'... ]
stupified lơngơ   lngơơ ***愣著 lèngzhe [ cf. variant 'chếtsững', 'sữngsờ'... ]
lead along dắt   đâc ***牽 qiān [ cf. VS 'kéo' (pull) ]
wear mặc   pẹc ***披 pī [ Also, VS 'bận' ]
buzzling laoxao   rôsao ****嘵嘵 xiāoxiāo
handcuffs còng   kong ****銬 kào
fell ngả   p'nga ***逵 kuí
break off bẻ   bec ****掰 bāi
beg nài(xin)   nai ***央 yāng [ cf. 央請 yāngqing: VS 'nàixin' (entreat) ]
cover đùm   đum **包袱 bāofú \ ¶ /-f ~ -m/ [ cf. 包庇 bāobì: VS 'đùmbọc' (protect) ]
peel bóc   booc ****剝 bō (SV bác) [ cf. 'variant VS 'lột' (peel off)]
squeeze nén   nén ***捏 niè
follow đòi(theo)   đoi **隨(著) suí(zhe)
shave cạo   kao ****刮 guā
pretend vờ   pó ***偽 wěi
rush chạy(rút)   rut ****走 zǒu
exchange đổi   đôr ****兌 duì
urgent cập, gấp   thkiep ****急 jí (SV cấp)
open mở   baơt ***開 kāi
close bít, đóng   baôt ****閉 bì (SV bế), ***關 guān (SV quan)
pour đổ   đôh ****倒 dào
clap vỗ   baôk ****拍 pāi (SV phách)
sunbake phơi (hong)   hal ***曬(烘) shāi(hōng) [ Also, VS 'sấy(hong)' \ ¶ sh- ~ ph-, ex. 煽 shăn (SV phiến) ]
fry chiên (rán)     ****煎 jiān
meet gặp   chuôp ****遇 yù
delimit vạch, vỡ   bach ****劃 huà
wash gội   kooc ***浴 yù
bake thui   thui ****燒 shāo (SV 'thiêu')
surpass vượt   foat ****越 yuè
slice vót   bâât ***刮 guā (SV quát) [ Also, SV 'khoát' > VS 'cạo' (shave), 'gọt' (shed) ]
cut, tear chẻ, xé   cheek ****切 qiè, ****撕 sī
break off bẻ   beeh ****掰 bāi
pluck bứt   baoc ****拔 bā
carry mang, bưng   băng ***盤 pán, ****捧 pēng [ With 盤 pán (SV bàn), it additionally carries several other meanings, most of them cognate to those in Vietnamese, among which are vocable "bàn" (table), VS 'mâm' (tray), 'ván' (a round, such as checker games), etc. ]
prick chọc   crok ****戳 chuō
grip nắm   noăm ****拎 lìng
drill khoan   khvan ****鑽 zhuān
shoot bắn   banh ****放 fàng
hold cầm   kăn **** 擒 qín
cover đậy   das ***套 tào
stroke vuốt   chbôôt ***捋 lǚ (SV loát)
shake đun, dun(dẩy)   tuul ***動 dòng [ cf. 'dundẩy' doublet 悸動 jìdòng: VS 'runrẩy' ]
rinse gột kot   ***溉 gài
hook up gài kaaj   ***扣 kòu [ cf. 'cài' ]
reach với pơơj   **騖 wù [ Also, VS 'bói' ]
stick in cắm   koăm ***𢳍 qiān
run chạy chăl   ****走 zǒu;
rise dậy yơl   ****起 qǐ
bundled hairdo búi pul   ****襆 pú
net fishing chài char;   ****羅 luó (OC *jraih)[ cf. also VS 'lưới' = SV 'la' (net) ]
comb chải; chas   ***梳 shǔ
firewood củi cus   ***棷 (棸) zōu
crow gáy tơkel   **呝 è (OC *ʔre:k)
give birth đẻ teh   ****生 /te1/ (Hai.) [ cf. 生 shēng: VS 'sống' (live, unripen) ~> VS 'tái' (raw) ]
wave vẫy kơpêh booc ****揮 huī
knock gõ     ****敲 qiáo
jump(?) cò(?) kò   *跳 tiāo (SV khiêu)
scratch gãi     ****抓 zhuā
open mouth há   ha ***哈 hā (SV ha)
burn cháy   chle ****灼 zhuó
sway chaođảo   chao ***搖動 yáodòng (SV daođộng)
burn đốt   dot ****燒 shāo
close eyes nhắm   nhăm ****眠 mián
cough out khạc   khac ******咳 kè
choke hóc   khok ***噎 yè
glide lượn   grôlang ****翔 xiáng [ Also, VS' lạn' ]
shelter nép   kneep ****匿 nì [ cf. 隱匿 yinnì: VS 'ẩnnáu' (hiding) ]
hurry; rảo   srao ***繞 rào
yawn ngáp   sngap ***(哈)欠 (hā)qiān
eat xơi   pixa, saơi ******食 shí
wide tùmlum   tlum **混亂 húnluàn (SV hỗnloạn) [ VS 'tùmlum' means 'chaotic', not 'wide'. In addition, this word should not belong to this category, i.e., action words. That said, the Mon-Khmer binome is probably coincidental in sound. ]
wailing lu loạ (?)   lu ***號哭 hàokù [ Note: the Vietnamese meaning for 'lu loạ' is unclear but there exists the binome 'luloa' (wailing). It is uncertain that the cited vocable is a dialectal, archaic, or simply sole Mon-Khmer word. ]
consume xài (tiêu)   chai ****消 xiāo
gnaw cắn, gặm   khăm ****啃 kěn
go đi   đảơ ****去 qù
ascend lên   laơng ***上 shàng
wear mặc   pek ****披 pì (Also, VS bận)
wear đội   tuôl ****戴 dài
lead along dắt   đak ****牽 qiān
descend tụt   trut ***滑 huá
carry in arms bế   bây ****抱 bào
embrace ôm   aôm ****擁 yōng
clip cặp, kẹp   kiep ****夾 jiá
weave bện, quấn   kbên ***編 biān, ***捲 juān
rocking lúclắc   hroluk ***搖搖 yáoyáo [ Note the interchange ¶ /y-~ l-/ ]
? dong (?)   đong ?
spread(?) dàn(?)   đal *陳 chén (SV trần) (?) ]
hide giấu chu   ****隱 yǐn
move dọn ktoon   ****搬 bān
scatter vãi   khvai ***播 bō
pour đổ   đôh ****倒 dào
choose chọn   chrơs ****選 xuăn
transport (?) vấn (?), vận   voan *****運 yùn

Table 9C.6 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese (c)

English meaning Vietnamese Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách) Cambodian Chinese
(c) terms indicating family relationship
mother mẹ   mđây, mây ****母 mǔ
older sister chị   chêê ******姊 zǐ [ cf. 姐 jiě, Tchiewchow-Vietnamese reads 'chế' ]
father bố   âupuk ****父 fù
other (people) kẻ (ngườita)   kê ***其(他) qí(ta) [ cf. variants of 其他 qíta: VS 'kẻkhác', 'ngườita' ]
child con   kôôn ****子 zǐ (Minnan: kẽ)
grandchild cháu   chău ****姪 zhí
you mày   mi ***你 nǐ
s/he nó   no ****他 tā

Table 9C.7 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese (d)

English meaning Vietnamese Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách) Cambodian Chinese
 (d) Terms indicating natural phenomena
lightening chớp ơchơp   ***閃 shăn
soil đất dak   ****土 tǔ
water nước;   tưk ***水 shuǐ [ Note: ancient Vietic forms /dak5/, /nak4/, which is 淂 dé (SV đắc): Vietic "đắk" || cf. 踏 tă ~ VS 'đạp' (trample). ]
wind gió   khzol ****風 fēng [ Also, VS 'giông' (windstorm) ]
sunshine nắng   prăng ****陽 yáng
warm ấm đăng (Mường khến) saơm ****溫 wēn
dust bụi pul   ***粉 fěn
vapor (sparse?) thưa (?) hơr   ***氣 qì (Cant. /hej1/ ?), 疏 shū (SV thơ) (?)
bubble bọt (nước)   popuh ****泡 pào
sand cát   khsach ***沙 shā
mount doiđất   chroi ****土岳 tǔyuè [ VS /tu2/ > /dɐt7/, /jwe5/ > /joj1/ ]
hill đồi   tuôl ***堆 duī
mountain non (núi)   phnom ****山 shān [ VS 'non' > 'núi' \ ¶ /sh- ~ n-/, /-n ~ -i/ ]
creek lạch   preek ****澤 zé (SV trạch) [ Also, cognate VS 'rạch' ]
salt muối   ombâl *** M 硭 máng ~ phonetic stem 亡 wáng (vong, vô) < MC mwaŋ < OC *maŋ | *OC 硭 亡 陽 亡 maŋ | cf. 衁 huáng: 'máu' (blood) ]
day ngày   thngay ***日 rì
copper đồng toang (Sách)   ****銅 tóng
root rễ   rưs ****蒂 dì
level ground bãi   vial ***坪 píng
cluster khóm   cum ***群 qún
deep sâu   ch'râu ****深 shēn
stream suối   chrôôt ****泉 quán

Table 9C.8 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese (e)

English meaning Vietnamese Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách) Cambodian Chinese
(e) Terms indicating space
next sau   kraoi ****後 hòu
left đăm (bêntrái)   sđăm **左 zuǒ (SV tả, VS trái)
right chiêu (bênphải)   chvênh **右 yōu (SV hữu)
next to kề   kịa ***切 qiè
everywhere khắp   krupp *處處 chuchu
this này   ni ***茲 zī [ modern M 這 zhè ]
that đó   nu ****那 nà
region vùng pùung dombon ****域 yù (SV vực)
scattering rải (rác) prai   ***散 sàn
large rộng   tuliây ***廣 guăng (SV quãng) [ The Mon-Khmer form "tuliây" appears to be similar to Vietnamse "tolớn" that means "large" rather than "rộng" 廣 guăng (wide). Even Nguyễn Ngọc San, a Vietnamese scholar and a linguistic teacher, does not seen to grasp the precise concept of the cited term, let alone Thomas or Wilson. The etymon of "tolớn" is "龐大 pángdà". It is no doubt that Chinese 大 dà is cognate to Vietnamese "to", hence, 龐 páng ~ 'lớn', 'bự' in association within the context.
tight chật   chứt ****窄 zhăi
far xa   chngai ****遐 xiá

Table 9C.9 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese (f)

English meaning Vietnamese Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách) Cambodian Chinese
 (f) Terms indicating animals
pig cúi (lợn) kur khun **豬 zhū, ****腞 dùn (SV độn, VS lợn)
bear gấu kù   ****熊 xiōng (OC *whǝm, Bernhard Kargren: PC **g'ium) [ See more on this etymon in the previous chapters or later in the next chapter on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.
leech đỉa te   ****蛭 zhì
fish cá kả pơka (Mãliềng) ****魚 yú (OC *ŋa) [ Note the interchange between the ¶ /*ŋ- ~ k-/ ]
cricket dế tiêl   ***蟋蟀 xìshuài
snake rắn than   ***蛇 shé (SV xà)
scorpion rết thút   ***蝑 xū (SV tu)
ant kiến ken   **蟻 yǐ (SV nghĩ) [ Note the interchange between the ¶ /*ŋ- ~ k-/, ex. 魚 yú (OC *ŋa): VS "cá" ]
louse chí, chấy chi (Pakatan)   ***虱 shī
horde ngựa mangơ (Pakatan)   **馬 mă (PC **mra:h, **mra:ŋ), ****午 wǔ (SV ngọ) [ Note: Besides 午 wǔ (SV ngọ) ~ VS 'ngựa', interestingly, the Pakatan form "mangơ" is cognate to 馬 mă **mra:ŋ. ]
dog chó ơcho chke ***狗 gǒu (SV cẩu, cf. 'cầy')
goose ngan   kngan ****鵝 é (SV nga, cf. 'ngỗng')
anaconda (?), wall lizard, trăn, thằnlằn   thlan ***蟒 măng (?), ***蝘蜓 yǎntíng]
flies, maggot ruồi, dòi   roi ***蠅 yíng, ***蛆 qū
crab đam (cua) (?)   kđam ***蟹 xiè [ VS: (1) cua, (2) cáy, (3) ghẹ. Note: Hainanese /χoj/ ]
mosquito muỗi   mụ ***蚊 wén

Table 9C.10 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese (g)

English meaning Vietnamese Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách) Cambodian Chinese
(g) Terms indicating plants
fruit trái(quả)   phlee ****(果)實 (guǒ)shí
gourd bí pir   ***匏 pāo (SV biều, VS bầu)
tree cây kâr   **樹 shù
motar cối kor   ****臼 jìu (SV cựu)
sugar cane mía   ompẩu ?
paddy tẻ (lúa)   sai; **(稻)米 (dào)mǐ
glutunous rice nếp   domnip ****糯 nuò
? gài kaaj   ?
banana chuối   chec ****蕉 jiāo (SV chiêu)
root cội, gốc   kul ****根 gēn
shoot (bamboo) măng   tumpeng ***萌 méng
sugar palm thốtnốt   thnaốt ?
mango soài   svai **** 檨 shē (SV soa) [ suã (Amoy) ]
betel trầu   mlu ****檳榔 bīnláng
fruit skin vỏ pỏ   ****皮 pí
? vả pả   ?
? vọp (?) poap   ?
sprout đâm(chồi), mọc đăm   **萌芽 méngyá
cluster khóm, cụm cum   ***群 qún
paddy lúa (dialect: lọ)   srâu ****來 lái (Starostin: 稻 dào SV đạo)

Table 9C.11 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese (h)

English meaning Vietnamese Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách) Cambodian Chinese
 (h) Terms indicating tools and utensils
fabric vải   kbas ****布 bù
fabric vải(vóc) pas   ***布(料) bù(liào)
lime vôi pôôl   ****灰 huì (SV muội)
axe rìu siw   ****鉞 yuè (SV việt)
lamp đèn kơten   ****燈 dēng
lid nắp dap   **套 tào
knob núm kảdum   ***鈕 nǐu [ Also, VS 'nút' (button) ]
basket nong kảdong;   **囊 nàng (SV nanf)
chop bửa pwa   ***礕 pī
mosquito net mùng mung   ***網 wăng
sarong khố khao   ****褲 kù (archaic SV 'khố', mod. M = 'pants')
barn cót, vựathóc caot   ***庫 kū (SV khố, VS kho)
pestle chày ksay (Thạchbì) khay (Vânmông) ***杵 chǔ (SV xử)
ferry đò   đo ***渡 dù (SV độ)
row chèo   cheo ***棹 zhào
raft phà vac (Mon)   ***筏 fá
steering oar sào   sao ****梢 shāo (SV sao)
screen panel phênh   pheeng ****屏 píng (SV bình)
jar lọ   krolo ***罍 léi
string dây   khse; ****線 xiàn
milk sữa(tươi)   ksây **乳汁 rǔzhī

Table 9C.12 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese (i)

English meaning Vietnamese Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách) Cambodian Chinese
(i) Terms indicating burning and cooking
stew kho   kho ****扣 kòu (Cant., ex. 扣肉 kòuròu: VS 'ruốckho')
burn đốt tut đot ***燒 shāo
charred burn xém   chnghiem ***煓 tuān
burn cháy   chhe ****灼 zhuó
broil chườm   choom ***炙 zhì
fry chả   cha ***炸 zhà
deep fry chiên   chhien ****煎 jiān [ Also, VS 'rán', 'rang' ]
burnt bỏng   kropoung ****炃 fén
fry in shallow oil rang   ling ***煎 jiān [ Also, VS 'rán', 'chiên' ]
deep fry rán   comranh ***煎 jiān [ Also, VS 'rán', 'rang' ]
roast ang, nướng   ăng ***烘 hōng [ Also, VS 'hong' (dry) ]
bake in coal vùi pur popuur ****烙 lào [ Also, VS 'lụi' ]
dry on fire hơ   chlơ ****烘 hōng [ Also, VS' hong' ]
broil thui   thui ***燒 shāo (SV thiêu) [ Also, VS 'đốt' (burn) ]
delicious ngon   chngan ***香 xiāng
roast quay (rán)   khvay ****烤 kăo
forge đập   teh ***煅 duàn

Table 9C.13 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese (j)

English meaning Vietnamese Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách) Cambodian Chinese
 (j) Terms indicating senses
spicy hot cay kar   ****苦 kǔ (SV khổ) [ Note that modern M 苦 kǔ means 'bitter' while for the connotation of 'spicy' is M 辣 là. ]
deaf điếc tek   *失聰 shīcōng [ <= (contraction of) SV 'thấtthông' /t'ât7t'oņʷ1/: '失聰 shīcōng' (loss of hearing) ]
salty mặn   prăn; ***鹹 xián (Cant. /ham2/)
sour chua   chu ****酸 suān
puckery chát   chot ***澀 sè
sweet êm (ngọt)   phớêêm ***𩜌 yuē (SV ngạt), VS 'êm' (?) [ This etymon is rediculously posited for V 'ngọt'. ]
smelly thối, thúi   sôui ******臭 chòu (SV 'xú')
strong order (garlickery) hăng   hăng ***濃 nóng [ Also, VS 'nồng' ]
ill-smelling khắm (?)   khmoh *餿 sòu
appetite thèm (nhem nhẻm nhèm nhem)   banhem ****thèm 饞 chán (SV 'sàm')
fishy tanh   srêêng ****腥 xīng

Table 9C.14 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese (k)

English meaning Vietnamese Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách) Cambodian Chinese
(k) Terms indicating state of appearance (adjectives)
skinny còm   skom ***瘦 sòu [ Derivatives: VS 'còm' < 'còi' < 'gầy' < 'gò' < 'sỏ' < 瘦 sòu (SV sấu) ]
weak yếu   khaoi ****弱 ruò
tattered rách   rôyêk ***襤 lán
limp thọt   khchook **腿瘸 tuǐqué [ <~ ® contraction of VS 'càthọt' ('be lame) ]
weary chán   chal ****倦 juàn [ cf. 厭倦 yānjuàn: VS 'chánchường' ]
sad buồn   pruôi ****悶 mèn (SV muộn)
happy vui   prơi ****快 kuài (Cant. /fai1/)
greedy chướng (thamlam)   chkoong ***貪(婪) tān(lán) [ modern Vietnamese is derived from the Sino-Vietnamese form 'tham(lam)'. For 'chướng' it is possible that is the sound change result of the interchange ¶ /th- ~ ch-/ ]
young trẻ   khchây ***稚 zhǐ (SV trĩ)
tired mệt   khmaơt ****疲 pí
new mới   thmây ***萌 méng
old già, cha   chas ***耆 qí
skinny còi   khsaoi ***瘦 sòu [ Other derived variants VS 'còm' < 'còi' < 'gầy' < 'gò' < 'sỏ' < 瘦 sòu (SV sấu) ]
narrow quắt(hẹp)   chongyết ****狹窄 jiázhǎi (VS chậthẹp)
aggressively strong hăng(mạnh)   kh'lăng ****兇(猛) xiōng(měng) [ SV hung(mãnh) ]
haughty căng   kênh ****嬌 jiāo (VS 'kênh')
lowly mean bậpbềnh (?)   pêpao ***卑賤 bēijiàn [ VS 'bêbối', also, SV 'đêtiện', plausibly means 'lowly mean' while 'bậpbềnh' is 'floating, drifting in the water' (漂浮 piāofú). ]

Table 9C.15 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese (l)

English meaning Vietnamese Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách) Cambodian Chinese
 (l) Terms indicating counting numbers
one một   muôi ***一 yī [ SV 'nhất' /ŋjɒt7/ > VS 'một' /ɱot8/ ]
two vài, hai bar (Ủylô) pir ***二 èr [ SV 'nhị' /nhej6/ > /haj1/ | Note: compare the initial /b-/ (p-) with number 'two' in those Mon-Khmer languages. See more on this etymon in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. ]
three ba   bây ***三 sān [ SV 'tam', Hai. /ta1/; also, 仨 sā: SV 'ta', VS 'ba' | Note: . See more on this etymon in Chapter-Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. ]
four bốn   buôn *四 sì (SV 'tứ', VS 'tư')
five năm   prăm **五 wǔ [ SV ngũ, /w-/ ~ /n-/, Hainnaese /ŋaw2/ 五十 /ŋaw2tap8/: VS 'nămchục' (fifty-five); for /lăm/ \ /-lan2/, as in '三十五 ta1tapu8lan2: VS 'bamươilăm' (thirty-five) ]
seven bảy píh (Sách)   *七 qī [ SV thất, interchange ¶ /q-/ ~ /b-/. cf. 匹 p (SV 'thất) ]

Table 9C.16 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese (m)

English meaning Vietnamese Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách) Cambodian Chinese
(m) Terms indicating adverbs
about to sắp   somrăp ***將 jiāng
very rất   rưt ***極 jí (SV cực)
conspire rắp (?)   răp ***協 xié (SV hiệp) [ cf. VS 'rắptâm' 協心 xiéxīn (make concerted efforts)
suddenly chợt, suýt   chơt ***突 tù (SV đột) ['suddenly'], ***差點兒 chàdiănr (VS 'suýt') [ 'narrowly', contraction ]
miss dỡ(dang)   stơr ***(耽)誤 (dàn)wù
otherwise, or else kẻo   krêêng ***要不(然) yàobù(rán) [ contraction ]
about khoảng   khtuông ***差不多 chàbùduo [ contraction ]
leftover thừa   sol ***乘 chēng (SV thừa)

Table 9C.17 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese (n)

English meaning Vietnamese Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách) Cambodian Chinese
 (n) Other words
spill đổ kơtoh (Thavừng)   ***倒 dào (SV đảo)
overturn đỗ tuh (Thavừng)   ***倒 dăo (SV đảo)
black đen ten (Sách)   ***縝 chēn
crinkle chau(mày) cho (Thàvừng)   ****皺(眉) zhóu(méi)
lucky hên (may)   hêng ****幸 xìng (SV hạnh)
turn lượt   lơc ***輪 lún
clearly(?), be rõ, là   la **是 shì [ Note on the interchange ¶ /sh-/ ~ /l-/ ]
misfortune rủi, sui   khsui ****祟 suì [ Note on the interchange ¶ /s-/ ~ /r-/ ]

In all the wordlists above, there exist the same issues with the affiliation of the Vietnamese and Mon-Khmer languages. What matches in Vietnamese and Mon-Khmer at the same time also matches both Chinese and Vietnamese, formularily, { Vietnamese ~ Mon-Khmer => Chinese ~ Vietnamese }, e.g., Thavừng /cho/ vs. C 皺(眉) zhóu(méi) ~ VS 'chau(mày)' (crinkle); however, it is not always true with the opposite direction, i.e., { Chinese ~ Vietnamese > Vietnamese ± Mon-Khmer } for the reason that there are so many SInitic-Vietnamese basic words that are cognate to those of Chinese origin but do not have equivalents in the Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer languages whatsoever. For those Mon-Khmer ~ Vietnamese words cited above, the real problem with the interposed Mon-Khmer ~ Vietnamese cognates is that their cases appear to be isolated and scattered among different Mon-Khmer languages. The phenomenon is not uniform in all Mon-Khmer languages. Besides, several words are plausibly dubious.

The point to be emphasized here is that analyses that underline theories of the Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer origin of the Vietnamese language are basically drawn from such similar wordlists, from false premises to reach a false conclusion. Nguyễn Ngọc San (1993) in his notable Tìm hiểu về Tiếng Việt Lịch sử (Research on the historical linguistics of Vietnamese) has the following Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer to Vietnamese summary as translated from his original Vietnamese passage that contains typically faulty interpretation of the misleading data as foresaid. Besides that, several wordlists and many of his valid pro-Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer arguments are quoted in this paper.

"Most of the basic words hard to verify their timeline are of Mon-Khmer and Tai-Kadai origin. While other words of Tai-Kadai linguistic origin in fact changed a little less because their phonological system has been more like that of Vietnamese since the 10th century, for those words of Mon-Khmer roots it is more difficult to pinpoint the period because they have changed a lot. Our observation is that those derived words that were lately formed show futher diversion from the original meaning. For example, the Vietnamese word chẻ [ dchph: actually, it is cognate to 切 qiè (cut) (all notes in bold within square brackets are made by dchph) ] evolved from the Khmer cheek and they both are close in semantics. When the same root diverted more to become xé [ actually it is cognate to Chinese 撕 sī (tear off) ] (following the pattern ch > x), the derived form conveys a new meaning, though. And while the word cắn [ Chinese 嗑 kè (bite) ] is still close to khăm, its derived gặm [ Vietnamese cognates of Chinese 啃 or 豤 kěn (gnaw) ] drifts further. Similarly, the meaning of cụt [孑孒 jiéjué as in 'cụtngủn' (pretty short) ] appears to be close to cot, yet, it departs further away when ngủn [ as a matter of fact, Chinese 短 duăn ~ Vietnamese 'ngắn' > 'ngủn' (short in length), 'lùn' (short in height) ] evolved as a derivative with its semantics having changed much more. When a new word was formed, it took over the function of the older form and its newly emerged significance will have evolved accordingly. For instance, the chas of Mon-Khmer origin that indicates the head of a village, equivalent to the word pò in those Tai-Kadai languages, changed its meaning when it evolved into cha [ actually V 'cha' is doubtless a highly plausible cognate of C 爹 diè (father) – with the interchange /t-/ ~ /ch-/ – that is also the etymon of VS 'tía' (daddy);. hence, the rest of the following of his statement is false then ] in Vietnamese but their meaning was still close when it changed into già (following the pattern /ch-/ > /gi-/) as in giàlàng [ probably equivalent to either C 鄉長 xiāngzhăng or 里長 lǐzhăng (village chief) where 鄉 xiāng or 里 lǐ could plausibly evolve into 'làng' (village) ] , and it still retains the original meaning by the time the word cha emerged, which then was used to convey the meaning of the head of the household, the leader of a small agricultural unit of a family." (Nguyen Ngoc San. ibid. 1993. p. 110)

This kind of postulation is typical and widespread in most works citing similar wordlists in order to support the theory of Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer origin of Vietnamese. Readers with limited historical linguistic background would take the short rebuttals on randomly picked etyma cited above seriously as true statements abot the Vietnamese language. Don't take me wrong, Nguyen Ngoc San's book on the historical Vietnamese is a very good one on which I have extracted so much valuable etymological data for this research; however, a bit of misleading and incorrect statements here and there will be taken and started therefrom as the baseline for the next generation of linguists. Pick a passage in any page of the cited book, we will find flaws. For example, on pages 154 and 155 (Nguyen Ngoc San, ibid.) on the implementation of historical Vietnamese to teach at grammar school of what the author drew from his conclusion that all the Vietnamese basic words started with the initial /ch-/ instead of /tr-/ are of "pure Vietnamese" native words (?), which is far from the truth. For this matter, what he actually meant is the 'true Vietnamese sound' vs. 'Chinese sound'. Let us pick only a few:

  • chổi (broom): 帚 zhǒu (SV trửu, chửu),
  • chuồng (animal pen): 圈 quān, quăn, juān, juàn (SV khuyên, quyển),
  • chén (bowl): 盞 (琖) zhăn (SV tràn, trản),
  • cha (father): 爹 diè (SV đa),
  • chị (older sister): 姊 zǐ (SV tỷ),
  • chú (paternal uncle): 叔 shù (SV thúc),
  • cháu (nephew): 侄 zhí (SV chí),
  • chấy (louse): 虱 shī (SV siết),
  • chuột (mouse): 鼠 shǔ (SV thử),
  • chuồnchuồn (dragonfly): 蜻蜓 qīngtíng (SV thanhđình),
  • chài (net fishing): 羅 luó (SV la, VS 'lưới'),
  • chỉ (point finger): 指 zhǐ (SV chỉ, VS 'trỏ'),
  • chạy (run): 走 zǒu (SV tẩu),
  • chèo (paddle): 棹 zhào, zhuō (SV trạo, trác),
  • chôn (bury): 葬 zàng (SV táng),
  • chừa (exclude): 除 chú (SV trừ),
  • chèo (laugh at): 嘲 cháo (SV trào, VS 'trêu'),
  • chém (chop): 斬 zhăn (SV trảm),
  • chầy (slow): 遲 chí (SV trì, VS 'trễ'),

etc.

Mostly all of the above have nothing to do with any Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer languages. You could play both the roles of a historical linguist and the judge, but you would better give an explanation for those words that are cognates in all languages under consideration.

While giving final judgement, cultural factor should be given with the high regard. Given the implication regarding "chas", "già", "cha" etyma as cited above, the Chinese 爹 diè is a better fit in the overall picture. Etymology of a word is not only about the phonetic shell, or vocable, and the semantic core, e.g., "tía" for 'daddy', but also the cultural story of it, e.g., what it means to be different from "tía" (daddy) vs. "cha" (father) with the same root '爹 diè' ~ SV 'đa' vs. 爸 bā ~ Shaanxi 'ta', of which all doublets are purely basic words that any languages on earth must have possessed and had not had the need to loan as recognized by the historical linguistic world. As doublets, their cognacy could be explained as etyma of the same human root that are having the nature of those universally basic words similar to /mat/ with Vietnamese 'mắt' (eye) found in many Asian languages, but only Chinese 目 mù (SV mục) 'eye' being regarded as culturally related with, that is, given similar usages in a variety of contexts, for instance, 盲目 mángmù ~ VS 'mùquáng' (blindly), 目擊 mùjí (SV mụckích) ~ VS 'mắtthấy' (witness), etc. In other words, unless etymologically proven otherwise, Sino-Tibetan etymologies -- assumedly having more cognacy with Vietnamese etyma -- ought to take antecedence on all else in favor of those Chinese ~ Vietnamese cognates because, along with their peculiar linguistic features, other cultural implications are naturally embedded in within that dominantly display in both tonal languages syllable by syllable. For example, with 葉落歸根 yèluòguīgēng there is the corresponding Vietnamese "lárụngvềcội" ('the dying leaf falls back to the tree root', figuratively to mean 'people long to die in their birthplace', where 'people' hereof embrace both the Chinese and the Vietnamese collectively) or similarly, 衣架飯囊 yījiàfànnáng "giááotúicơm" (good for nothing bum)', in all of which any Mon-Khmer languages are involved could not match. As far as we are concerned with the historical linguistics of the ancestral forms dated back some 2,000 years ago, after the long 1,000 years under the Chinese rule, it is logical to opt for the assumption that those modern Vietnamese words were either derived from Chinese or evolved from the same roots without regards to any individual Mon-Khmer match for each individually peculiar Vietnamese "lá" (leaf), "rụng" (fall), "về" (back), and "cội" (root), simply because they together could not make the complete whole idiomatic expression.

Forrest (1948, p.25) put it well when he paraphrased Karlgren’s words (K) in his work that:

“it is faulty method to compare [..] an isolated word in each of the languages; rather must the comparison begin with related groups of words in one and in the other language, words which, linked in both form and meaning, involve a buried phonetic element common to their group, beside which may be placed a similarly constituted group in other language.”

With respects to grouping, categorically, cognates should be examined in related batches of words in the same class. For example, since we have already known Sinitic-Vietnamese words for 'đầu' 頭 tóu (head), 'mặt' 面 miàn (face), 'mắt' mù 目 (eye), 'tim' 心 xīn (heart), 'trán' 顙 săng (forehead), and the likes, of which many are so obvious that they are barely mentioned in this paper, chances are that names of other body parts human anatomy could be also found for plausible etyma in the same class. For example, if 'phổi' 肺 fèi (lung), 'gan' 肝 gān (liver), 'thận' 腎 shèn (kidney), and so on, are cognates with those in Chinese of the same category, then other lexicons of the same class such as 'bụng' 腹 fú (abdomen), 'dạ' 胃 wèi (stomach), etc., are highly plausibly cognate as well. Furthermore, in the Chinese language there may exist parallel native entities -- that have been totally Sinicized -- within each class of the etyma that are synonymous but in different usages due to their geo-historical origin, of which one could be postulated with the plausibility that it had a southern origin, i.e., China South, e.g., 'river' 江 jāng vs. 河 hé, 'water' 水 shuǐ vs. 淂 dé, 'creek' 川 chuān vs. 泉 quán, 'dog' 犬 quán vs. 狗 gǒu, 'face' 面 miàn vs. 臉 liăn, 'blood' 血 xuè vs. 衁 huāng, 'head' 首 shǒu vs. 頭 tóu, 'eye' 目 mù vs. 眼 yăn, 'leg' 足 zú vs. 腳 jiăo, etc. Within each each class, for each basic word we can possibly identify at least some extended forms combined from the monosyllabic root such as 犬坐 quánzuò which is plausibly cognate to VS "chồmhỗm" (squat) rather than what is posited in the Khmer language as 'chrohom' (sit in the front of) (Nguyen Ngoc San, ibid., p. 49.), etc. In any cases, our new dissyllabicity approach that will include not only Forrest's "categorical principle" but also, collectively, derived words in dissyllabic formation, e.g., 'dạ' 胃 wèi > 'baotử' 胃子 wèizi (stomach), 'tâm' 心 xīn (heart) > 'tấmlòng' 心腸 xīnchăng (inner heart).

As mentioned before, works on the Vietnamese etymology by old scholars were normally done with a general comparative methodology based on the premise that Vietnamese is a monosyllabic language. We will also retain all old achievement as well, such as Thomas' axiom of sound changes, or to be exact, "phoneme shifts and mergers, as their imprint is indelible". (Thomas, ibid.) In comparison with those roots of monosyllabicity, altogether we will analyze their postulation of subsequent sound changes and what could have affected the whole process under different conditions and circumstances, phonetically and semantically, and how their dissyllabic variants appear in certain cultural context.

In other words, Vietnamese etyma should be studied in such contextual framework with their complete wholeness – consisting of both monosyllabic and dissyllabic forms and linguistic pecularities as well as cultural accentuation – so that specific words can be reliably assessed for their kinship and original meanings and even a timeline for their root, i.e., when a specific word was loaned, even in the case that without chronological hints linguists are still be able to secure and posit an etymon individually with certainty based on possible lexical residuals scattered in different topologies. From some of the cited words below, we can determine archaic Vietic and old Chinese etyma in a cutural framework. Except for the first 5 Vietnamese vocables taken fron Nguyen Ngoc San's wordlists (Ibid., pp. 98, 161) the etymology of other cases may be a bit more complex than what is shown here, though.

  1. anhtam: 兄弟 xiōngdì (brothers) [ ~> 'anhem' (possibly from '兄妹 xiōngmēi' to mean 'older brother and younger sister') ],
  2. cổlỗ: 古老 gǔlăo (antiquated) [ 'cổ' 古 gǔ (SV cổ) 'ancient' + 'lỗ' 老 lăo (SV lão) 'old'; Vietic /klũ/ ],
  3. cáisọ: 骷髏 gǔlóu (skeleton) [ <~ 'càlồ' 骷髏 gǔlóu (cổlâu) = 骨骼 gǔgé (SV cốtcách); Vietic /kro/ ],
  4. thiêngliêng: 神靈 shénlíng (sacred) [ <~ SV 'thầnlinh', Vietic /tliêng/ ~> 'thiêngliêng' ~> 'lành', ex. đấtlành: 地靈 dìlíng (good earth) ],
  5. chồmhỗm: 犬坐 quánzuò (squat) [ (literally) 'squat like a dog' ],
  6. hiềnlành: 善良 shànliáng (kindness) [ #<~ SV lươngthiện' ],
  7. sumvầy: 團聚 tuánjǔ (reunion) [ <~ SV 'đoàntụ' ],
  8. nóichuyện: 嘮嗑 làokè (chat) [ (C northeastern dialect), cf. 聊天 liáotiān (talk) ],
  9. luitới: 溜達 lìudà (stroll) [ (C northhineseeastern dialect) ],
  10. xarời: 疏離 shūlí (stay away),
  11. điđám: 隨錢 suíqián (give a monetary present) [ also, VS 'đitiền' ],
  12. đầunậu: 頭腦 tóunăo (big shot) [ SV 'đầunão' ('head' = VS 'đầunão' that means 'headquarter') = 首腦 shǒunăo (SV thủnão) ~ VS 'đầunão' > 'sọnão' (brain) ],
  13. khốnnạn: 混蛋 húndàn (son of a bitch) [ SV 'hỗnđản' @ 困難 kùnnán: SV 'khốnnạn' (hardship) ],
  14. hỗnhào: 溷肴 húnxiáo (confused) [ ~> 'impolite' in Viet. | cf. 溷淆 húnxiáo, 溷肴 hùnyáo, 渾殽 hùnyáo, 混淆 hùnxiáo, all 'hỗnhào' in V. ],

  15. etc.

To adapt such new holistic approach, we shall not only focus on their phonological resemblance and associated meanings but also, in addition among other linguistic peculiarities, their cognates in related categorical items. We will take Forrest's concept of "related groups of words" one step further to apply it to words impeccably associated with certain concepts of the same group and their expanded variants in dissyllabic forms that convey similar contents to embrace both phonological and peculiar semantic expression for the reason that in Forrest's time many specialists of Vietnamese still contended with the perception of dissyllabicity as a prominent characteristic of vocabulary of a language such as Vietnamese or Chinese.

For illustration of how dissyllabicity will affect sound changes categorically, let us examine etyma of the human body parts and their related derivatives in dissyllabic forms and then expand further to explore other basic realm such as human kinship which is considered by the linguistic world as the most stable words that resist to changes. While we have distinct denotation of each word, it is also connotatively related to other polysyllabic word-concepts within the same lexical class, for example,

  • mù 目 SV mục, VS mắt (eye), which must be a cognate because this lexeme, as an integral part of a whole lexical set within its semantic sphere and makes peculiar sense out of its fixed connotative expressions as follows:
  • mùguāng 目光 (SV mụcquang): VS # 'ánhmắt' (the look of one's eyes) [ by means of reverse order (#) with 光 guāng as 'ánh' | M 光 guāng < MC kwɑŋ < OC *kwa:ŋ | ¶ w- ~ Ø- || According to Starostin: Also read *kʷa:ŋ-s, MC kwʌ\ŋ, Mand. guàng 'be extensive' (probably < *kʷa:ŋʔ-s, cf. 廣). Schuessler prefers to read it as *kʷa:ŋ with level tone, but Karlgren seems to be right in distinguishing it phonetically from *kʷa:ŋ 'be bright' (a level-tone rhyme for *kʷa:ŋs > EZ *kʷa:ŋh is quite normal). Viet. quáng 'to dazzle, blind' is a colloquial loan (reflecting an unattested *kʷa:ŋ-s > MC *kwʌ\ŋ 'be bright, dazzle' ?); standard Sino-Viet. is quang. ],
  • máng 盲 (SV manh): VS 'mù' (blind) [ M máng 盲 < MC maiŋ < OC *mhra:ŋ ] which makes
  • mángmù 盲目 (SV manhmục): VS # 'mùquáng' (blind, blindly, indiscriminately) [ whole contextual loan with dissyllacity approach applied, simlar evoultion as 'mùguāng 目光' above. ]
  • dí 睇 [Cant./t'aj3/]: VS 'thấy' (see) [ vsersus base meaning of a cognate with modern Cantonese to mean 'gaze') ],
  • chǒu 瞅 (SV thiễu): VS 'xem' (look) [ Vh @ M 瞅 chǒu ~ phonetic M 愁 chóu < MC ʐjəw < OC *dhu ],
  • qiáo 瞧 (SV tiều): VS 'coi' (look) [ Vh @ M 瞧 qiáo < MC tsɦaw < OC *dzaw ],
  • yăn 眼 (SV nhãn): VS 'nhìn' (look') [ vs. modern Mand. 'eye' via semantic extension ],
  • qīnyăn 親眼: VS 'chínhmắt' (see with one's own eyes) [ via association with 目擊 mùjí (SV mụchkích) ~> VS 'chínhmắt' ],
  • yănguāng 眼光: VS # 'cáinhìn' (view, sight) [ by means of innovation. cf. 'ánhmắt' 目光 mùguāng (the look) ],
  • yănlì 眼力 (SV nhãnlực): VS # 'sứcnhìn' (eyesight) [ by means of conceptualization ]
  • yănlèi 眼淚: VS # 'nướcmắt' (tear) [ by means of association ]
  • yănkuāng 眼眶: VS # 'khoémắt' (rim of the eye) [ via reverse order ],
  • yănshǐ 眼屎: VS 'ghèn' (gum in the eye) [ by means of contraction],
  • yănpí 眼皮: VS # 'mímắt' (eyelid) [ via reverse order ],
  • yănjìng 眼鏡: VS # 'kínhmắt' (eye glasses) [ Also, 'mắtkính' 目鏡 mùjìng (Hainanese /mat7keng1/ ],
  • yănqián 眼前: VS # 'trướcmắt' = 目前 mùqián [ hence, 'trướcmặt' (at the moment), via reverse order ]
  • méimù 眉目: VS 'manhmối' (leads, prospect of a solution), 'vẻmặt' (countenance, look) [ via adaptation ]
  • méimáo 眉毛: VS 'mimắt' (eyelash) [ via association ]
  • méishāo 眉梢: VS # 'chânmày' (eyebrow) [ via reverse order ],
  • cìyăn 刺眼: VS 'ngứamắt' (unpleasant to the eye) [ also, doublet 'gaimắt' ],
  • xiăoxīnyăn 小心眼: VS 'nhỏnhen (narrow-minded) [ by means of contraction],
  • lăotiānyǒuyăn 老天有眼: VS # 'trờicaocómắt' (the Heaven is watching) [ via association ],
  • méiláiyănqù 眉來眼去: VS # 'liếcmắtđưaduyên' (make eyes) [ via innovation ],
  • ěrwénmùjiàn 耳聞目見: VS 'tainghemắtthấy' (seeing and hearing in person) [ via association ],
  • ěrwén bùrú mùjiàn 耳聞不如目見: VS # 'trămnghe đâubằng mắtthấy' = 耳聞不如眼見 ěrwén bùrú yănjiàn (Seeing for oneself is better than hearing from others) [ via association ],
  • guǒbàoyănqián 果報眼前: VS # quảbáonhãntiền (karmic retribution within one's lifetime) [ via loaning and translating '現世報 xiànshìbào' ],

  • and so on so forth.

For those specific examples above, besides the natural adoption of Sino-Vietnamese words such as "nhãn" for 眼 yăn, while it is noted that the Mon-Khmer form /phnek/ could possibly be cognate to V 'mắt' for the 'eye' by means of the sound change /phn-/ ~ /m-/ in either direction some time in the past, let us now raise the question of how their speakers 'look' and 'see', how they 'perceive' with their eyes, what resulted idioms relating to "seeing" could have evolved from their language, and what expression their 'eyes' are implicitly extended to related compounds beyond monosyllabcity into polysyllabicity realm? For all those cases both Chinese and Vietnamese cognates go hand in hand indiscriminately phonologically and semantically, uniformly and beautifully, which is simply because they evolved from the same source etymologically even before the Vietic and Muong speeches separated for at least the last 2,100 years or so in the face of the influx of different Chinese dialects that came with each repeated wave of the Han invaders from China for the following 1,000 years who have tried to attack Vietnam almost every decade continually after Vietnam's independence in the 10th century. Readers could easily get the linguistic point once they look into the history of the invasion of the Southern America by the Spanish conquistadors in the 15th century and and they will find relevant answers to the question that why more than half of the population in South America speak Spanish and how long did it take the Spaniards to have made them to speak their Spanish long after their nations became independence?

We can continue on with countless other Chinese and Vietnamese examples and relate them and almost any other etyma with the same contextual association, monosyllabically and dissyllabically. For more illustrations of similar cases let us examine more etyma on human body parts and related concepts existing in both languages as follows.

  • zuǐ 嘴: môi 'lip',
    • zuǐbā 嘴巴:VS # 'bờmôi' (lip),
    • zuǐyìng 嘴硬 : VS # 'rángcải' (long-tongued),
    • duōzuǐ 多嘴: VS 'giàmồm' (talk back verbosely) [ for 'già', cf. 多 duō (SV 'đa') ~ 'già' <~ 'cha' <~ 'tía' 爹 diè (SV 'đa') ]
    • ,
    • dòuzuǐ 鬥嘴: VS 'đấukhẩu' (quarrel ) [ associate of 嘴 with a symnonym 口 kǒu (mouth), a common linguistic phenomenon. ],
    • wāizuǐ 歪嘴: VS 'méomõ' (wry mouth) ],
    • piě​zuǐ 撇嘴: VS 'bĩumôi' (curl one's lips) [ Aslo, doublet 'trềmôi' ],
    • wénzuǐ 吻嘴: hônmôi 'lip kissing', [ 吻 wén: VS: 'hôn' ~> 'hun' (kiss). Also, wén 吻: mồm 'mouth' (doublet of 'miệng') ],
    • 嘴
  • dìng 腚: đít 'buttocks',
    • dìng 腚: VS 'đít' (buttocks),
    • tún 臀: VS 'trôn' (buttocks) [ cf. SV 'đồn' ].
    • pì 屁: VS địt (fart) [ cf. SV 'tí '| M 屁 pì < MC phji < OC *phijs, *phijts ],
    • pìgǔ 屁股: VS 'phaocâu' (chicken's butt) [ modern M 'buttocks' vs. VS 'lỗđít' (anus) ],
  • shǐ 屎: VS 'cứt' (feces) [ cf. SV 'thiệt'. Also, VS 'dử', 'ráy' (excrement) | M 屎 shǐ < MC shǐ < OC *ʂij < PC *kijh, ʂijh (Zhou zyxlj ]., p.251) | Shafer: TB *kip, Burmese: khjijh excrement, Kachin: khji3 excrement, Dimasa: khi, Garo: khi, Bodo: kí, Kham kī; Kanauri khoa, Bahing khl, Digaro: klai. Simon 19; Sh. 44; Ben. 39; Mat. 191.];
    • èshǐ 屙屎: 'ỉa(cứt)' (poop),
    • gǒushǐ 狗屎: VS # 'cứtchó' (dog's feces),
    • ěrshǐ 耳屎: VS # 'cứtráy' (ear wax),
    • ěrduo 耳朵: VS lỗtai (ear) [ by association and assimilation ],

    • of which 耳 ěr is associated with

    • ěrlóng 耳聾: VS # 'lãngtai' (partially deaf) [ VS 'lãng' <~ lãngtai <~ @ ®M 耳聾 ěrlóng ('deaf') | M 聾 lóng < MC luŋ < OC *rho:ŋ ]
    • tīng 聽: VS 'nghe' (hear) [ cf. (Hainanese /k'e1/) ],

  • jiăo 腳: VS 'chân' (leg) [ M 腳 jiăo < MC kak < OC *kak | cf. zú 足: VS 'giò' ]

  • which makes
    • bājiăo 巴腳: VS 'bànchân' (foot sole) [ (literally) "a 'panel' of the foot". cf. 腳板 jiăobăn (dialectal) 'sole'; cf. bàntay 手板 shǒubăn (palm) ],
    • què 瘸: què 'limp' (SV cài) [ M 瘸 què < MC gwa < OC *gwjaj ];
  • shǒu 手 (SV thù) ~ zhăng 掌 (SV chưởng): tay 'hand', which makes the
    • shǒubăn 手板: VS 'bàntay' (palm) [ (literally) "a 'panel' of the hand". cf. bàntay 巴掌 bāzhăng (dialectal) 'hand' ].

    Like 掌 zhăng (palm) in bāzhăng 巴掌 'hand', a later development 手板 shǒubăn after 手 shǒu 'tay' (hand), at the same time 手 appears in other related compounds that have given rise to many Vietnamese words with the same structure as in:
    • kōngshǒu 空手: VS 'taykhông' (empty-handed)' [ Also,' (bare hand', cf '空手道 Kōngshǒudào': SV 'Khôngthủđạo' (Karate) ] ,
    • xiàshǒu 下手: VS 'hạthủ' (put one's hand to) [VS 'ratay' ],
    • shǒuxià 手下: VS 'thủhạ' (subordinate) [ VS 'taydưới' (underdog) ],
    • chàshǒu 插手: VS 'ratay' (put hand in),
    • dòngshǒu 動手: VS 'độngthủ' (put one's hand to),
    • shǒuruăn 手軟: VS 'nươngtay' (lenient),
    • qiáoshǒu 巧手: VS 'khéotay' (skillfu)',
    • gāoshǒu 高手: VS 'caotay' (upper hand),
    • shùnshǒu 順手: VS 'thuậntay' (handy, at one's convenience),
    • qīngshǒu 輕手: VS 'nhẹtay' (light-handed),
    • zhòngshǒu 重手: VS 'nặngtay 'heavy-handed',
    • shǒuzhú 手足: VS 'taychân' (hands and feet) [ cf. 手腳 shǒujiăo 'taychân' (in the context of 'close kinship'), ]
    • yīshǒu 一手: VS 'mộttay' (connoisseur) [ Also, VS 'mộtcây' which might have evolved from yī shǒu 一手, literally meaning 'one hand' or 'single-handed' (subsituting 'cây' for shǒu while in Chinese it means 'he himself, he with his hand... doing something). cf. cây 樹 shù (SV thụ) 'tree' ],

    • and sometimes with alternations as the result of local innovation while the main core meaning still remains sticky, such as

    • shuǐshǒu 水手: VS 'thuỷthủ' (sailor) ~> 'taychèo' (rower),
    • qiáoshǒu 巧手: VS 'khéotay' (skillful) ~> 'hoatay' (magic hand),
    • xiàshǒu 下手: VS 'ratay' (act with one's hands) ~> 'xuốngtay' (put one's hand to),
    • shǒuxià 手下: VS 'kẻdưới' (assistant) ~> 'dướitay' (subordinate),
    • chàshǒu 插手: VS 'xíavào' (interfere),
    • dòngshǒu 動手: VS 'nhúngtay' (have one's hand in),
    • shǒuruăn 手軟: VS 'nhẹtay' (lenient),
    • shùnshǒu 順手: VS 'sẵntay' (handy, at one's convenience),
    • gēshǒu 歌手: VS 'casĩ 'singer' [ <~ Viet. @ 歌星 gēxīng; substituting shǒu 手 SV 'thủ' or xīng 星 for 'sĩ ' 士 shì, that is a common affix in building Vietnamese composite words, such as 'hoạsĩ' 畫家 huàjiā (painter), 'thisĩ' 詩人 shīrén (poet), etc. ]

We can further expand further into different categories such as family relationship, or kin terms, for instance
  • fù 父: bố 'dad',
    • fùqīn 父親: VS # 'bốruột' (biological father) [ SV 'phụthân'. cf. qīnfù 親父 (SV thânphụ) with both Sino-Vietnamese compounds used interchangeably in Vietnamese while associating @ M 親 qīn < MC chjin < OC *shjən with 'ruột' (blood-related) ],
    • qīndiè 親爹: VS 'charuột' (biological father),
    • diè 爹: VS 'tía' (daddy) [ also, VS 'cha' is a doublet of 'tía' that is evolved from 'ba' 爸 bā: Shanxi dialect /tá/ ],
    • bā 爸: VS 'ba' (father) [ Shaanxi dialect: /tá/, a doublet of '爹 diè (SV 'đa'): VS 'tía' and 'cha' (daddy) ],

    or
  • mǔ 母: VS 'mẹ' (mother) [ VS 'mệ', 'mợ', 'mạ', 'mái', 'cái'... ],
    • mā 媽: VS 'má' (mother),
    • mǔqīn 母親: VS # 'mẹruột' (biological mother) [ SV mẫuthân | cf. M 親母 qīnmǔ (SV thânmẫu). Note that the Sino-Vietnamese forms for 'thânmẫu' or 'mẫuthân' for 'mother' and 'thanphụ' or 'phụthân' #父親 for 'father' are also in common usage, yet, a bit more, not only using the Sinitic-Vietnamese ones to address parents.],
    • niáng 娘: 'nạ' (mommy) [ archaic and dialectal usages ],

    and other compounds such as VS 'bốmẹ' 父母 fùmǔ, VS 'chamẹ' 爹媽 dièmā, VS 'bamá' 爸媽 bāmā (parents), etc.

We can go on with other items such as 'anh' 兄 xiōng (older brother), 'con' 子 zǐ (child), 'chị' 姊 zǐ, 姐 jiě (older sister), 'em' 妹 mēi (younger sister), etc., even more with al other genetically-affiliated items. In short, all these words are interconnected in categorically-grouped settings.

As Forrest's concept of "related groups of words" could be expanded to other words based on "dissyllabicity" as sampled above, they can be also further applied to those derivatives as a result of "corollary", "association", and "analogy" (as reflected in Case study worksheet.) Derived words from the same root usually appear much different from the actual original sound base as a result that they are hardly seen as having originally shared the same roots at all because the dissyllabicity approach has not been utilized to substantiate evidences for those other sound-changed variants as in the case of the same monosyllabic core-rooted words, such as

  • 'tập' vs. 習 xí (practice) and its derivatives 'tậpdượt' #演習 yănxí (drill), 'họchỏi' 學習 xuéxí (learning), 'thóiquen' 習慣 xíguàn (habit), 'tậtxấu' #陋習 lòuxí (bad habit), etc.(習)

  • Similarly,

  • dòu 逗: VS 'đùa' [ Also, variant doublets: ''chọc', trêu', 'tếu' (funny, make fun of). cf. SV 'đậu' ~ M 逗 dòu < dow < OC *dho:s. For 'tếu', by associating 逗 dòu with 笑 xiào (SV tiếu) ],
    • dòuxiào 逗笑: VS 'trêughẹo' (make fun of) [ variants 'chọcghẹo', 'đùacợt', 'chọccười' (joke), 'thọclét', 'cùlét' (tickle) (Hai. /ka1lɛt7/) ],
    • dòuwán 逗玩: VS 'đùagiỡn' (play) [ variants 'chơigiỡn', 'giỡnchơi' , 'đùabỡn' (VS # 'bôngđùa'), 'đùadai' (play a trick on),
    • zhēndòu 真逗: VS 'tếulâm' [ being associated with '笑林 xiàolín (SV tiếulâm)', non-extant word in Chinese, via localization as in "這個 人 真逗! Zhègè rén zhēndòu!: 'Cái anhnày tếulâm quá!' (This person is so funny!) ],

    or
  • diăn 點 /tjen2/: 'tiếng' (hour), 'châm' (ignite), 'chấm' (dip), 'tí' (a bit), 'điểm' (point), 'đếm' (count), 'đốm '(dot), 'chọn', etc.,

    • zhòngdiăn 重點: VS 'điểmchính' (SV 'trọngđiểm') (main point),
    • diănmíng 點名: VS 'đọctên' (SV 'điểmdanh') (roll callng),
    • diănxīn 點心: VS 'lótlòng' (SV 'điểmtâm') ("dimsum", snack, breakfast),
    • kuàidiăn 快點: VS 'maulên' (hurry up), 'mauđi' (Be quick!),
    • màndiăn 慢點: VS 'chậmtí' (slow down),
    • diándiăn 點點: VS 'títi' (a little bit, sparingly) [ variant doublets: 'tíxíu', 'chútxíu', 'lèotèo' ], etc.

(Note: Elaboration on etymologies of the words above have been cited throughout the previous chapters. )

The point to be made here is that the semantics of each dissyllabic item helps identify the etymolology of each morpheme in each two-syllabled word that matches a whole string of the same categorical concept. All the items cited throughout this survey are conformed to virtually all Chinese phonological contours as well as peculiar linguistic attributes of words even if they shift from one category to the other, semantically as well as syntactically. To get the records straight, those etyma under investigation, nevertheless, are mostly loanwords from Chinese, to be exact, but they all are accepted as indispensable and integral parts of the Vietnamese vocabulary though, especially when it comes to the case of grammatical prepositions, conjunctions, or adverbials, all being from Chinese or evolving the same way as those grammatical words (虛辭) in Chinese, e.g., 於是 yúshì > VS 'vìthế' (hence), 由於 yóuyú > 'bỡvì' (because), etc..

As already previously touched on, this disyllabicity or, alternatively, dissyllabic approach could pave the way for historical linguists to explore more other possibilities. Rules could be drawn from our findings so that, similar to extracts from observations on works of either Vietnamese or Chinese grammar from the early days, their results could form the baseline, based on which they can be used as a springboard to advance further, one leading to another, and explore other lexicons and fixed expressions that seem to traverse a culturally accented sphere, e.g., idomatic etyma. That is what makes Vietnamese and Chinese so close.

Besides what is postulated as cognates, for certain words we have also found common idiomatic sayings and fixed expressions shared by both languages that match beautifully as follows.

  • 早 zăo "chào" (Hello!),
  • 成 chéng "xong" (Okay!),
  • 行 xíng "Vâng" (Fine!),
  • 牛 níu "ngầu" (macho),
  • 個啥 gèshà "cáigì" (what),
  • 賴我 lài wǒ "tại tôi" (my bad),
  • 罪過 zuìguò "cólỗi" (made mistake),
  • 道歉 dàoqiàn #"xinlỗi" (apology),
  • 倒是 dàoshì "đúngthế" (yes, it is!),
  • 隨錢 suíqián "đitiền" ('monetary gift'),
  • 無聊 wúliáo "vôduyên" (silly),
  • 聊天 liáotiān "nóichuyện" (chat),
  • 天遣 tiānqiăn "trờikhiến" (karma),
  • 忙活 mánhuó "bậnviệc" (busy),
  • 扣帽子 kòumàozi "chụpmũ" (brand label on somebody),
  • 受不了 shòubúliăo "chịukhôngnổi" ('cannot hold it'),
  • 受得了 shòudéliăo "chịuđượcnổi" ('can take it'),
  • 說中了 shuōzhòngle "nóiđúngrồi" (It's correct!),
  • 沒關係 méiguānxi "đâucóchi" ('it's nothing'),
  • 忍不住 rěnbúzhù "nhịnkhôngđược" ('cannot stand'),
  • 聊天聊地 liáotiānliáodì "nóichuyệntrờiđất" (chat),
  • 什麽東西 shénmedōngxī "đồthứgìđâu!" ('what a jerk!),
  • 葉落歸根 yèluòguīgēn "lárụngrụngvềcội" (literally: 'the dying leave falls back to the tree root', metaphorically: 'sentimental attachment to one's root'),
  • 飲水思源 yínshuǐsīyuán "uốngnướcnhớnguồn" ('be graceful for what one got'),
  • 衣架飯囊 yījiàfànnáng "giááotúicơm" (good for nothing bum),
  • 傾國傾城 qīngguóqīngchéng "nghiêngthànhđỗnước" ('The beauty that would overthrow a kingdom!'),
  • 含笑九泉 hánxiàojǐuquán "ngậmcườichínsuối" ('rest peacefully in the Heaven'),
  • 含血噴人 hánxiěfènrén "ngậmmáuphunngười" ('to wrongly accuse'),
  • 後會有期 hòuhuìyǒuqí "hẹnngàygặplại" ('so long'),
  • 木已成舟 mùyǐchéngzhōu "vánđãđóngthuyền" (the die is cast'),
  • 破鏡重圓 pòjìngchóngyuán "gươngvỡlạilành" ('unbroken one's heart'),
  • 井蝸之見 jǐngwòzhījiàn "ếchngồiđáygiếng" ('have a brain of a chicken'),
  • 螳臂擋車 tángbìdăngchē "châuchấuđáxe" ('it's a suicidal fight'),
  • 長氣短嘆 chángqìduăntàn "thanvắnthởdài" ('be depressed'),
  • 結草銜環 jiécăoxiánhuán "kếtcỏngậmvành" ('be grateful even unto one's death'),
  • 青天白日 qīngtiānbáirì "banngàybanmặt" ('in the broad daylight'),
  • 三更半夜 sāngēngbànyè "banđêmbanhôm" ('in the depth of the night'),
  • 十年樹木,百年樹人 shí nián shù mù, băinián shù rén. "Mười năm trồng cây, trăm năm trồng người." ('It takes ten years to nurture a tree, but a hundred years to cultivate a class of people.'), etc.

Our proposed dissyllabicity approach implicates that, on the one hand, isolated words are considered as displaced lexical orphans, similar to the case of Mon-Khmer words that float about in the Vietnamese vocabulary, such as,

	Viet.	Khmer	unknown

	thelè 	tlec 	? 
	đùm   	đum 	? 
	lu 	loạlu 	? 
	dong 	đong 	? 
	dàn  	đal 	? 
Given that both Vietnamese and Chinese languages are comprised of so many Yue elements – of which many etyma still remain in the theorized Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer, Austronesian, Austro-Thai, Tai-Kadai, all descended from the Taic linguistic family – that they altogether made up a part of Chinese dialects such as Cantonese and Fukienese dialects as Sinitic languages in the Sino-Tibetan linguistic family, anthropologically, On the other hand, Vietnamese should be included as well.
(言)

With the aid of our new dissyllabic approach, or that of polysyllabicity for the same matter, we should be able find many Chinese etyma in Vietnamese with sheer confidence of their plausibility. Take those Vietnamese phrases or fixed expressions as illustrated above and you can conveniently identify even more Chinese and Vietnamese correspondences on the very same etymon that is capable ot evolving into one-to-many relationship, well beyond the limit of one-to-one basis as currently bonded, that is, etymologically, the old thinking has posed some mental block on current historical linguists, of which the interchange correspondences appear to be just like what have credited to Pre-Sino-Vietnamese (pre-SV or "Tiền-HánViệt) lexical stock to be known as cognates with those Old Chinese and ancient Chinese roots and Sino-Vietnamese (SV or HánViệt) to Middle Chinese (MC) words, that is to say, those scholiasts have missed one or more of the Sinitic-Vietnamese variants from the same words that can be explored under the dissylabic methodology, e.g., 湯匙 tāngchí: VS 'thìacanh' (spoon) vs. 鎖匙 suǒchí" VS 'chìakhoá' (key), etc.

Phonologically and semantically, examine the sound interchanges carefully and you may notice that their phonetic contours were altered accordingly to match the Chinese counterparts along with semantic modifications in accordance with the original patterns of sound changes, regardless of their original form, for example,

  • M 除 chú (SV trừ) ~ Pre-SV 'chừa' ~ VS 'chia' (division),
  • M 嘲 cháo (SV trào) ~ Pre-SV 'chèo' ~ VS 'trêu' (laugh at),
  • M 朝 cháo (SV trào) ~ Pre-SV 'triệu' ~ VS 'chầu' (attend in the imerial court),
  • M 遲 chí (SV trì) ~ Pre-SV 'chầy' ~ VS 'chậm' (slow),
  • M 傳 chuán (SV truyền) ~ Pre-SV 'chuyền' ~ VS 'sang' (transit),
  • M 利 lì (SV lợi) ~ Pre-SV 'lời' ~ VS 'lãi',
  • M 染 răn (SV nhiễm) ~ Pre-SV 'nhuộm' ~ VS 'lây' (contract),
  • M 順 shùn (SV thuận) ~ Pre-SV 'suôn' ~ VS 'xuôi' (smoothly),
  • M 師 shī (SV sư) ~ Pre-SV 'thầy' ~ VS 'sãi' (monk) ,
  • M 時 shí (SV thì) ~ Pre-SV 'thời' ~ VS 'giờ' (time),
  • M 似 sì (SV tự) ~ Pre-SV 'tựa' ~ VS 'tợ' (just like),
  • M 斬 zhăn (SV trảm) ~ Pre-SV 'chém' ~ VS 'chặt' (chop),

  • etc.

For those sound changes of syllabic clusters from a polysyllabic word, they would occur to the whole chained string of sounds. That is different from what could have happened on the one-to-one correspondence basis for each element, phonemically and syllabically, e.g.,

  • 傳染 chuánrăn (SV truyềnnhiễm) ~> VS 'lâysang' (infect),
  • 順利 shùnlì (SV thuậnlợi) ~> VS 'suônsẻ' (smoothly),
  • 巫師 wūshī (VS 'thầymô', also, 'phùthuỷ' (thầymô) ) (shaman)

  • etc.
On-spot modification usually anteceded – i.e., to modify or override – what had been conveyed in an original package by means of phonemic substitution with localization, at times, via metathesis – by means of syllabic re-arrangement in the reverse order – inversion, and contracted derivatives, or even sponnerism. As we have seen sound change patterns in many other polysyllabic Sino-Vietnamese examples throughout in this paper, specifically for those dissyllabic Sinitic-Vietnamese, they enjoy even more freedom. As said, they can be reverse, inverse, contracted, diversified, differentiated, and combination of all the above, etc. Let us examine a few of them then.

  • 爸爸 bāba <= '爸 bā' => Shaanxi /tá/ => 'tiá' 爹 diè: SV 'ta' => 'cha' (daddy),
  • 兄弟 xiōngdì => 'anhtam' => 'anhem' (brothers), 俺兄 ăn xiōng => 'ônganh' => anh em (my older brother) => 'anh' (brother),
  • 妹妹 mēimei => 'emgái' (younger sister) => 'em' ('younger sister' > 'miss') [ For 妹 mēi: SV 'muội' ~> VS 'bậu' ]
  • 姑娘 gūniáng (SV cônương) => 'cônàng' (the girl) => 'côem' (young lady) => 'cô' (miss),
  • 亮子 Cantonese /liāngzéi/ => 'xinhtrai' (handsome boy) vs. Hainanese /liānggē/ => 'xinhgái' (pretty girl) => 'trai' (boy), 'gái' (girl) [ cf. also, 'trái' (fruit). Note: in Ancient Chinese, among other dozen meanings, 子 zǐ, cf. Fukienese 仔 /kẽ/ 'con' (offsring) : 古代 指 兒、女,現在 專指 兒子。 ]
  • 家公 jiāgōng (SV giacông) => 'ôngnhà' (my man) => 'ôngxã' (my husband) => 'chồng' (husband),
  • 主公 zhǔgōng (SV chúacông) 'my Lord' => 'ôngchủ' (master) => 'ông' (mister. mr.) [ cf. VS 'ôngchúa' (lord) ],
  • 叔叔 shùshù (SV thúcthúc) 'my uncle' => 'chú' (uncle) => 'cácchú' (Chinamen) => 'chệt' => ("my Chinese uncle"),

  • etc.

Which vocable or pattern that comes out the most frequency from the dissyllabic forms will prevail. Phonetically, just like pre-Han loanwords (假借 -- see Bernard Karlgre. 1964. Loan Character from pre-Han Texts II, many morphemic changes in syllabic strings would no longer necessarily be governed by strict sound-change rules, i.e., that of regularity rules, especially those secondary final syllables, that are normally applied to monosyllabic words and mostly true in the scholarly version of Sino-Vietnamese phonological system.

For rules of irregular sound changes, Hauricourt observed that "at first sight it may seem dangerous to abandon the principle of regular phonetic change, even in specified cases, but one is forced to admit that the blind application of the principle of regular correspondence leads to the proliferation of reconstructed phonenes and hence to the proliferation of pruely accidental coincidences." (Haudricourt 1966. pp. 328-29.) Closely examine the Mon-Khmer wordlists above will find numerous cases as such, for example, Mon-Khmer 'chas' ~> V 'già' and 'cha', Mon-Khmer 'cho' ~> V 'chaumày'.

The novel notion for such multiple derivatives from words of dissyllabicity that account for new etymological approach is a detrimentral strike against the long-rooted belief of monosyllabicity that has always been labeled on the Vietnamese language. Vietnamese polysyllabic words originated mostly from the Chinese language that used to be also wrongly labeled as of monosyllability in the past is even more obviously in conflict with respects to the polysyllabism of Khmer forms, such as 'chromuh' posited for V 'lỗmũi' (nostrils), or 'tamboi' for 'muối' (salt). The fallacy, i.e., the notion of monosyllabic Vietnamese, has posed as an antiquated regressive force that pulled back or sidelined many linguists in their efforts to reinvigorate this historical linguistic field.

Our new dissyllabicity approach has positively identified massive etyma of Chinese origin, which raises a turning note in the repertoire of an old Mon-Khmer long-play phono-disc in the field of Vietnamese etymology study. Apart from the recognition that the Chinese cultural factors have actively played their crucial part in contributing to the formation of the Sinitic-Vietnamese vocabulary stock, that also led to the revelation of the new layer of fossifized dissyllabic lexicons, i.e., stablized forms of dissyllabic words that constantly go with the same two two syllables together most of the time, the Vietnamese vocabulary stock should be regarded as independent of the talk of genetic affiliation. Per Nguyen Ngoc San, according to today's viewpoint, all Pre-HanViet words should be considered as parts of pure Vietnamese elements with respects to their indispensibility and roles. For example, the Vietnamized "phòng" can pair with certain "Vietnamese words" to coin new words just like the case of the Pre-SV 'buồng' 房 fáng (SV 'phòng') (room). Both 'buồng' and 'phòng' can serve as lexical building blocks as a morphemic root each besides the original meaning 'room', such as 'buồngtắm' (bathroom) or 'buồnglái' (navigational control room on a vessel) – both words semantically are identical to 'phòngtắm' and 'phònglái' (but not 'lên+sơn' or 'xuống+hải' that are unsuccessfully built with one Sinitic-Vietnamese element with the other Sino-Vietnamese. – Similarly, in these specific cases when "buồng" conveys somewhat the concept equivalent to the Chinese 室 shì (SV thất) (chamber), the "phòng-" prefix then would become highly restricted – While the "buồng" could give rise to other dissyllabic variants that implicates something 'chamber-like', such as buồngtrứng, buồngcau, buồngchuối, etc., meaning 'ovary' (卵巢), 'a hand of areca-nuts' (串檳榔), 'a hand of bananas' (串香蕉), repectively, the Sino-Vietnamese "phòng" (房 fáng) could not be used. That is why the prefix 'buồng-' is best regarded as a purely native element (Ibid, p. 67) even though it is apparently the Pre-Sino-Vietnamese form originated from the Old Chinese. We can go on with many other examples that include 子 zǐ that would be associated with several classifers used in Vietnamese, such as the classifier 'cái-' (the item of), 'con-' (the living thing of), 'trái-' (the fruit of), or 場 chăng ~ 'sân-', 'giấc-', 'trận-', cơn-', etc., as discussed in the introductory chapters.

No Mon-Khmer cognates in Vietnamese could play such multiple functions of word elelements as described above. However, advocates of the Sino-Tibetan camp still face the same old issues such as basic cognates of undeniable Mon-Khmer origin. While we reckon the Mon-Khmer stratrum in Vietnamese for historical reason, acknowledging the resemblance of basic words in Vietnamese that go hand in hand with the Khmer counting numbers from 1 to 5, nevertheless, does not constitute the acceptance of the Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer theorization of the origin of Vietnamese. As a matter of fact, other lexical correspondences in the Mon-Khmer languages are closer to the Muong speeches than they are with what already exists in Vietnamese. Today's Vietnamese and Muong are not the same as they split from the common Viet-Muong group hundreds of years ago when the admixture of the earlier Han Chinese with the natives formed the Kinh people. The colonization by the Han and its long Sinicization process that had lasted for hundreds of years later since 111 B.C. resulted major change in racial components ot the population the Vietnam's major Kinh people who, historically, even called these Mon-Khmer speakers as "Mọi", that means "barbarous people" and insulted them with other names such as 'ngườimọi', 'tụimọi', 'Mán', or 'Mường Mán', etc., just like the term 蠻 Man used by the historical Chinese to refer to those minorities in China South region now known as 冒南 Maonan, 南蠻 Nanman, 猛 Meng, 水 Shui, 瑤 Yao, 苗 Miao, 侗 Dong, etc. As a matter of fact, their etymological substratum imprints do not necessarily negate other confirmed connections between Chinese and Vietnamese for other proven etyma, especially with many words that are cognate to those of Chinese and Mon-Khmer at the same time.

On the one hand, here is a word of caution for Mon-Khmer and Vietnamese correspondences, "too close a likeness is even more suspicious than too distant a one" (Forrest 1958). For example, given their cognacy, there was ac chance that a loanword from Muong, which had separated from the Vietmuong linguistic sub-family for hundreds of years ago, penetrated into a Mon-Khmer language and the latter could spread out rapidly to other Muong subdialects and the originally ancestral form would have crept back the the ancient Vietnamese language under a new shell. The Muong form in turn would certainly make unavoidably look-alike cognates in the Vietnamese and Mon-Khmer languages as a result that appear as if they all originated from the same root, in this case being postulated as the Austroasiatic linguistic family as we have seen in those basic words as sampled below.

  • 衁 huāng = 'máu' (blood) [ M 衁 huāng ~ phonetic stem M 亡 wáng (vong, vô) &t MC mwaŋ &t OC *maŋ | Shuowen: 血 也。从 血 亡 聲。《春秋傳》曰:“士 刲 羊,亦 無 衁 也。” | Kangxi: 【唐韻】【集韻】【正韻】𠀤 呼光切,音 荒。【說文】血也。【左傳·僖十五年】士 刲 羊,亦 無 衁 也。【韓愈詩】衁 池 波 風 肉 陵 屯。| According to Bodman, Nicholas C. 1980. 'Proto-Chinese and Sino-Tibetan,' (in Frans Van Coetsem et al. (eds.) Contributions to Historical Linguistics) (p.120) : "An interesting hapax legomenon for 'blood' appears in the Dzo Zhuan (左傳) which has an obvious Austroasiatic origin: Proto-Mnong *mham, Proto-North Bahmaric *maham, 衁 hmam > hmang > ɣuáng." ].

There are not many Chinese and Vietnamese basic words that are analogous to the case for 衁 /hmam/ for 'máu', but the reverse course appears to be likely such as 'tiết' 血 xiè (SV huyết) as in 'tiếtcanh' 血羹 xiègēng (blood pudding), 'huyếtthanh' 血清 xiěqīng (serum), 'xơitái' 吃生 chīshēng (eat uncooked meat), 'treo đầu dê bán thịt chó' 掛羊頭賣狗肉 guà yáng tóu mài gǒu ròu (hanging goat heads but selling dog's meat), etc., which is not the case for those Mon-Khmer Vietnamese cognates for each and evry word that counts as a cognate for cultural reasons.

On the other hand, closeness in Vietnamese and Chinese corresponding sounds in several shared etyma in basic realm is usually taken as Chinese loanwords in Vietnamese even though they are ancient Yue loanwords in Chinese (Refer to the classical 爾雅 Éryá diplomatic glossary and 楊雄 Yang Xiong's 方言 Dialect dictionary). Their resemblance still show clearly, for example, 'sông' 江 jiāng (river), 'chuối' 蕉 jiāo (banana), 'dừa' 椰 yě (coconut), 'gạo' 稻 dào (rice), 'đường' 糖 táng (sugar), etc., which, of course, have all become part of the Chinese language, exactly as the role of many Old Chinese words that become indispensable in Vietnamese in addition to all the cited words above, inexhaustibly, so to speak. Such plausibility of VIetnamese cognates with Chinese basic elements lends supports to not only the theory of the Vietnamese affiliation with Chinese but also common Sino-Tibetan etymologies as well.

While basic words are what most linguists of Southeast Asian languages commonly started with in order to establish ancient genetic affinity among those supposedly related languages, at least for greater parts of different Mon-Khmer listed items, the purpose of reciting of a broad range of extraordinary words beyond the copycats of basic words in those languages spoken by ethnic groups who are living on high plateau in today's western mountainous plains of Vietnam.

Such observation leads to the supposition that those minority groups who share some similar Mon-Khmer linguistic features that distributed widely throughout China South to Southeast Asian regions were also descents of the proto-Taic family having the same ancestral linkage with the Yue, who had been inhabiting the whole China South region in ancient times before the proto-Chinese came in. That is to say, ancestors of the Austrasiatic Mon-Khmer people were affiliated with the ancient Taic racial stock as well.

On the composition of the present Vietnamese nationals, while the majority of them are known as the Kinh people, others are descendants of former Yue people like those of LacViet and AuViet. Per Nguyen Ngoc San, approximately 4,000 years ago, the overwhelming population of Mon-Khmer speakers southwestern region in the ancient region of today's North Vietnam had moved in, resettled, replaced, and mixed with those Taic-Kadai natives. Linguistically, the author proposed that their languages spoken at that time supposedly of the King Hungs' era postulated as the proto-Vietmuong language. He also theorized that after the split of the common Viet-Muong language under the heavy infuence of the Ancient Chinese after the Han 'conquistadors', the direct ancestral language of ancient Vietnamese in the linguistic sense only started some 1,000 years ago. (Ibid. pp. 12, 13)

Historically, to recap, the "ancient Annamese" – the early ancestors of the Kinh people – were already of mixed race. The whole process of racial admixture had taken place during the periods of the Han's occupation starting in 111 B.C. and thereafter. Throughout the period of colonization of the northern region of today's Vietnam's territory, the transformation of the "Annamese" populace had been an on-going process of integration of a growing number of 'Chinese' immigrants (I) into larger population of earlier racially-mixed migrants that included those aboriginal Taic-Kadai speakers and also the later Yue emigrants out od the China South region, including all the indigenous subjects of the earlier NamViet Kingdom ruled by King Trieu Da in the territory now known as Northeastern region of today's Vietnam, Guangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, and Fujian provinces of China (See Lacouperie. Ibid. Taiwan. 1963 [1887]) After 1,000 years as a prefecture of China lasted past the end of the Tang Dynasty into the NanHan Kingdom (南漢帝國) that then expanded from present Guangdong and Guangxi provinces of China to northeastern region of her present territory, the becoming of the modern Vietnam has been the continuation of the ancient Annamese entities that emerged from what the prior Chinese dynasties had brought to the nation throughout their past domination, anthropologically and linguistically (A). The process had continued on since Annam became an independent state in 939 A.D., years before the upcoming collapse of the NanHan Kingdom.

In conclusion, linguistically, James Campbell, in Vietnamese Dialects states it best:

"I originally included Vietnamese in this study/website because of the fact its phonological makeup is very similar to Chinese and, indeed, its tonal system matches the Chinese one. Originally I wrote at this site: "Vietnamese is neither a Chinese language nor related to Chinese (It is an Austroasiatic > Mon-Khmer language more closely related to Khmer/Cambodian). Besides having a very similar phonological system, and due to the heavy Chinese influence on the language, it also has a tone system that matches the Chinese one." However, after reading and conducting a bit more research, it appears that Vietnamese' affiliation with Việt-Mương, Mon-Khmer, and Austroasiatic, may in fact be a faulty case."

[...]

"[Vietnamese] may not be considered a Sinitic language or one of the Chinese dialects, but the Kinh have a lot in common with the Chinese culture, and the language leaves little to doubt. I will not go into great detail about how this is claimed, as a great deal has been posted at some other websites (see below) and that is not the purpose of this site. However, one can see that Vietnamese shares many traits in common with Chinese: 60-70% Sinitic vocabulary, another 20% of vocabulary is substrata of proto-Sinitic vocabulary, much of the grammar and grammatical markers share similarities with Chinese, along with classifiers. One would find it very difficult to draw similar parallels between Chinese and other Mon-Khmer languages. It seems that after considering all of this, what is left that is Mon-Khmer is actually very little, and probably acquired over time through contact with bordering nations. For example, the numbers are of distinct Mon-Khmer origin, however, used in many compound words, Vietnamese uses instead Chinese roots (as is common in the other Sino-Xenic languages, Japanese and Korean)."

As previously mentioned, in this paper I am not at all trying to prove genetic affinity of Vietnamese and Chinese, but only to show what they have in common etymologically along with other linguistic peculiarities and characteristics so unique that no other languages in the Sino-Tibetan linguistic family could equally match those commonalities that exist in Chinese and Vietnamese. In any cases what actually excludes Vietnamese from those of Mon-Khmer is its distinctiveness given all similarities of what makes up the wholeness of a language, which would put Vietnamese under the Sinitic umbrella. .(V)

Based on the comparative analysis of the the basic wordlists above, they should be considered as loanwords to and from neighboring Mon-Khmer languages. What shall we classify the Vietnamese language to better reflect the true nature of it? While its undeniable kinship with Chinese needs to be investigated further in addition to the historical Sinitic background as discussed previously with a larger portion of its basic words cognate to those of Chinese plus all of their share of common peculiarities, then Vietnamese should be seen as a member of the Sino-Tibetan linguistic family, or at least a sub-family, in par with those southern Sinitic branches such as Cantonese and Fukienese. We will explore this matter in detail in the next chapter regarding the Sino-Tibetan connections for such purpose.

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(習) (1) tật, (2) lắp, (3) lặp, (4) lề, (5) vỗ, (6) thói, (7) nếp, (8) nết 習 xí (tập): 'do repeatedly, practice, exercise, drill, flapping wings. Also: habit, be used to, custom, behavior, good habit, good behavior'. [ M 習 xí < MC zjip < OC *lhjəp | FQ 似入 | MC reading 深開三入緝邪 | Shuowen: 數 飛 也。从 羽 从 白。凡 習 之 屬 皆 从 習。似入切 | Kangxi: 【廣韻】似入 切【集韻】【韻會】【正韻】席入切,𠀤音襲。【說文】數飛也。【禮·月令】鷹 乃 學習。 又【易·坤卦】不習,無 不利。【註】不 假 修爲,而 功 自 成。【論語】學 而 時 習 之。【何晏註】學者 以 時 湧習 之。 又【易·坎卦】習坎。【註】習 謂 便 習 之。【釋文】習,重也。 又【書·大禹謨】士 不 習 吉。【傳】習,因也。 又【詩·邶風】習習 谷風。【傳】習習,和 舒貌。 ◎ 按 說文 習 自 爲 部。今 從 正字通 併入。 字 从 羽 从 白。 俗 作 習,非。 | According to Starostin: to do repeatedly; practise, exercise. Viet. lắp is an archaic loan; regular Sino-Viet. is tập. | ex. 演習 yănxí: VS 'tậpdượt' (drill), 性習 xìngxí: VS 'tínhnết' (personality), 習習 xíxí: VS 'nếtna' (good character), 習慣 xíguàn: VS 'thóiquen' (habit), 陋習 lòuxí: VS 'tậtxấu' (bad habit) ]

The Vietnamese language has evolved with continuous influx of Chinese loanwords and that still going on as late as the present day. At the same time, dissyllabic words had already progressively formed in parallel with the same development that had occurred previously in the language popularized by the Great Tang Empire. Therefore, dissyllabism ought to be also taken into account for the fact that basic words could not possibly be limited to only those monosyllabic V words cited in Haudricourt's work.

For dissyllabic basic words we have innumerable examples that are cognate to those of Chinese and virtually non-existant in any Mon-Khmer forms (Note that some need to be seen in reverse order to recognize their relatedness): mặtgiời 太陽 tàiyáng (the sun), mặtgiăng 月霸 yuèbà (the moon), vìsao 星宿 xīngxìu (star), banngày 白日 báirì (daytime), bantrưa 白天 báitiān (noontime), nóngbức 炎熱 yánrè (stuffy hot), rétmướt 淒涼 qīliáng (chilly), giôngtố 颱風 táifēng (taipoon), heomay 寒風 hánfēng (breeze), giómáy 風寒 fēnghán (weather elements), lạnhcóng 寒冷 hánlěng (freezing), mưarào 驟雨 zòuyǔ (showers), sôngngòi 江川 jiāngchuān (river), đòngang 渡船 dùchuán (ferryboat), ốcđảo 塢島 wùdăo (islet), bểcả 大海 dàhăi (ocean), ngoàikhơi 海外 hăiwài (at seas), đánhcá 打魚 dăyú (net fishing), mỏác 胸骨 xiōnggǔ (sternum), chânmày 眉梢 méishāo (eyebrow), màngtang 太陽穴 tàiyángxué (temple), sóngmũi 鼻樑 píliáng (bridge of the nose), bàntay 手板 shǒubăn (plam), bảvai 臂膊 bèibó (shoulder), cánhtay 胳臂 gēbèi (arms), cùichỏ 胳膊肘子 gēbózhǒuzi (elbow), đầugối 膝蓋 xīgài (knee), bànchân 腳板 jiăobăn (foot), đầunậu 首腦 shǒunăo (leading figure), đànbà 婦道 fùdào (woman), traitráng 壯丁 zhuàngdīng (young men), yêuđương 戀愛 liàn'ài (love), âuyếm 親熱 qīnrè (affectionate fonding), đámhỏi 訂婚 dìnghūn (marital engagement), điđám 隨錢 suíqián (give monetary presents), bàxã 媳婦 xífù (wife), ôngxã (ôngnhà) 家公 jiāgōng (husband), thôinôi 周年 zhōunián (first birthday shower), ởvậy 守寡 shǒuguă (widowed), phùthuỷ (thầymô) 巫師 wūshī (shaman), điđái 拉尿 làniào (pee), đáidầm 尿床 niàochuáng (bedwetting), táobón 便秘 biànbì (constipation), tiêuchảy 瀉肚 xièdù (diarhea), đồngruộng 田地 tiándì (farmland), tấmcám 糝糠 sănkāng (rice husky chirps), chănnuôi 種養 zhòngyăng (raise cattle), trồngtrọt 種植 zhòngzhì (planting), vườntuợc 家園 jiāyuán (garden), chợbuá 市舖 shìpǔ (market), lánggiềng 鄰居 língjū (neighbor), đườngxá 街道 jièdào (roads), đườngđi 走道 zǒudào (path), siêngnăng 勤勉 qínmiăn (industrious), ẩutả 苟且 gǒuqiě (careless), làmlụng 勞動 láodòng (laboring), lamlũ 勞碌 láolù (ragged), rữngmỡ 情趣 qíngqù (flirting), dêxồm 淫蟲 yínchóng (lecherous), ănmày 要飯 yàofàn (beggar), đánhcắp 打劫 dăjié (robbery), bắtcóc 綁架 băngjià (kidnap), etc., and not to mention virtually all grammatical functioning compounds such as và 和 hé (and), đốvới 對於 duìyú (for), vìthế 於是 yùshì (therefore), etc..

(言) It is noted that that both Cantonese and Fukienese (Amoy) have their own Yue substratum underneath the heavy weight of more than 2,200 years of active Sinicization and Chinese assimilation as of now throughout the Han dominion. Hypothetically, had the ancient Annam continued to be a prefecture of China and not gained her independece from the Middle Kingdom since the 10th century onward, there would be little doubt that the Vietnamese language would have been regarded as just another Chinese dialect for sure. Just imagine, if Canton, or approximately today's Guangdong Province of China, had won for the status of sovereignty like Vietnam in the same period from the Southern Han's ruling period in the early 10th century, then guess what would have become of this nation today? What are about Hainan and Fukien provinces if they were out of China's control just like Taiwan after 1949? People in those places would have spoken their very own 'language' and the 'Chinese' influence would have been just like non-native admixture.

(K) See Bernhard Kargren's Word Families in Chinese in "The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities". Stockholm (Vol. 5. 1933)

"It is not allowable to identify Chinese 目 Arch. mịôg ¹ ) 'eye' with Tibetan mig 'eye' so long as we have not first established the word families to which mịôk belongs. Akin to mịôk is undoubtedly the word 眸 Arch. mi̯ôg 'pupil of the eye': and it is just likely that it is this mi̯ôg which coresponds directly to the Tibetan mig.' (p. 9)

(I) As discussed in Chapter Seven Hypothesis of Chinese origin of Vietnamese

(A) Cognacy in numbers only will certainly not make languages genetically related. For example, we see that in Thomas' wordlist above numbers from one to ten in other Mon-Khmer languages are cognate only to those limited to the set of 1 to 5 in the Khmer counting system, whence they could have been loanwords from Vietnamese. In fact, those numbers from 6 to 10 exist in some other Mon-Khmer languages other than 'Cambodian' or modern Khmer used in today's Cambodia. If they are cognate at all, could they probably have been borrowed from Vietnamese, that is, from a tonal language to a toneless one, following the wisdom of those who domineer? In this case the argument whether the Vietnamese numbers actually have any connection with Chinese or not is irrelevant.

(V) In general, they are those of lexical building blocks with subtle semantic specificity (such as 'ănmày' 要飯 yàofàn 'beggar', 'nhàxí' 廁所 cèsuǒ (toilet), 'đáidầm' 尿床 niàochuáng (bedwetting), or 'táobón' 便閉 biànbì (constipation), etc., similar structures in make-up blocks such as morphology (e.g., prominently CVC structured class), intensity of tonal levels (e.g. 8 tone levels fit to any tone in any Chinese dialects), and even grammatical instrumental markers (e.g., virtually all classifiers, articles, prepositions, particles, etc., in both Vietnamese and Chinese being of the same origin). Mark J. Alves (2001) in his paper entitled "What is so Chinese about Vietnamese?" in Papers from the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistic Society has touched on this subject but not as deeply and elaborately as what I am trying to do here.

 

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ā ē ě ī ǐ ă ō ǒ ū ǔ ǖ ǘ ǚ ǜ ü û ɔ ɑ ɪ ɨ ɛ ɤ ə¯ ŋ ɯ î i̯ ʔ ʃ ö ä a̍ ü ɐ ɒ æ χ ɓ ɗ ɖ ɱ ʿ ʾ θ ñ ŕ ţ ť tś ı ć ¢ ď Ā ź dź ƫ ć ń ç ď ş ŗ ż ſ ņ ʷ ɲ ʈ ɫ ɬ ʈ ƫ ʐ ɣ Ś – ¯¯ ¯ ˉ – - Ø ¹ ̯ ̯ i̯ ¶ ± •iy•ɨʉ•ɯu•ɪʏ•ɪ̈ʊ̈•ɯ̽ʊ•eø•ɘɵ•ɤo•e̞ø̞ ə•ɤ̞o̞•ɛœ• ɜ ɞ•ʌɔ•æ ɐ•aɶ•äɒ̈•ɑɒ


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