cây

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See also: cay, CAY, cáy, cấy, čay, çay, and çaý

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

  • (North Central Vietnam) cân
  • (North Central Vietnam) cơn

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *gəl ~ *kəl. Cognate with Central Vietnamese cân, Muong câl, cấl, Kha Phong kɨl². Related to cấy.

Various words with similar shape that have the meaning of "to fell trees" occur in many Austroasiatic branches, including Semai kòl, Temiar kel, Proto-Bahnaric *kal (whence Koho köl) and Proto-Katuic *kəl (whence Pacoh câl); all could be contributed to *kuəl ~ *kəl (to cut down, fell), which might be related to the root above. Alternatively, compare Proto-Khmuic *tŋkəl (stump) (whence Khmu tŋkɨl), Khmer គល់ (kŭəl), Mon ဓဂဵု.

Pronunciation

Noun

(classifier cái) cây (,,𣘃)

  1. a plant with a hard trunk or stem, such as a woody tree or bamboo, as opposed to cỏ ((soft-stemmed) grass)
  2. (by extension) a plant (including trees and grasses), or more rarely, a mushroom
  3. (colloquial) Short for cây số (kilometre/kimometer).
    Nhà tui cách Sài Gòn cỡ năm chục cây.
    My house is about fifty kilometres from Sài Gòn.

See also

Derived terms

Classifier

cây (,,𣘃)

  1. Indicates plants
  2. Indicates stick/rod-like objects
    Synonym: thanh
  3. (music) Indicates string instruments and some other types of musical instruments