làm

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "lam"

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

  • (Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi) lồm

Etymology

A doublet of là (“to be; to work”); see there for more. The -m "suffix" is of unknown function and origin. This is an innovation in Vietnamese, not found in Mường and other Vietic languages.

For the semantic relation, compare also Chinese 為 / 为 (vi, “to do; to be”).

The Nôm character 𫜵 was unified in Unicode with 爫 (“top form of Kangxi radical #87”) up until the version 14.0 (2021). See the entry for details.

Pronunciation

Verb

làm • (𫜵, 𪵯, 𬈋, 󱛝, 濫)

  1. to do
    làm bài tập ― to do exercises; to do homework
  2. to make
    làm nhà ― to build a house
  3. to work
    đi làm ― to go to work
    làm nhà nước ― to work for the government
    làm tư nhân ― to work for a private company
  4. to bear the responsibilities of
    Làm người ai làm thế!
    What kind of person are you!?
    (literally, “As a human, who'd do something like that?”)
    Lớn lên con muốn làm bác sĩ.
    When I grow up, I want to become a doctor.
    Ông làm cha mà chẳng làm gương cho con.
    You're not a good example for your kids as a father.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Nguyên Chấn Phong (lyrics and music), “Làm người ai làm thế [What Kind of Man Are You?]”:
      Làm người ai làm thế, làm người ai làm thế !
      Chẳng còn chi để nói bởi chính tôi đã cạn lời.
      Sao anh nỡ đổi thay ? Tôi không còn gì nữa đâu.
      Lợi danh anh đã quên mất tình tôi.

      Làm người ai làm thế, làm người ai làm thế !
      Làm vậy chi người hỡi ? Chẳng lẽ tôi không còn gì.
      Không tin anh nữa đâu, không tin đàn ông đâu !
      Rồi sẽ có lúc anh cũng thế, giống như tôi giờ đây.
      What kind of man are you? What kind?
      There's nothing to say, words fail me.
      How could you change like that? I have nothing left.
      You forgot my feelings in pursuit of money and fame.

      What kind of man are you? What kind?
      Why would you do that? Is it because I can give you nothing more?
      I don't trust you any more, I don't trust men any more!
      One day you'll end up there, where I am right now.

Synonyms

Derived terms

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