âm Cổ Hán Việt
Old Sino-Vietnamese
Vietnamese > Sino-Vietnamese (pre-Tang stratum)
Old Sino-Vietnamese (Cổ Hán Việt) is the older stratum of Chinese loanwords absorbed into Vietnamese during and shortly after the Han Chinese occupation (from 111 BC), well before the Tang-era systematic borrowings that produced the standard Hán-Việt layer. It reflects Late Han to Early Middle Chinese phonology and consists of roughly 400 fully nativized words, generally not recognized as foreign by Vietnamese speakers. Coverage of basic vocabulary is sparse because most everyday words remained Vietic; only specific cultural, material, and animal-related loans entered this layer.
Where it is spoken
Han character readings in Old Sino-Vietnamese
| Character | Meaning | Reading | Form | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 月 | moon | trăng / giăng | /ʈaŋ˧˧ / jaŋ˧˧/ | |
| 龍 | dragon | rồng | /ʐawŋ͡m˨˩ < *bləwŋ/ | |
| 馬 | horse | ngựa | /ŋɨə˧ˀ˨ʔ < *ŋraːʔ/ | |
| 牛 | ox | trâu | /ʈəw˧˧/ | |
| 貓 | cat | mèo | /mɛw˨˩/ | |
| 頭 | head | đầu | /ɗəw˨˩ < *dô/ |
Sources
- Alves M. 2009 'Loanwords in Vietnamese'
- Phan J. 2013 'Lacquered Words: The Evolution of Vietnamese under Sinitic Influences'
- Hashimoto M. 1978 '古代漢越語'
- Wikipedia: Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary
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