Vietnamese edit

Etymology edit

The Northern Middle Vietnamese form phân ꞗua (to the king) is attested in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum; this form would regularly yield *phân vua in the modern Northern dialects. The modern form with unlenited bua thus indicates that this form spread from a Central dialect without lenition and displaced the regular reflex in the mainstream dialects.

Equivalent to phân (to distribute) +‎ vua (king).

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

phân bua

  1. to explain