Cần Thơ

English

Alternative forms

• Cantho, Can Tho

Etymology

Borrowed from Vietnamese Cần Thơ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkənθəː/

Proper noun

Cần Thơ

1. A city in Vietnam.

Translations

city of Vietnam

• Arabic: كن تاه
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 芹苴 (Qínjū)

• Japanese: カントー (Kantō)
• Khmer: ទីក្រុងព្រែកឫស្សី (tikrŏngprêkrœ̆ssei)
• Korean: 껀터 (kkeonteo)
• Russian: Кантхо (Kantxo)
• Thai: เกิ่นเทอ
• Vietnamese: Cần Thơ (vi) (芹苴)

Anagrams

• chaton, chonta

Vietnamese

Etymology

Unknown. One theory proposes that this is a corruption of Cầm Thi in Cầm Thi Giang (literally “river of poems”), a poetic name given by Gia Long for a river nearby. Another legend has it that this is a combination of rau cần (“water dropwort”) +‎ rau thơm (“mint”), both products of the Cần Thơ area in ancient times.

The suggestions above are both certainly folk etymologies. The Cần in placenames almost always reflects a presyllable of the shape kVN- in Khmer (where N is a nasal), compare Cần Giờ (from Khmer កញ្ជើ (kɑñcəə)), Cần Giuộc (from Khmer កន្ទួត (kɑntuət)), Cần Vọt/Cần Bột (from Khmer កំពត (kɑmpɔɔt)). Still, it is not known which specific Khmer item Cần Thơ was borrowed from.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kən˨˩ tʰəː˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kəŋ˦˩ tʰəː˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kəŋ˨˩ tʰəː˧˧]

Proper noun

Cần Thơ • (芹苴)

1. Cần Thơ (a city in Vietnam)