bằng
VietnameseEdit
PronunciationEdit
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ʔɓaŋ˨˩]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [ʔɓaŋ˦˩]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [ʔɓaŋ˨˩]
Audio (Hà Nội) (file)
Etymology 1Edit
Sino-Vietnamese word from 平 (“level; even”); originally the Northern reading. Compare bình, the current chief form used in compounds and the main form in placenames in Southern Vietnam. Its distribution likely already extended beyond Northern Vietnam by the time Vietnamese started to be written down in the Latin script.
It is sometimes claimed that this form is due to the taboo of the title 北平王 (Bắc Bình/Bằng vương) of Quang Trung, but this is demonstratively false as bàng (as well as bàng an, bàng ien) is attested in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651), a dictionary based chiefly on the dialects of Northern Vietnam.
AdjectiveEdit
bằng
- (of a surface) flat
- (linguistics, poetry, of a tone) being a ngang or huyền tone
- Antonym: trắc
- (poetry, of a rhyme) carrying a bằng tone
- (mathematics) equal to
- một cộng một bằng hai ― one plus one equal to two
- (geometry) congruent to
- góc A và góc B bằng nhau ― angle A and angle B are congruent (literally, “angle A and angle B are equal to each other”)
- góc A bằng góc B ― angle A is congruent to angle B
See alsoEdit
Etymology 2Edit
Sino-Vietnamese word from 憑 (“rely on; on the basis of; by the means of; certificate; diploma”).
NounEdit
bằng
SynonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
- bằng cấp (“diploma”)
- bằng lái xe (“driver’s license”)
See alsoEdit
PrepositionEdit
bằng
- by; by means of
- bằng đường bộ ― by land
- bằng ô tô ― by car
- bằng tiếng Việt ― in Vietnamese
- made of
- bức tường bằng gạch ― a wall of bricks; a brick wall
VerbEdit
bằng
- (with vào) to count (on), to depend (on)
- 2005, chapter 1, in Cao Tự Thanh, transl., Anh hùng xạ điêu, Văn học, translation of 射雕英雄传 by Jīn Yōng (Kim Dung):
- - Lúc bấy giờ mà bằng vào khí khái anh hùng, thân thủ hào kiệt của hai vị, tìm tới Lâm An bắt thằng gian thần ấy, ba người bọn ta ăn thịt uống máu y thì không phải ngồi đây ăn đậu hủ uống rượu lạnh!
- "If at the time I could've counted on the heroic indomitability and the great abilities of the two of you to go to Lín'ān and capture that treacherous courtier, the three of us would now be eating his flesh and drinking his blood rather than sitting here eating tofu and drinking cold rice wine!"
Etymology 3Edit
Sino-Vietnamese word from 鵬. See also đại bàng (“eagle”).
NounEdit
(classifier con) bằng
- (rare, Chinese mythology) (chim ~) Peng, a giant mythical bird
- Zhuangzi, ch. 1. English translation by James Legge; Vietnamese translation by Nguyễn Hiến Lê
- Biển Bắc có con cá gọi là cá côn, mình dài không biết mấy ngàn dặm. Nó biến thành con chim gọi là chim bằng, lưng rộng không biết mấy ngàn dặm.
- In the Northern Ocean lives a fish named Kun with a miles-long body. It changes into a bird called Peng with a(n also) miles-wide back.
- Biển Bắc có con cá gọi là cá côn, mình dài không biết mấy ngàn dặm. Nó biến thành con chim gọi là chim bằng, lưng rộng không biết mấy ngàn dặm.
- Zhuangzi, ch. 1. English translation by James Legge; Vietnamese translation by Nguyễn Hiến Lê
See alsoEdit
- côn (“Kun, a giant mythical fish”)