bển

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ben"

Vietnamese

Etymology

Contraction of bên (“side”) + the demonstrative ấy (“that”) in the southern dialects, with the latter manifested as the hỏi tone after monosyllabification.

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓen˧˩]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓen˧˨]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɓəːn˨˩˦]

Noun

bển

(Southern Vietnam) that side

Proper noun

bển

(Southern Vietnam, specifically) the United States of America