cây

See also: cay, CAY, cáy, cấy, čay, çay, and çaý

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• (North Central Vietnam) cân
• (North Central Vietnam) cơn

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *gəl ~ *kəl. Cognate with Central Vietnamese cân, Muong câl, cấl, Kha Phong kɨl². Related to cấy.

Various words with similar shape that have the meaning of "to fell trees" occur in many Austroasiatic branches, including Semai kòl, Temiar kel, Proto-Bahnaric *kal (whence Koho köl) and Proto-Katuic *kəl (whence Pacoh câl); all could be contributed to *kuəl ~ *kəl (“to cut down, fell”), which might be related to the root above. Alternatively, compare Proto-Khmuic *tŋkəl (“stump”) (whence Khmu [Cuang] tŋkɨl), Khmer គល់ (kŭəl), Mon ဓဂဵု.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kəj˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kəj˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [kəj˧˧]

Noun

(classifier cái) cây • (核,荄,𣘃)

1. a plant with a hard trunk or stem, such as a woody tree or bamboo, as opposed to cỏ (“(soft-stemmed) grass”)
2. (by extension) a plant (including trees and grasses), or more rarely, a mushroom
3. (colloquial) Short for cây số (“kilometre/kimometer”).

   Nhà tui cách Sài Gòn cỡ năm chục cây.

   My house is about fifty kilometres from Sài Gòn.

See also

• thực vật; thụ

Derived terms

• cây cỏ
• cây cối
• cây số
• trái cây
• xanh lá cây

 

Classifier

cây • (核,荄,𣘃)

1. Indicates plants
2. Indicates stick/rod-like objects

   Synonym: thanh

3. (music) Indicates string instruments and some other types of musical instruments