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

Vietnamese

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Alternative forms

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

Etymology

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Inherited from Proto-Vietic *gəl ~ *kəl (tree). Cognate with Muong câl, cấl, Kha Phong kɨl². Doublet of cấy.

Possibly from Proto-Austroasiatic *kəl (to fell (trees)); in that case, cognate with Semai kòl, Temiar kel, Proto-Bahnaric *kal (whence Koho köl), Proto-Katuic *kəl (whence Pacoh câl).

Alternatively, derived from a different root (currently unreconstructed) that yielded Proto-Khmuic *tŋkəl (stump) (whence Khmu [Cuang] tŋkɨl), Khmer គល់ (kŭəl), and Mon ဓဂဵု.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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(classifier cái) cây (,,𣘃)

  1. plant with a hard trunk or stem, such as a woody tree or bamboo, as opposed to cỏ ((soft-stemmed) grass)
    dưới bóng câyunder the shade of a tree
  2. (by extension) plant (including trees and grasses), or more rarely, 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.

Derived terms

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See also

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Classifier

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cây (,, 𣘃)

  1. Indicates plants
  2. Indicates stick/rod-like objects
    Synonym: thanh
    ăn câyto get beaten with a stick
  3. (music) Indicates string instruments and some other types of musical instruments