con nhà tông không giống lông cũng giống cánh

Vietnamese

Etymology

One (obsolete) variant of this phrase is attested in the Dictionarium anamitico-latinum (1772 manuscript) as con công chẳng giống lông thì giống cánh (literally “even a peachick that is different in its plumage would still be similar in its wings”).

Considering that both variants contain lông (“feather”) and cánh (“wing”), it is likely that the obsolete one, which has công (“peafowl”), is more conservative of the two. The modern form arose from the substitution of công (“peafowl”) for its rhyme nhà tông (“(of) genuine lineage”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kɔn˧˧ ɲaː˨˩ təwŋ͡m˧˧ xəwŋ͡m˧˧ zəwŋ͡m˧˦ ləwŋ͡m˧˧ kʊwŋ͡m˦ˀ˥ zəwŋ͡m˧˦ kajŋ̟˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kɔŋ˧˧ ɲaː˦˩ təwŋ͡m˧˧ kʰəwŋ͡m˧˧ jəwŋ͡m˦˧˥ ləwŋ͡m˧˧ kʊwŋ͡m˧˨ jəwŋ͡m˦˧˥ kɛɲ˦˧˥] ~ [kɔŋ˧˧ ɲaː˦˩ təwŋ͡m˧˧ xəwŋ͡m˧˧ jəwŋ͡m˦˧˥ ləwŋ͡m˧˧ kʊwŋ͡m˧˨ jəwŋ͡m˦˧˥ kɛɲ˦˧˥]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kɔŋ˧˧ ɲaː˨˩ təwŋ͡m˧˧ kʰəwŋ͡m˧˧ jəwŋ͡m˦˥ ləwŋ͡m˧˧ kʊwŋ͡m˨˩˦ jəwŋ͡m˦˥ kan˦˥] ~ [kɔŋ˧˧ ɲaː˨˩ təwŋ͡m˧˧ xəwŋ͡m˧˧ jəwŋ͡m˦˥ ləwŋ͡m˧˧ kʊwŋ͡m˨˩˦ jəwŋ͡m˦˥ kan˦˥]

Proverb

con nhà tông không giống lông cũng giống cánh

1. like father, like son