dâu

See also: Appendix:Variations of "dau"

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zəw˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [jəw˧˧]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [jəw˧˧]
Homophone: giâu, râu

Etymology 1

From Proto-Vietic *-toː. Cognate with Muong tô, Tho [Cuối Chăm] tɔː¹. Compare North Central Vietnamese đâu.

Compare also a tên chữ (“literary name”) of the Dâu temple, Cổ Châu, spelled as 古珠 or 古洲 (the first grapheme is to be read with velar stop, and both second graphemes are to be read with a dental stop and back rounded vowel in Old Chinese), which suggests the presyllable *k-.

Alternative forms

(North Central Vietnam) đâu

Noun

(classifier cây, trái, quả) dâu • (桑, 柚, 橷, 𣘛)

mulberry
Synonyms: dâu ta (literally “our mulberry”), dâu tằm
(by extension) strawberry
Synonym: dâu tây (literally “western mulberry”)

Usage notes

Thanks to the popularity of strawberry as a flavor in foods and drinks, dâu is more frequently understood nowadays as "strawberry" than its original meaning, "mulberry". For example, vị dâu will most likely be "strawberry-flavored" rather than "mulberry-flavored".

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Proto-Vietic *-juː. Compare North Central Vietnamese du.

Alternative forms

(North Central Vietnam) du

Noun

dâu • (妯, 嫂)

daughter-in-law
con dâu ― daughter-in-law

chị dâu ― elder brother's wife

em dâu ― younger brother's wife
Short for cô dâu (“bride”).

Derived terms

Related terms

rể (“groom; son-in-law”)

Etymology 3

Unetymological spelling of giâu, induced by the merger of initials and that both this and etymology 1 are fruit-bearing trees.

Noun

dâu

Alternative spelling of giâu (“Baccaurea spp.”)