dương xỉ

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 羊 (“sheep”) and 齒 (“tooth”), apparently a rather recent borrowing from Mandarin.

Earlier terms for "fern" are đuôi chồn, lit. "weasel tail" and quán trọng (貫仲), as listed in Dictionarium latino-anamiticum (1838) for Latin filix. In Đại Nam Quấc âm tự vị (1895), quán trọng is defined as "medicinal ingredient" (vị thuốc).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zɨəŋ˧˧ si˧˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [jɨəŋ˧˧ sɪj˧˨]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [jɨəŋ˧˧ sɪj˨˩˦]

Noun

(classifier cây) dương xỉ

1. (botany) fern