dưa hấu

Vietnamese

Etymology

According to the Vietnamese folktale Sự tích trái dưa hấu (Legend of the Watermelon), the name dưa hấu derives from dưa (“melon”) + a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of 好 (SV: hảo), but this is most likely just folk etymology.

Compare also 煦 (SV: hú), which has an uncommon meaning 赤 "red" - following Shuowen Jiezi and Yupian - and one of whose Old Chinese pronunciations was 煦 (OC *qʰoʔ) (ZS). If hấu indeed reflexed *qʰoʔ, then dưa hấu would have been a compound of dưa (“melon”) +‎ hấu, which is obsolete, meant "red", and referred to the color of the fruit's fresh.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zɨə˧˧ həw˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [jɨə˧˧ həw˨˩˦]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [jɨə˧˧ həw˦˥]

Noun

(classifier trái, quả) dưa hấu

1. watermelon