lợn

See also: Appendix:Variations of "lon"

Vietnamese

Yin-yang pigs (lợn âm dương) on a Vietnamese Đồng Hồ painting

Alternative forms

(Northern Vietnam, humorous) nhợn

Etymology

Alves (2022) entertains the possibility of it being a borrowed from Old Chinese 豚 (OC *lˤu[n]ʔ) (B-S) (SV: đồn); the vowel correspondence, however, is hard to explain.

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ləːn˧˨ʔ]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ləːŋ˨˩ʔ]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [ləːŋ˨˩˨]

Noun

(classifier con) lợn • (𤞼)

(Northern Vietnam) pig, swine
(chiefly Northern Vietnam) a person:
1. (derogatory, vulgar) a contemptible, objectionable person.
  Ơ con lợn này! ― Oi you bloody swine!
2. (figurative, derogatory) a glutton.
  Con lợn này ham ăn vãi! ― This pig is gluttonous as hell!
3. (figurative, humorous) a fat person.
  Bụng con lợn này to vãi cả chưởng! ― This pig's belly is big as hell!
Short for lợn đất. (piggy bank)
Đút tiền lì xì vào lợn đi con! ― You should put that lì xì money into the piggy bank!

Synonyms

cúi (archaic)
heo (Southern Vietnam)
Hợi (Year of the pig)
ỉn (colloquial, humorous)

Derived terms

Proverbs and idioms