nghìn

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

(Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) ngàn

Etymology

Attested in Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經) as 𪜀彦 (the first element is to be read with lateral *l-) and 彦, phonetic 彥 (MC ngjenH) (modern SV: ngạn). Compare Proto-Hlai *C-ŋin (“thousand”).

Sometimes connected to Old Chinese 千 (OC *s.n̥ˤi[ŋ]) (B-S) (SV: thiên), through some variant form. However, the attested lateral presyllable made this connection difficult. Old Mon lṅim (whence Mon လ္ၚီ), although having the lateral presyllable, also can not be readily connected to the Vietnamese word, due to the completely mismatched final nasal.

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ŋin˨˩]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ŋin˦˩]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [ŋɨn˨˩]
Audio (Hà Nội): (file)

Numeral

nghìn (𠦳)

(cardinal number, especially Northern Vietnam, only in compounds) thousand
Sáng mẹ cho 5 nghìn, chiều mẹ cho 5 nghìn nữa là 10 nghìn.
Mom gave me 5000 in the morning, and then she gave me another 5000, totaling in 10,000.