twm
White Hmong edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Borrowed from Middle Chinese 特 (MC dok, “bull, ox”).[1]
Noun edit
twm (classifier: tus)
- buffalo, water buffalo
- tus twm nyob hauv liaj ― the buffalo in the rice paddy
Etymology 2 edit
Borrowed from Middle Chinese 讀 (MC duwk, “to read, recite texts”).[1]
Verb edit
twm
- to read
- Synonym: nyeem
- Ob tug menyuam tabtom twm ib phau ntawv. ― The two children are reading a book.
Etymology 3 edit
Adjective edit
twm
- single, independent, lone, alone
- twm tswb ― a single wild boar (which keeps to itself)
- used in twm xeeb (“impatient, self-absorbed, narrow-minded”)
Usage notes edit
Attached before nouns, rather than after, in contrast to most Hmong adjectives.