bà tám

Vietnamese

Etymology

Calque of Cantonese 八婆 (baat3 po4, “meddling woman”, literally “eight elderly women”), from bà (“elderly woman”) +‎ tám (“eight”). See also tám (“to gossip”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaː˨˩ taːm˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaː˦˩ taːm˦˧˥]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaː˨˩ taːm˦˥]

Noun

bà tám

1. a very talkative woman; chatterbox; gossip