bánh đa

Vietnamese

bánh đa (rice paper)

bánh đa (rice cracker)

Etymology

Often explained as being derived from bánh (“any sweet, salty, or savory food prepared from flour”) +‎ đa (“banyan”), from the supposed resemblance of the rice paper to a banyan leaf.

This name was the result of a taboo-induced lexical replacement of the preexisting bánh tráng, during Lord Trịnh Tráng's rule of Northern Vietnam (1623–1654), when there was naming taboo of Tráng's name. The original term is now preserved in areas of Central and Southern Vietnam, which were not under the reign of Lord Trịnh Tráng at the time.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓajŋ̟˧˦ ʔɗaː˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɛɲ˦˧˥ ʔɗaː˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɓan˦˥ ʔɗaː˧˧]

Noun

bánh đa

1. (Northern Vietnam) Vietnamese rice paper
2. food which features flat noodles made from rice flour
3. food prepared from a rice cracker

Synonyms

• (Vietnamese rice paper): bánh tráng, bánh khô