bông

See also: bong, Bong, bóng, bỗng, bổng, and Appendix:Variations of "bong"

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓəwŋ͡m˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓəwŋ͡m˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɓəwŋ͡m˧˧]

• Audio (Hồ Chí Minh City)

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Proto-Vietic *poːŋ (“flower”). Cognate with Muong pông and Thavung โปง.

This word had been tentatively proposed as being connected etymologically with Hmong-Mien (Iu Mien biangh, White Hmong paj) or Austronesian (Malay bunga < Proto-Austronesian *buŋa., etc.) (for examples, Hsiu, 2017; H. Hayes, 1999, Hoàng Thị Châu, 2009). Ratliff (2017) connected the Hmong-Mien and Austronesian terms, but did not mention any Austroasiatic comparanda. In any case, the connection is not certain and might just be look-alikes.

Noun

bông • (芃, 葻, 𥟌, 𣒾, 𣜳)

1. (Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) bloom; flower

   Synonym: hoa

2. cotton

   gấu bông ― a cotton-stuffed bear

Classifier

bông • (芃, 葻)

1. Indicates flowers.

   Synonym: đoá

Usage notes

• Although bông in the sense of "flower" has mostly been displaced by hoa in the Northern dialects, lúa (“rice plant”) is an exception in that it is most often only accompanied by bông (i.e. bông lúa, lúa trổ bông, etc.) and not hoa, regardless of the dialect.

See also

Derived terms

• bông tuyết

 

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French bon.

Noun

bông

1. (dated) coupon; voucher; bond; proof