cánh

See also: Appendix:Variations of "canh"

Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *kɛːŋʔ, from Proto-Austroasiatic *kiəŋ (“elbow”) (not listed in Sidwell (2024) but compare Proto-Austroasiatic *miəŋˀ (“mouth”) (whence miếng/mánh)).

Đại Nam Quấc âm tự vị (1895) records the now obsolete form written as kiến. Considering that this dictionary is based on Southern Vietnamese when the /n > ŋ/ shift already occurred, the form intended here would be etymologically spelled as kiếng (cf. the "kiến" for "glass" entry right below). This kiếng/cánh pair represents the diphthongized and undiphthongized variants respectively, in the same vein of miếng/mánh.

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kajŋ̟˧˦]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [kɛɲ˦˧˥]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [kan˦˥]
Audio (Hà Nội): (file)
Audio (Saigon): (file)

Noun

cánh • (𫅩, 𦑃)

(anatomy) wing
(aviation) airfoil, wing
(botany) petal
cánh hoa ― petal
(of a star symbol) point
sao vàng năm cánh ― a five-pointed golden star
(of a football/soccer pitch/field) side
(literary) clothes; clothing
Hắn diện một bộ cánh lỗi mốt hết cỡ.
He wears/wore a super out-of-style set of clothes.

Derived terms

Classifier

cánh

Indicates doors, windows, gates, kites, bows, forests and agricultural fields (of maize/corn, rice, etc.)

Anagrams

nách, nhác, chán