cầu

See also: cau, câu, cấu, cẩu, čau, cậu, and ĉaŭ

Vietnamese

Vietnamese Wikipedia has an article on:

cầu

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Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kəw˨˩]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [kəw˦˩]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [kəw˨˩]

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from 球 (“ball; sphere”).

Noun

(classifier trái, quả) cầu • (球, 毬)

(sports) a jianzi shuttlecock
đá cầu ― to play jianzi
(badminton) a badminton shuttlecock
(sports) Short for cầu mây (“sepak takraw ball”).

Etymology 2

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 橋 (“bridge”, SV: kiều). Doublet of kèo.

The “latrine; lavatory” sense was so named since latrines were, in pre-modern times, characteristically a wooden construction on the water. Compare Malay jamban (“latrine”) < jambatan (“bridge”).

Noun

(classifier cây) cầu • (橋)

a bridge (construction or natural feature that spans a divide)
Muốn sang thì bắc cầu kiều.
Muốn con hay chữ thì yêu lấy thầy.
If you want to cross a river, build a bridge.
If you want your kids to be educated, be kind to their teacher.
(Southern Vietnam) Short for nhà cầu (“latrine; lavatory”).

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Sino-Vietnamese word from 求.

Verb

cầu

to ask for; to demand
Không ai cầu mày làm vậy cả.
No one asked you to do that.
to pray that something will happen; compare ước (“to wish”)
Tao cầu (trời) cho cả nhà mày bị xe cán chết !
I pray (to heaven) your whole family dies in a car crash!

Derived terms

Noun

cầu

(economics) demand
Antonym: cung