lên

See also: len, Len, leń, lén, lèn, lɛn, and l'en

Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *leːɲ, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *luŋ ~ *luəŋ ~ *ləŋ (“above, on”) (reconstruction in Shorto, 2006); related to trên. Cognate with Samre liɲ ("to go up; on"), Khmer ឡើង (laəng) and Semelai leŋ ("upwards, upstream"). Munda comparanda includes Juang aliŋ-ta ("above, from above, on; up, upon") and Korku liɲ ("up, above").

For the alternation *-ɲ ~ *-ŋ between branches, compare maybe Arem cìɲ, Samre sìɲ vs. Khmer ជើង (cəəng), Bahnar jơ̆ng, all "foot, leg".

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [len˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [len˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ləːn˧˧]

Verb

lên • (蓮, 𨑗, 𨕭, 𨖲, 𫧧, 𬨠, 𬨺)

1. to go up, come up, rise
2. to be or reach a certain age
3. to get on (a vehicle)

   lên xe

   to get on/in the car

4. to go to (a more developed area)

   lên thành phố

   to go to the city

5. (of a machine) to be activated

See also

• leo
• trèo
• xuống

Derived terms

• lên cơn
• lên hương
• lên lớp
• lên mặt
• lên men
• lên voi xuống chó
• lên xuống

 

Adverb

lên • (蓮, 𨑗, 𨕭, 𨖲, 𫧧, 𬨠, 𬨺)

1. upwards