trầu

See also: Appendix:Variations of "trau"

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕəw˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʈəw˦˩]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʈəw˨˩]

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Vietic *b-luː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *ml(əw) (“betel”). Cognate with Bahnar bơlŏu, Mon ဇဗၠူ (həplùˀ) and Khmer ម្លូ (mluu).

Attested as Northern Middle Vietnamese blầu in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651).

The formal name (tên chữ) of Phù Lưu village (扶留 (MC bju ljuw)) in Bắc Ninh, whose demotic name (tên Nôm) is Giầu, attests to the existence of proto-form /*blu ~ *bliu/ in Northern Old Vietnamese.

Alternative forms

• (Northern Vietnam) giầu (with *bl- > ‹gi-›)
• (North Central Vietnam) trù (no diphthongization)

Noun

(classifier cây, lá) trầu • (𫈜, 𫑱, 𣞾)

1. betel

(classifier miếng) trầu

1. paan

   bã trầu ― discarded (spit out) chewed paans

Derived terms

• miếng trầu là đầu câu chuyện
• trầu cau
• trầu không

Etymology 2

See rầu for the sound change.

Noun

trầu

1. Bình Định and Phú Yên form of trời (“sky, heaven”)

Derived terms

• trầu quâu
• trầu quơ