NUMERALS IN VIETNAMESE (2):
THOUSAND, MYRIAD, MILLION and RECONSTRUCTION OF PREDIALECTAL LEXICON
V.U. Nguyen
One of the primary reasons that led to systemic misconception about the present alphabetic
Vietnamese as true representative of other forms and dialects of the language before the 19th
century is that literary works at all levels of national heritage, including most importantly
Kiều Tale, Chinh Phụ Ngâm (Ballad of a Warrior’s wife), and Lục Vân Tiên, were presented
to the populace, solely under the quốc-ngữ (alphabetic) form, from the latter part of the 19th
century until the present day. As a result, etymological studies have rarely ventured beyond
the so-called Sino-Vietnamese “vocabulary”, and missed out altogether the “pure” Nôm
lexicon, notwithstanding demarcation between the two never critically examined.
In the previous article [1], etymology of chục (10) and trăm (100) together with some
quantitative lexicon, was presented to highlight admixture aspects of the language, requiring
a new approach using the “tree-and-soil” model, related to a postulate about the language
being a continuum in both space and time [2]-[4]. Analysis of origin of Vietnamese
numerals will continue asunder, focusing on ngàn (or nghìn) (1000), vạn (10000) and triệu
(million).
NGÀN (Nghìn, Thousand, 1000)
From examination of the word Trăm for Hundred (100) [1], it can be seen that at the time
numerals entering the language, there were lexicon existing to denote object or quantitative
state, or various degrees of comparative size and largesse. Assignment of numerical value to
such descriptive word, at a later stage, was made by way of metaphor, and Ngàn as numeral
for Thousand is no exception.
The earliest dictionary by Alexandre de Rhodes [5] listed Ngàn with primary meaning of
“limit” (or “certain quantity”): chẳng biết là ngàn nào (don’t know what (where/when) the
limit is); ngàn ấy thôy (ngần ấy thôi - only that much?). As “limit” ngàn was easily taken as
synonymous (metaphorically) with “big mountain” or “mountain range” that constituted the
boundary of living space of a community, or put a limit on the view of ancient people living
on the plains near-by. In [5], ngàn also has another meaning as núi mlớn (núi lớn - big
mountain). Both meanings, “limit” and “big mountain”, have equivalent in Chinese. Closest
to ngàn (limit) is , pronounced as [ngiun] in Hakka, and [ngan] in Cantonese, and ngàn
(big mountain), pronounced [ngam] in Hakka. [Ngiun] in Hakka (or [yin]
Mandarin)
is related to Northern “nghìn” denoting Thousand, whereas [Ngan] in Cantonese, more
commonly, to Southern “ngàn”. In many languages, such as Kharia and Remo (both of the
Munda group) [9], word denoting “Mountain” is also mixed with that for “Forest”, similar
to Vietnamese compound word “sơn lâm” or “núi rừng” (mountain-forest), likely as a result
of joint occurrence of both in many instances, then and now. By the same token, Ngàn,
according to Taberd’s and Paulus Của’s dictionary [6][7], also have meaning of “Forest” or
垠
岩
垠
1
“Numerous”, similar to trăm (100) [1]. As word for “Forest” ngàn could be related to
[gha~:D] in Korwa (Munda), or second syllable of [jaNgal] in Persian and Hindi [10], and
[nan] or [naa] in Chaozhou or Taiwanese [11][12]. For example: Mấy sông cũng lội, mấy
ngàn cũng qua (Kiều Tale - Nguyễn Du) {cross any rivers, pass any forests (or: mountains)};
băng ngàn vượt suối {pass forests (or: climb mountains), and cross springs}; ngàn xưa
{many years ago / thousands of years ago}.
林
All meanings listed for Ngàn (big mountain, mountain range, forest, numerous, vast, limit)
could easily lead ngàn into adapting new meaning as numeral for Thousand (1000) being a
large number or number at limit. As a result original ngàn as “limit” or “boundary” had to
undergo mutation into ngần, as at present: Chỉ có ngần ấy thôi à? (Is that all there is?).
Ngàn as “limit” also has hạn ( [hang] Chaozhou, [han] Hakka) as an allomorph: hạn kỳ
(deadline), giới hạn (limit, boundary), whereas Ngàn as “mountain range” or “numerous” or
“vast” would have Ngát as allomorph: bát ngát (vast / extensive); bạt ngàn (vast and
plentiful) normally in collocation with núi non: núi non bạt ngàn (vast and extensive
mountain range), where individually, núi is related to [phuu nâwy] (Laotian), non to
[ph’nohm] (Khmer), bạt or bát to [bok] Hakka and Cantonese (abundant, plentiful), or
[bat] Cantonese (vast), ngàn or ngát to [ngan] or [ngok] Cantonese ( : [ngok] mountain),
or [ngian]
Hakka (Meixian) (
- vast plain, bình nguyên [pin ngian] or [pin ngien]
Hakka). Nôm character for Ngàn is customarily written as
[8] which combined [yan]
(scholar) on the left, with [qian] meaning “numeral for 1000”, or “numerous”.
限
博
平原
原
弼
岩
彥
千
As mentioned in [1] tones in Vietnamese may not be invariant with lexicon, and this is
exemplified again through bạt and bát, ngàn and ngát, ngàn (ngần) and hạn, above. It is
also interesting to note that conception of Limit or Boundary – and hence a Big number like
Thousand (1000) – in ancient Vietnamese, was related to Mountain and Forest surrounding
the living space of the community of old, but such conception was different in Chinese,
where “Limit” was most likely viewed to be synonymous with the “Sky”, since phoneme for
Thousand [qian] ( ) is similar to that for Sky [tian] ( ), and both identical in Vietnamese
(Thiên) and Fujian ([chieng] limit, thousand), reminiscent of the English saying “The Sky is
the Limit”.
千
天
VẠN (Muôn, Myriad, 10000)
Origin of Vạn (or Muôn) can be analyzed by different approaches.
First, in a similar vein to generation of “million” (106) from “mille” (1000) in French,
million (106) to milliard (109) (French), “billion” (109) from “million”, [dtă taun] (1000) to
[dtă thaun] (10000) (Burmese), Vạn (10000) can be viewed as phonemic and metaphoric
extension of Ngàn (1000), using a notable trend in sound equivalence between Vietnamese
and Chinese dialects. That trend in sound equivalence is highlighted as follows: Vạn is
[wan] { or } under pinyin in Mandarin, but identical to [van] in Hakka and Vietnamese.
(Note that Alexandre de Rhodes’ dictionary [5] gave “Uạn” as spelling for “Vạn”). Initial
[W] for [wan] in Mandarin sometimes corresponds to initial [Ng] in Vietnamese. For
example: [wo] (or [wu] ) corresponds to Ngộ (I, me), [wa] Fujian, to Ngã (I, me); State
of Wu ( ) is nước Ngô in Vietnamese; [wu]
(five) to Ngũ. Thus Vạn (wan) being
万 萬
吳
我
吾
五
2
phonemic (and metaphoric) extension of Ngàn, bears strong similarities to Million and
Mille, or Billion and Million, [taun] and [thaun] (Burmese).
雲
(Mandarin [yun], Vietnamese Vân), also has
Second, Cantonese word for Cloud, [wan]
meaning “a large number of” [15]. This could be a case of [wan] having homophones prior
to distinction by character writing ( [wan] Mandarin, vạn, and [wan] Cantonese, vân).
万
雲
Third, consider the following system of sound equivalence established in [2]:
[wen] Mandarin, [man] Cantonese, [ven] Hakka, [văn] Viet ([byăn] southern),
and [bhung] Chaozhou. (Literature, literary).
[wu] Mandarin, [mou] Cantonese, [múa] Viet, [vu] Hakka, [múa] Viet, [vũ] Viet
([byũ] southern), [bhu] Chaozhou. (Dance).
[wu] Mandarin, [mou] Cantonese, [muay] Thai, [vu] Hakka, [vũ] or [võ] Viet
([byõ] southern), [bhu] Chaozhou. (Martial arts).
or [wu] Mandarin, [mou] Cantonese, [mậu] Viet, [vu] Hakka, [vô] Viet ([byô]
southern), [bho] Chaozhou. (Not, Negative). Note that initial [by] in southern dialect,
equivalent to Greek β (bienvenue, beauty, etc), is related to [bh] in Fujian /
Chaozhou, and was listed separately (6 pages) in the Alexandre de Rhodes
Dictionary [5].
[wei] Mandarin, [mei] Cantonese, [mui] Hakka, [mùi] Viet, [vị] Viet, [vi] Wu,
[mui bhi]
Chaozhou [12], [mùi byị] (southern). (Taste, Smell).
文
舞
武
無 无
味
美味
And such sound correspondence is aptly applicable to that between [vạn] and [muôn], both
meaning “myriad” or 10000:
- [wan] or
mandarin, [maan] Cantonese, [man] Korean, [muôn] Viet, [meuhn]
Thai and Laos, [meun] Khmer, [tamưn] Champa, [van] Hakka, [vạn] Viet ([byạn]
southern), [bhuang] Chaozhou, [ban] Fujian, and [mano] in Tongan. (Ten thousand,
myriad).
- In Nôm, vạn (10000) is written the same as in Chinese
or , whereas muôn
or
[13]. It is also
(10000), as môn ([men] door) enclosing Chinese [wan] (vạn):
interesting to note that [vạn] character in [13] is equivalent to [bạn] as under Fujian /
Chaozhou dialects, i.e. [v] [b].
- As sound equivalent between languages (or dialects), both muôn and vạn are
nevertheless co-existential in Vietnamese, as well as in Lahu: [m :n] and [vă] [14],
or Hmong: [meem] and [vam].
萬
万
萬
万
ə
Fourth, as trăm (100) may correspond metaphorically to “forest” (lâm), ngàn (1000) to limit,
vạn or muôn (myriad, 10000) could be derived from word meaning “all”, as implied in:
muôn vạn loài cầm thú (all kinds of birds and animals). Lexicon from other languages or
dialects in the region having similar sound to muôn or vạn with meaning All or Numerous or
Whole, can be listed, not exhaustively, as:
- [gang] , in Chaozhou, meaning “all”;
- [ba bha] in Khasi, with initial [b] as [bhan] in Fujian for [van], meaning “whole”;
- [bun-bah] in Khasi meaning “myriad”, where [bun] refers to “numerous”;
- [gwan] , in Cantonese, meaning “all”;
- [mun] , in Cantonese, meaning “entirely”, “completely”, “abundant”;
干
均
滿
3
-
完
[wan] , in Mandarin, meaning “whole”, “complete”;
[ban daa] Thai, “all”;
[muaan] Thai, “whole”, “all”;
[muun] Thai, “entire”, “whole”, “all”.
Muôn and Vạn with meaning “All” or “Whole” can also be inferred from Alexandre de
Rhodes’ dictionary [5], where Uạn uật, muôn uật (vạn vật, muôn vật - all animals,
excepting Heaven, Earth and human beings) and Uạn phương (vạn phương – all parts of the
world) were given as illustrative examples.
Conception of [vạn] or [muôn], equivalent to “myriad” or [wan] Chinese, to denote quantity
of 10000 (ten thousand), is not used in languages such as: Persian, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil,
Malay, Tagalog, Fijian, New Guinean, Samoan, Maori and Tahitian. Equivalent of Vạn or
[wan] is used in all Chinese dialects, and Chinese-related languages such as Korean,
Japanese, and Vietnamese, as well as Burmese, Thai, Laotian, Sinhalese, and Tongan.
Tongan word for “myriad” is [taha mano], where [taha] is One (1) and [mano] is Myriad
(10000). Numeral [mano] is however used in Maori to indicate Thousand (1000).
Another point repeated here is that the tone (accent) “nặng” (heavy) [ạ] in Vạn may not be
invariant, and could be changed into accent “huyền” (grave) [à]: muôn vàn hạnh phúc (all
happiness); muôn vàn tình thương (all love); etc. It is noted however that the Alexandre de
Rhodes dictionary [5] gave meaning of Vàn as “one hundred thousand”, while Vạn (myriad,
10000) was spelled as “Uạn”.
Furthermore, even though Vạn is equivalent to Muôn, Vạn is less frequently used in the
South than the North, while Muôn in the South, more often and at least at present, denotes
“Myriad” than as a numeral for ten-thousand. Compound word Muôn-Vạn again illustrates
what has been described previously [3] [4], and that is Vietnamese compound words are
often comprised of two separate elements having the same meaning, each sourced from a
different constituent language or dialect. It is also interesting to note that compound word vô
vàn (innumerable) when taken as equivalent to [wu wan]
, does not make sense in
Chinese, and the reason being vô in vô vàn could come from [vE]
of the Wu dialect,
corresponding to [wan] Mandarin, [van] Hakka, or muôn or vạn in Vietnamese. In other
words, vô vàn, having vàn equivalent to [wan] , should be identical to muôn vàn, with vô
being sourced from [vE] of another dialect (Wu), quite different from muôn with sound
correspondence in Cantonese, Khmer, Thai, and Lao. Alternatively, and most likely to be
the case, when vô is taken as [vu] in Hakka, referring to “negative”, vàn in vô vàn should
be equivalent to [han]
in Hakka, or hạn in Vietnamese, denoting “limit” as discussed
above. And thus vô vàn
means “unlimited”, “limitless”, “boundless”: nhớ thương vô
vàn (missing somebody immeasurably), and has vô hạn as an allomorph.
无万
万
万
限
无限
无
Analysis of vô vàn above serves to demonstrate that: (a) Vietnamese lexicon may have
different allomorphs reflecting different pronunciations between different dialects or
languages: ngàn, hạn, vàn, vạn, etc. (b) lexical similarity between Vietnamese and Chinese
could not be explained simplistically in terms of lexical borrowing, as it involves transfer of
deep structure encompassing an ensemble of phonemic, dialectal, tonal and metaphorical
4
declension or extension, as well as an intricate network of sound correspondence between
constituent languages.
While sound correspondences between Chaozhou [bhuang] and Mandarin [wan], Cantonese
[maan] will be reconciled later, it is noted that the vowel part of the word [vạn] (or [muôn])
in Chaozhou (Fujian) has a diphthong [ua] in lieu of a mere [a] as in other languages or
dialects. Such diphthong [ua] can also be found in the Quảng Nam dialect in Vietnam’s
Central Coast. This together with similar pronunciation [eng] for verb “to eat” (ăn) between
Chaozhou (Fujian) and Quảng Nam dialect (see [2]), could suggest a connection between
dialects in two places, directly opposite to each other by sea route.
TRIỆU (Million, 1000000) and TỶ (Billion, 109)
万
Different from [wan] in Chinese, Vạn in Vietnamese is rarely used in number greater
than 9 vạn (90000), since from 10 vạn (100000), use of trăm ngàn (nghìn) (100000 –
hundred thousand) is much preferred. As a result, word for Million (106) is “Triệu” in lieu
of 100 wan (100 vạn) as in Chinese.
兆
Triệu is written in both Chinese and Nôm script as . Etymologically also, Triệu has very
denoting loosely a very big number, Million
close connection with Mandarin [zhao]
6
9
12
(10 ), Billion (10 ) or Trillion (10 ), with Billion and Trillion more frequently used in
Taiwan. It is noted however that meaning of Billion or Trillion tends to vary between the
USA and other English-speaking countries, but in general the American usage, i.e. Billion
(109) and Trillion (1012), prevails.
兆
The spelling of Triệu (million) fully reflects its pinyin equivalent [zhao] by the following
“rules” discussed previously [1] [2]:
(a) Close correspondence between phoneme [au] (or [ao]) in one Chinese dialect, to [iu]
in another, or between two languages in the region, or two different collocative
applications in one language. For example: [jiu] Mandarin, [giu] or [kieu] Hakka,
to [gau] Cantonese, [kao] Chaozhou, [cửu] Viet (number 9); [Lau] (a surname –
singer/actor Andy Lau (Tak Hua Lau)) in Cantonese, to [Liu] in Mandarin (De Hua
Liu); [rao] Mandarin, to [jiu] Cantonese, [ngiau] Hakka, [đi rảo] Viet (to walk
around); [zhao] Mandarin, [zau] Hakka, to [ziu] Cantonese, [chiếu] Viet
(illuminate, shine, permit); [chao] Chaozhou to [chiếu] (mat); Tân Trào (new wave)
to cường triều (strong tide, or high flood-water), thủy triều (water tide); hiu-hiu
(breeze) {Viet} to [hau-hau] (Rapanui); cựu trào (old (former) dynasty) to triều đình
(imperial court).
(b) Use of initial [tr] for “triệu” (million) in alphabetic quốc-ngữ for unified coding of
“local” pre-alphabetic initials [tl], [bl], and [tr], and [zh] or [ch] or [z] in Mandarin
and other dialects like Cantonese, Hakka and Fujian (see [1]). Example on [tr]
equivalent to Chinese [z] and [zh]: trào (lộng) (humorous) being related to [zhou]
(Mandarin), which is also equivalent to [tieu] or [tiu] (Hakka) and [deu] Cantonese
[15], corresponding to “tiếu” or “tếu” (Vietnamese), which in turn is related to [xiao]
Mandarin , meaning “laugh”. It should be noted that in the traditional school,
[xiao] is the only word given as source for “tiếu”. Mandarin initial [zh] sometimes
九
绕
刘
照
调
笑
笑
5
corresponds to [z] Cantonese (or another Mandarin way of pronunciation), and
[zhou] is equivalent to [zou] Cantonese and “giễu” (diễu) Vietnamese. “Giễu”
(Diễu) could also correspond to [zau] or [zeu] Hakka, and [yiu] Cantonese.
“Lộng” in trào lộng above is related to [lung] Cantonese, or [long] Wu, with
meaning “make fun of”.
Accordingly, [triệu] for Million, is not a loan word (again) but a perfect coding of Chinese
[zhao]
having the same set of meanings (as in “Chinese”): million, summon,
call, appeal, foretell, begin, omen, symptom, sign, etc.. In detail:
- summon: triệu with allomorph chiêu (chiêu hồn - summon the spirit). (Note: triệu
(chiêu) is variant in both initial and tone).
- imperial decree: chiếu (written same as chiêu above, but with tone change)
- call, appeal: hiệu triệu
[hao zhao] (identical through sound correspondence
between [ao] and [iu]), or chiêu as “summon” above.
- foretell: tiên triệu (tiên: before, a priori), listed in Paulus Của’s dictionary [7],
identically equivalent to [xianzhao]
; triệu trẫm (foretelling event)
[zhaozhen] [16].
- begin: triệu tạo [16] ([zhao zao]
)
- omen: triệu lành, triệu hay (good omen), triệu dữ, triệu dở (bad omen) [16]. Triệu
for omen is currently supplanted by điềm ( :[dian] Mandarin, [diam] Hakka, [dim]
Cantonese: “pointing to”).
- symptom: triệu chứng, where chứng is [zheng] , or [zheng] or , meaning
“illness, disease”. Chứng is often used as a “noun adjunctive” (classifier) for bệnh
(bịnh) [bing] (sickness), and chứng bệnh may appear together as a compound
word. It is also noted that [bing] has two pronunciations in Cantonese: [beng] and
[bing], giving rise to “bệnh” (northern) and “bịnh” (southern), respectively.
- sign: dấu. Initial [zh] in [zhao] , may correspond to [z] among different Chinese
dialects (e.g. Wu: [ ]) [15], and thus [zhao] is equivalent to [zao] and hence [zấu]
or dấu with northern way of pronouncing initial [d], similar to [z] Hakka.
Alternatively, dấu could have direct correspondence to [you] Mandarin, or [ziu]
Hakka, or [yau] Cantonese. But dấu with meaning “to hide”, normally under
compound dấu giếm (dấu diếm, to hide) is related to [zau] Cantonese, with
original meaning “to hide something under shirt sleeve”, and diếm to [yim]
Cantonese (southern diếm), [zim] Hakka (northern dziếm).
兆 (or 召)
召
号召
先兆
肇造
兆朕
點
症
病
證 证
病
兆
袖
掩
Lexical transfer between Triệu and [zhao] as illustrated showed the transfer taking place in
the whole ensemble of meanings and deep structure, together with a network of sound
correspondence, tonal variation, and metaphorical extension. Analysis of the transfer also
showed the quốc-ngữ rules embodied to codify Triệu, as above.
Using the same metaphorical approach in the search for the origins of chục (10), trăm (100),
ngàn (1000) and vạn (10000), it can be seen, in the following, that Triệu as a numeral may
have been derived from lexicon for “Grass” and that, metaphorically, Triệu could be a short
form for: “numerous as grass”.
6
First, it should be noted that in the Tay dialect, as well as in Chaozhou, triệu (million) is
pronounced as [tiệu] (without [r]). In particular the Tay dialect has a shortage of initial [tr]
most being replaced by [t] (see [17]). In Hakka, Triệu has identical pronunciation with the
northern way: [ch’eu].
草
Second, the “official” Chinese word for “grass” is
[cao] or [zao], equivalent to
Vietnamese thảo having close correspondence in Wu: [
] [15]. The same word “thảo” is
pronounced in Chaozhou as [chao], such as 草席 [chao chiat] meaning “mat made of dried
grass”, being in reverse in Vietnamese: chiếc chiếu. And thus [chao] (Chaozhou) for “grass”
is equivalent to “chiếu” in Vietnamese, which in turn should be equivalent to Triệu as
explained above.
There are many other Chinese characters [15], some coming from Southern dialects, that
have meaning “grass”, or the likes, with dialectal pronunciation equivalent to Triệu
following the rules of quốc-ngữ coding above: [zeoi] Cantonese, [zhou] Mandarin,
[zhao] Mandarin, [zau] Cantonese, [zhou] Mandarin, [chou] Mandarin,
[zau]
Hakka with specific meaning “large or numerous as grass”, etc.
苴
荮
“Million” (triệu) conceptualized from “numerous like grass” ([zeoi], [zhao], [zhou], [zau],
[chou], etc) could also be supported by word for Billion (109) in Vietnamese: Tỷ. Even
though Chinese word for Billion in Taiwan is still [zhao], character and giving perfect
sound correspondence [ti]-2 (to Tỷ) means “grass” (rye-grass), or a variety of grass,
respectively. Tỷ (or Tỉ) being equivalent to Billion is also consistent with a small set of
sound correspondence between initial [b] in Mandarin to [t] in Vietnamese: [bi]
to tỷ
(compare) (i.e. bì); [bi] to tất (surely, must); [bian] to tiện (convenient, handy), and
thus the first syllable of “Billion” ([Bi]) could be transliterated into Tỉ with great ease.
Chamic word for Billion is also pronounced as [ti?].
稊
必
比
便
Nôm word for “grass” (Cỏ) is however “none of the above”, as “grass” was observed very
early with language, and very likely not sourced from languages of “migrants”, such as the
Bai Yue (Bách Việt)
groups, but from “local” substratum. Closest to Cỏ is perhaps
[KoRig] under monosyllabic split, from the Remo dialect of the Munda group.
百越
Another word denoting large number is Ức being Mười Vạn (10 vạn, 105) according to the
Khai Trí Tiến Đức Dictionary [16], but equal to “A Hundred Million” (100 Million, 108) in
Chinese [15]. Accordingly in Chinese, a Billion (American) is commonly expressed as [shi
yi]
, being 10 yi or 10 ức. Pronunciation of Ức (億 or ) in Chaozhou is almost
identical: [ek], which also carries meaning “many” or “abundant”, written as , having the
same pronunciation [ek] in Chaozhou, or [yik] in Cantonese. Mandarin pronunciation [yi]
(abundant) for Ức ( ) is similar to [yi] for “ants”, except for tone. All of Ức [yi], Tỷ [ti],
and Triệu [zhao] are reminiscent of the saying “đông như kiến, nhiều như cỏ” being
“abundant [yi] like ants [yi], numerous [zau] like grass [zhao]/[ti]”.
十億
亿
亿
SỐ CHẴN (Even Number), SỐ LẺ (Odd Number)
7
奕
數
Số (Number, Numeral) is related to [shu] or [suo] (Mandarin), [su] Wu and Korean, and
[sou] or [sok] Cantonese, which in turn is related to [shomare] Persian. It is noted that
[shomare] (Persian) is equivalent to [shu] (số) and [ma] (mã), with [ma] taking on the
meaning of (numeral) “code”.
數
碼
Even and Odd numbers are customarily expressed as number in pair and “single” number,
respectively, in many languages in Asia. In Cambodian, [leek guu] (Even number), [leek
dto] (Odd number); in Thai, [laehk khuu] (Even), [laehk khii] (Odd); in Chamic [angka yau]
(Even number, where [angka] is number, [yau] means “couple”, “pair”), [angka choh] (Odd
number, [choh] means “solitary”); in Chaozhou,
[sang bhe] (pair number) and
[tok
bhe] (single number); in Chinese,
or [ngou] or [ou] (ngẫu) or ( [shuang] (song)
(Even), and [dan] (đơn) or 奇 [kei] (kì) (Odd), all followed by [shu] above, for
“Number”.
雙碼
耦 偶
單
雙
笃碼
數
Use of 奇 [kei] (kì) to indicate an Odd Number has shown that conception of an Odd
number took place soon after contact with the West, since [ji shu] 奇 is a direct translation
of “odd number” with [ji] 奇 being “kì” (Vietnamese) or [kei] (Cantonese), referring to
something strange, queer, or odd. Also noted is a direct sound equivalence between Hakka
and Vietnamese, through [ji] 奇, which is [kei] Cantonese, [ki] Hakka, and “kì” Vietnamese
(kì quái - [ki gwai] Hakka).
數
奇怪
Vietnamese Nôm characters for Even and Odd numbers, varied widely, reflecting a mix of
conception. Some recent dictionaries, such as [8], indicated the same notion of “pair” versus
“singular”, to be the model behind “even” versus “odd”. As such “chẵn” (even) is listed as
character for “pair” ( [shuang]) placed on top of [zhen] for sound (chấn). Likewise,
“lẻ” (odd) is written as [li] for sound (lễ), next to [zhi] for meaning “chiếc” being one
of a pair, e.g. chiếc đũa, one chopstick.
双
軫
隻
礼
denoting
Under the same notion of chẵn referring to “pair” or “couple”, character
“level”, “even”, has pronunciation [zhun] in Hakka, [zeon] in Cantonese, and [
] in Wu;
character [seon] Cantonese, [zhun] Mandarin; and
[jau] Cantonese,
[sang] Fujian,
with meaning “pair” or “couple”, bear some similarity in sound to “chẵn”. Note that [jau]
Cantonese could be related to “chòi” in Viet compound “chẵn-chòi”. Likewise, [lin]
Hakka, having pronunciation close to “lẻ”, has meaning “lonely” among others. Burmese
word [zoun] meaning “pair” is also close to “chẵn” in sound, whereas Thai lexicon
[bplaao], or [bpliao], or [bplaaek], or [leuk] could be related to “lẻ” (or compound “lẻ-loi”)
with meaning: lonesome, odd, strange, unusual, uncanny. Stripping of initial [bp] could be
made by quốc-ngữ coding and modification [6] [7], in a similar fashion to mlầm mlở into
lầm lỡ (make a mistake), lí mlẽ into lý lẽ (reason) [5].
姷
双
伶
姷
As a matter of fact, however, Vietnamese chẵn and lẻ, were not totally modelled after “pair”
and “single”, since both Taberd’s [6] and Huình Tịnh (Paulus) Của’s [7] dictionary gave the
same Nôm characters (for chẵn and lẻ), which make no reference to conception of “pair”
and “single”. Nôm character for chẵn (even) is [zhen] Mandarin, [zan] Cantonese, and for
lẻ (odd) is [le] Mandarin, or
being [li] (ceremony) attached to [fen] (division) In
this connection, chẵn (even) is linked with the notion of “fullness” (i.e. round number in
禮
礼
8
振
分
.
mathematics), and lẻ (odd), that of “fraction, or remainder, or surplus”. In other words,
“chẵn” (even) is related to [jang] Thai, meaning “fully”, “truly”, “greatly”, or [chang]
Hakka (whole, complete), or [zin] Hakka, [zan] Cantonese, [zhen] Mandarin (whole), or
[tsen] Hakka, [zan] Hakka (whole). Whereas “lẻ” (odd) is associated with [leuua] Thai
(surplus, remainder) or [le] Lahu (surplus), [len] Hakka, [leng] Cantonese (nil, odd,
fraction, remainder), or or [let] Hakka, [lik] Cantonese, [le] Mandarin (surplus,
excess, fraction of a number).
全
整
镇
完
仂
零
For proof, first it is noted that “Retail sale” is called Bán lẻ in Vietnamese and [le gu] (“lẻ”
cố)
in Chinese, where cố often appears in compound cầm-cố (to pawn) with cầm
related to [jam] in Thai (to pawn), and cố, to [gu] ([ko] Korean), meaning “buy/sell”. It is
also noted that Vietnamese conception of “wholesale” (bán sỉ) is based on “sale in quantity”
or “sale in number”, and sỉ is thus related to [si]
Hakka (Meixian) meaning Number.
Second, the Khai Trí Tiến Đức dictionary [16] gave illustrative example of common usage
of lẻ being descriptive of a number “in excess”: $104 as “một trăm lẻ 4 đồng” (one hundred
lẻ four đồng (monetary unit)), indicating “một trăm” (one hundred) as a full number. In the
northern way of speaking, [linh] is used in lieu of lẻ, and [linh] is directly equivalent to
[ling] in Chinese: Một trăm linh 4 - linh in place of lẻ. In this sense lẻ is closely related to
compound word lẻ-tẻ, meaning “few”, “some”, “small number”, “sporadic”, where lẻ is
linked with
[liao] or [le] Mandarin, and tẻ with [se] Cantonese. In Vietnamese, lẻ
may also denote “second” as in vợ lẻ (vợ hai – second wife), where lẻ could be related to
Cantonese [leung] { } meaning “two” (i.e. vợ lẻ is wife number 2). For chẵn, the Taberd
dictionary [6] gave main meaning as a number without “residual”, consistent with the notion
of lẻ as a remainder or a number “in surplus”. It should also be noted that in vợ lẻ (second
wife) above, the hỏi (“question”) diacritic [ả] is used for lẻ, in lieu of the conventional lẽ
with the ngã (“fall”) diacritic [ã]. This vợ lẻ is taken from Alexandre de Rhodes’ dictionary
(byợ lẻ) [5], and seems to be more consistent with lẻ’s meaning as “in excess”, “surplus”,
“secondary”, than the conventional lẽ modified initially by Taberd [6] and Paulus Của [7],
normally referring to Quiet (lặng lẽ) or Reason (lý lẽ), and accordingly vợ lẽ - wife by
reason, most likely would not be acceptable by vợ cả - principal wife, under any
circumstances.
零沽
沽
數
零
寥
落
些
两
TOWARDS A UNIFIED THEORY OF DIALECTAL CORRESPONDENCES
Central to the admixture theory is a premise about the language being a property, generally
coexistential and identifiable with formation of the state. There are many corollaries
surrounding this basic premise, and one being growth of lexicon is a function of time in
development of society, and by and large dependent on metaphorical extension (or
metonymy), as well as the language or dialect associated with those in dynastic control of
the socio-political agenda of the state. Take for example: (a) lexicon like mountain-forest
(ngàn), smell-taste ([wei] Mandarin) could be in one singular form in early times; (b) words
related by metaphorical extension are characteristically identifiable by similar phonemes.
For example: “sweat” (mồ hôi) and “soot” (mồ hóng) as detailed in [18], where it was
suggested that the two words were “coined” at the same time from observation of the two
“joint entities” (similar to mountain-forest, núi non, above), both taking place on human
bodies of those in charge of cooking with open hearth, or those around in olden times.
9
Phonetics of the two are similar in many languages: “Mồ hôi” (sweat) and ”mồ hóng”
(soot), [han] 汗 (sweat) and [yan] 烟 (soot), sweat and soot, ‘sueur’ and ‘suie’ in French,
‘sviti’ and ‘sót’ in Icelandic, ‘sviedri’ and ‘sodreji’ in Latvian, ‘higi’ and ‘nõgi’, Estonian,
and ‘hiki’ and ‘noki’ Finnish, respectively; and (c) lexical growth is generated by another set
of lexicon native to the group of people in control of the socio-political agenda supplanting
an old one, especially after a dynastic change. This will be dealt with in some detail later.
Most noticeable about lexical generation by metaphorical extension, as discussed above, is
the word Ngàn (nghìn) for “Limit” which is metaphorically related to Mountain, mountain
range, forest, boundary, numerous, thousand, etc. The word Ngàn (1000), in fact also gives
illustration of lexical growth through tonal declension and allomorphic generation with the
assistance of contributions from different constituent languages. Lexical generation can also
be activated by separation of disyllabics under monosyllabic pressure, and in the present
context it will be shown briefly that many pairs of sound correspondence among constituent
dialects mentioned above, such as Muôn and Vạn (myriad, 10000), Mùi and Vị (taste, smell),
etc, can be reconciled as originating from single disyllabic (or semi-disyllabic) lexicon.
While the main object of the exercise is similar in kind to that of Bernhard Karlgren [19]
and William H. Baxter [20], in respect of Old Chinese and Middle Chinese, the basic
premises employed herein are however different. Most typical is that change in word-initial,
or final-consonant (like ending -p, -t, -k, -m, in Hakka and their absence in Mandarin), or
vowel shift is now attributed to influence of the language or dialect associated with the
ethnic group temporally in charge of the socio-political, military and cultural agenda.
Other characteristic differences include:
a) many phonetics of “old” lexicon can be found to exist at present among languages or
dialects in the region (see [12][15], for example). Previously it was asserted that
these lexicon were taught by, or on loan from, the colonial power to the locals. This
will now be viewed as contributed directly from constituent languages to the
“mainstream” language, prior to or during formation of the Vietnamese lingua
franca. In other words, it has been amply shown ([1]-[4], [18]), though not (yet)
formally, that Sino-Vietnamese pronunciations were not invention (or modification)
of the locals but brought in by Bai Yue (Bách Việt) migrants over past millennia;
b) such notion of contribution from “dialects” will be clearer when comparing SinoVietnamese phonetics with pidgin English in many places in the South Pacific. Most
Sino-Vietnamese phonetics can be traced to have “close” identicals among many
dialects of the region, especially those in South China, i.e close to the source as at
present (see [1]-[4], [18]), whereas the same cannot be said with pidgin languages;
c) language development was largely influenced by those constituent languages whose
speakers got temporal control of the socio-political agenda of the state, hereinafter
called the “agenda” theory. In this respect, there is competing influence among the
languages including those of the substratum. It is noted that even though Polynesian
is considered as part of the substratum [2], the fact that throughout the nation history,
Polynesian speakers did not make it to the level of controlling the socio-political
agenda, has provided explanation for influence of Polynesian on Vietnamese being
not as pronounced and marked as other groups, such as Hakka (Lý dynasty, 100910
1225), Fujian (Trần dynasty, 1225-1240), Mon-Khmer-Mường (Lê dynasty, 14281788) [2], etc;
d) the agenda theory has been obscured in the past due to two “natural doctrines”
operating since the dawn of human society: Oath of Allegiance, and Enemy of the
State, which are complimentary to each other.
e) changes in morphemes and phonemes can be activated through alphabetic
codification (i.e. quốc ngữ) (see [1] [3] [4]), which together with dualist features
attached, are considered in the present framework to be subsumed under the
“agenda” theory.
It will be illustrated in the following, through reconstruction of pre-dialectal lexicon, that
sound correspondences among various dialects, Chinese and Vietnamese, may have
originated initially, in pre-dialectal times, from single disyllabics (or semi- so), through
diaspora and under monosyllabic pressure.
Consider the system of sound correspondence for the word Vạn (10000) in Vietnamese
(northern), equivalent to “Mandarin” [wan] :
萬
萬 万
[wan] Mandarin ( or ), [maan] Cantonese, [man] Korean, [muôn] Viet, [meuhn] Thai
and Laos, [meun] Khmer, [tamưn] Champa, [van] Hakka, [vạn] Viet ([byạn] southern),
[bhuang] Chaozhou, [ban] Fujian, and [mano] in Tongan. (Ten thousand, myriad).
味
And vị or mùi vị ([wei] , taste/smell):
[wei] Mandarin , [mei] Cantonese, [mui] Hakka, [mùi] Viet, [vị] Viet, [vi] Wu, [mui bhi]
Chaozhou [12], [mùi byị] (southern). (Taste, Smell).
美味
味
The following observations can be made:
(a) The pattern of sound correspondence shown is consistently repeated in some other
lexicon, like [wu] ( or or ), as mentioned above, and noting that Hakka
equivalence is close to Northern variety, whereas Cantonese, Thai, Fujian and
Southern dialect appear to share the same sound initial [m], like “myriad”.
Both vạn and vị are associated primarily with Mandarin pronunciations, [wan] and
[wei], and Han characters
and , respectively, whereas “muôn” and “mùi”,
h
h
([b uang] and [b i]), are related to various dialects. The characters
and listed in
dictionaries as corresponding to Cantonese [maan] and [mei], respectively, for
example, are used in a role similar to Nôm (Vietnamese) characters, in that they are
straight adaptation of Han characters for dialectal lexicon having the same meaning
but different phonemes. This is confirmed by the Chaozhou characters
for [mui
h
b i] [12] (mùi vị or mùi [byị] – Viet), where
has different meaning in Chinese
(beautiful) and is pronounced differently ([mei]), and is pronounced principally in
Mandarin as [wei] (vị).
In Chinese, the “official” word for “ten thousand” is [wan], which is equivalent to
[meuhn] Thai, [meun] Khmer, muôn (Southern), etc.
(d) In Vietnamese, mùi and vị, though related to different Chinese dialects, have
different connotations in modern Vietnamese, mùi – smell, vị - taste, whereas in
Mandarin [wei] , generally encapsulates both “smell” and “taste” in its semantic
舞 武 无
(b)
萬
味
萬
美
(c)
味
11
味
美味
味
mappings. Splitting of [wei] into mùi and vị, with gradual differentiation in
connotations (smell and taste, respectively), could have come about after its exposure
to European languages. This is evident from one earliest dictionary [5] which gave
meanings of both “smell” and “taste” for Mùi, while [Uị], a pre-incarnate of Vị, was
listed for a different meaning. “Vị”, very likely, entered Vietnamese lexicon only in
the 19th century through dictionaries such as those of Taberd [6] and Paulus Của [7].
(e) Also in Vietnamese there is a very robust collocation that muôn always precedes vạn
in compound “muôn vạn” (myriad), and “mùi” stands in front of “vị”, at all times
under compound mùi vị.
It is therefore quite likely that in pre-dialectal times, and under disyllabic or semi-disyllabic
environment, “muôn-vạn” and “mùi-vị”, were comprised in “singular” words, such as
[mwan] and [mwei] respectively. And it is suggested here that words like [mwan] could be
classified as semi-disyllabic to highlight the fact that it was at some time in the past split
into [maan] Cantonese (muôn, Vietnamese) and [wan] Mandarin ([van] Hakka, “vạn”
Vietnamese) under monosyllabic pressure.
To illustrate this, first consider the word [mwai] in some Mường dialects denoting “person”.
It is clear that [mwai] was an alphabetic construction, equivalent to [ngwai] or [ngaj] in
several Mon-Khmer and Mường dialects [21], which led to present form “ngài” in Mường
(Hoà Bình) [22] with the same meaning, and “người” (person) and “ngài” (Excellency,
honorific form of người) in Vietnamese. Splitting into monosyllabics from disyllabics or
semi-disyllabics has been reported previously [3] [4], and repeated here for illustration:
[mijDa] (Munda) into miếng đất (piece of land); [ludo] (Burmese) into lũ and đồ, both
denoting “group of persons” in a derisive sense; [*kazal] or [kanhjal] (Mon-Khmer) into
cơn gió (wind); and [kAnReG] (Munda) into cánh rừng (forest).
Second, the two language groups, Sino-Tibetan and Tibeto-Burmese, most logically would
lead to triangular relations between Chinese, Tibetan and Burmese, where some lexical flux,
inter- and intra-, could have easily taken place from time to time in the past. Furthermore, as
suggested in [2], the Western “barbarians”, called Di Qiang in Chinese historical records,
that had many incursions into China in the long past, are synonymous with those known
today as speakers of the Mon Khmer language group. Mon Khmer, Munda, Thai and
Polynesian together constitute the Vietnamese language substratum in accordance with the
present theory. It is therefore instructive to see that there are lexicon having initial [mw] in
present-day Burmese, Lahu and Mường. Word [mwei-de] in Burmese means “born” [23],
and [mvw-kì] in Lahu (Sino-Tibetan) denotes “mushroom” [14]. The word “Mường” has its
origin from some Thai dialects [Mwang], denoting “person” or a small community. Word
from many Hill Tribes people to refer to the Thai is [Kon Mwang] where [Kon] is
“person(s)” and [Mwang] is Thai [2].
Third, using the results published by Sergei Anatolievich Starostin [24], it can be seen that:
- For [wàn] the phonemes in “olden” times are listed variously as: [mwan], [mans],
[manh], [mwanh], and [mwǝ̀n], showing there is a very strong possibility that all of
these old sounds for were split into [maan] and [wan], and other dialectal
equivalents, such as muôn and vạn in Vietnamese, under monosyllabic pressure.
萬
萬
12
-
For [wei]
味, Starostin’s list of equivalent phonemes includes notably: [mwǝ ś],
[mwɨ ś], and [mwɨ̀j], all equivalent to the combination of “mùi” and “vị” as “singular”
word unit, back in pre-dialectal times.
To lend further proof to the hypothesis that sound correspondences among Chinese and
Vietnamese dialects could be derived from splitting of semi-disyllabics in the past, consider
some similar cases having differences in dialectal initials, and some other cases where initial
is the same between different dialects. In the latter, when sound correspondences in various
different share the same sound initial, the data given in [24], will show a lack of wide
variation and conspicuous semi-disyllabics in “old” sounds reconstructed, of the same word.
晚
For cases similar to that of muôn and vạn, [wan] , with meaning: evening, drawing to an
end, late, etc., has the following known sound correspondences: [van], [wan] and [man]
Hakka, [maan] Cantonese, [wan] Mandarin, [mung] Chaozhou, [man] Korean, [ban] SinoJapanese, [byãn] southern, [mãn] (mãn khoá – end of course (graduation), mãn năm - end
of year), [vãn] (vãn hát – end of show, vãn niên – old age), [muộn] (muộn màng – late
(noting that both muộn and màng are related to same “word” in Chinese dialects). All of
these “splits” may correspond to Starostin’s data, [mwǝ́n] or [mwan] for .
晚
For cases with dialectal correspondences having the same initial:
(i)
[man] (curtain, screen) does not deviate from initial [m] across different
dialects: Mandarin [man], Hakka [man], Cantonese [maan] (Viet: màn),
Chaozhou [mang], Jianou [muing] (Viet (southern): mùng – mosquito net) and
Wu [mE]. This is reflected in a good majority of Starostin’s data centering on
[man] or [manh];
(ii)
[wei] or meaning: to guard, defend, protect (Viet: vệ), has no variation in
intial among Chinese dialects: [vi] or [wi], [wui] Hakka, [wai] Cantonese, [ue]
Chaozhou (similar to Vietnamese [uệ] in [5]), [wi] Sino-Korean, and generally
the same initial [w] across Starostin’s data: [wes], [wej], [wrac] and [wras]; and
(iii) [wei] (vị - place, location, throne, measure word for “person”) has the same
initial [w] across dialects: [vi] or [wi], [wui] Hakka, [wai] Cantonese, [wei]
Mandarin, [uE] Wu (similar to [vị] Viet), and is subscribed to many data in [24]:
[wej], [wis], [wrǝ ś], [wrǝ ts], and [wrǝ ć]. The last three sounds involving initial
[wr] resulted directly from Fanjie technique embodying the radical (stand, set
up, establish, upright) pronounced variously as [wei] or [li] Mandarin, [li?] Wu,
[lip] Hakka and Sino-Korean, [lap] or [laap] Cantonese (lập Vietnamese), and
[ritsu] [ryuu] Sino-Japanese.
幔
衛 卫
位
立
It should be stressed that the present discussion departs from conventional reconstruction
theory in basic premises, most characteristically about the reconstruction of Old or Ancient
Chinese. Under conventional theory, a sizeable proportion of Old Chinese is principally
reconstructed based on present-day Sino-Vietnamese pronunciations, whereas the theory
presented here is different and relies on a different set of basic premises, one being
admixture of languages taking place mainly in pre-dialectal times. In brief, the reasons are:
13
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
lexical transfer from Chinese to Vietnamese is not of a loan type, but involves a
complete transfer of deep structure, together with declension in phonemes,
morphemes, dialectal correspondences, metaphorical extension, etc. as shown
above and previously [1][3][4];
the so-called Sino-Vietnamese lexicon and their demarcation with pure Nôm
(local Annamese), has not been critically examined and it has been shown above,
that such demarcation is at best fuzzy;
by relying on present-day Sino-Vietnamese pronunciations, the conventional
theory has overlooked three vital facts: One, Sino-Vietnamese pronunciations
should also vary with time, and from place to place; Two, some good proportion
of those Sino-Vietnamese lexicon were reconstructed (too) early in 20th century
[25]; and, Three, alphabetization of the language played a major role in
transforming phonetics of the language, as illustrated above; and most critically:
there is no evidential support on the premise that the Chinese colonialists
imparted their own “unified” ways of lexical pronunciation on the Annamese in
olden times, and these have been retained and frozen over a long period of time in
Annam while the Chinese language had “moved on” with the time. In fact what
has been shown above (and previously) that, discounting the impossibility of
being exhaustive, almost all Sino-Vietnamese sounds can still be traced to
present-day southern Chinese dialects, notwithstanding influence on the language
by alphabetic coding (quốc ngữ), vis-à-vis many different systems of
phonetization of Chinese Mandarin and dialects, established in the last century.
Returning to muôn and vạn (myriad, ten thousand), it is noted that Fujian and Chaozhou
sound equivalence to initial [m] Cantonese, and [w] Mandarin, in [maan] muôn, [wan] vạn
(myriad), and [mei] mùi, [wei] vị (mùi vị - smell/taste) is consistently initial [b]: [bhuang]
Chaozhou, [ban] Fujian, [byạn] Viet (southern) (vạn), and [bhi] Chaozhou [12], [bi]
Fujian, [byị] (southern) (vị), respectively.
味
Such equivalence, consistent with the present theory took place in two stages:
(1) Sound [mwan] in pre-dialect times was split into [man] and [wan] under monosyllabic
pressure. Likewise, [mwij] into [mwi] or [mui], and [wij] or [wei].
(2) Speakers of Fujian or Chaozhou, in non-alphabetic environment, would not have any
dualistic need to differentiate between two labial sound initial [m] and [b], and had liberty
to make pronunciation of “alphabetic” [man] as [ban], and [mei] (Hakka [vi]) as [bi] or [bhi]
or [byị] (southern). Southern tendency to pronounce northern [v] (viết văn – writing) as
[byiết byăn] arose from this non-alphabetic feature coupled with initial [by] (Greek β) with
entries (e.g. βào – to enter, ông βua – the King) covering 6 pages in the earliest dictionary
[5], more than [v] (vân – cloud), at the time still “submerged” in entries under [u] (e.g. uái
blời (vái trời) – pray to Heaven)
Equivalence between [m] and [b] under non-alphabetic environment can be found very
common across many languages, and usually obscured by built-in dualist feature of
alphabetic languages or phonetization systems. Examples abound: (i) Bangkok is called
[Maan Guk]
in Cantonese, and [Man Gu] in Mandarin. (ii) The commercial city
Bombay in India was changed to Mumbai in 1996. Locally, it is known as Mumbai or
曼谷
14
Mambai to Marathi and Gujarati speakers, and as Bambai in Hindi and Urdu, according to
Wikipedia. (iii) Character Mã Siêu ([Ma Chao] Mandarin) in “The Three Kingdoms” is
called [Ba Chou] in Japanese.
Such intrinsic dualist feature of alphabetization can also be seen in application of two
alveolar sound initials [T] and [D], largely indifferentiable under non-alphabetic
environment: Teng Hsiao Ping, Mao Tse Tung (Wade Giles) and Deng Xiao Ping, Mao Ze
Dong (pinyin); Tang Ren (Chinese people – after the Tang dynasty) and Deung Nang
(Fujian), Đường Nhân (Viet). Sometimes this dualist feature can obscure many a “singular”
entity, often taken as different groupings (in ethnicity): Tai, Dai, Ka-Dai, Tày, Tày-Nùng,
Thái, Thai, etc.
ABSTRACT
Investigation on etymology of Vietnamese numerals, outside the basic range 0-10, has
revealed that each is metaphorically linked with existing lexicon, sourced from constituent
languages or dialects, and often declined in morpheme and phoneme, as well as in tone.
Alphabetic codification of these numerals have pushed them further away from, and made
them appearing unrelated and unrecognizable with, the original metaphors.
In brief, chục (decade) is linked with words for “bundle”, “bunch”, “group”, and most
others with lexicon denoting some sense of “abundant” or “numerous”, coupled with
metaphor or metaphorical extension, to encode various degrees of “numerous”. Trăm (100)
was derived from word for Forest (lâm), Ngàn (1000) from Limit, Mountain-Forest, Muôn
or Vạn (10000) ([maan] and [wan] Chinese), from All, the Whole, Triệu (106) from Grass,
Ức (105 or 108) from Ants, and Tỷ (Billion) from Grass, like Triệu.
万
Attempt is made to reconcile dialectal correspondences, such as [wan] manifesting as
Muôn, Maan, Vạn, Buang, Byạn, across many dialects in Chinese, Vietnamese, and many
other languages or dialects in the region, through formulation of a unified theory. It is
shown that dialectal correspondences resulted mainly from split of a single semi-disyllabic
under monosyllabic pressure. And the semi-disyllabics are of different origin to the
(monosyllabic) lingua franca, its speakers having control of the socio-political agenda in the
long past.
REFERENCES
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publication).
[4] V.U. Nguyen (2008) Admixture complexities in “Cai” and “Con”. (submitted for
publication).
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