Vietnamese

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Etymology

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Sino-Vietnamese word from (south), likely based on the form from the South Central dialects (most notably in the name of province of Quảng Nam, known locally as Quảng Nôm). Like nam/Nam, Nôm has been used to refer to Vietnam as opposed to Bắc (North) which is China.

See also nôm, whence the adjective nôm na (basically, in layman's terms).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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Nôm ()

  1. (of a written record) written in Vietnamese using chữ Nôm
    bà chúa thơ NômQueen of Nôm poetry
  2. (historical) the common speech; the vernacular (as opposed to Classical Chinese which was used only in official writings)

Derived terms

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