vắn

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Vietnamese

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Etymology

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From Proto-Vietic *panʔ (low). Cognate with Muong Bi pẳn (short (in length and statue)), Tho [Cuối Chăm] pan⁴ ("low"); cf. the Nôm characters with (MC panH) as phonetic.

Lenited initial in Vietnamese might indicate a presyllable that is otherwise lost.

This word used to enjoy widespread usage, as can be seen in Nôm prose and poetry, as well as texts in the Latin script during the colonial period, but has become greatly limited in usage, likely due to ngắn becoming the chief word for "short".

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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vắn (, 𬑰, 𠦯, 󰠻, 𥐆, 𬑵, 󱳤, 󱸝, 𥐔, 𥏿)

  1. (now only in compounds and reduplicatives) brief
    • 1895, Huình Tịnh Của, Đại Nam Quấc âm tự vị:
      𩵜 Cá. n. Loài ở dưới nước; cuộc với nhau.
      . id. (Tiếng đôi); thứ cá tròn mình, múp đầu múp đuôi mà vắn, cũng gọi là cá bống mú; mập như con cá bong mú, thì chỉ nghĩa là mập tròn.
      𩵜 Cá. n. Animals that live in water; to bet.
      . id. (A compound); kind of fish with round body, it has thick head and fat tail but its shape is short, also called cá bống mú; mập như con cá bong mú ("as fat as a grouper"), refers to someone who is fat and stout.

See also

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Derived terms