ခွံ

Though STEDT doesn't assign an etymology to the term on its own (khwaṁ "shell"), it does implicitly link the sense of the compound term ဦးခွံ (u:hkwam, “skull”) to a Proto-Tibeto-Burman *kwam (“skull”) (apparently a semantic narrowing from "shell" > "skull"), whence also Jingpho [script needed] (pung kun, “skull”). Luce 1981 also links Old Chinese 函 (OC *ɡuːm, *ɡruːm, “box; to include”); this comparison is not phonetically unconvincing, though it is not particularly solid either.

• IPA^(key): /kʰʊ̀ɴ/
• Romanization: MLCTS: hkwam • ALA-LC: khvaṃ • BGN/PCGN: hkun • Okell: hkuñ

ခွံ • (hkwam)

1. (same as အခွံ (a.hkwam)) peel, skin, bark, rind, pod, shell, husk, crust, hull, covering

• “ခွံ” in Myanmar–English Dictionary (Myanmar Language Commission 1993). Searchable online at SEAlang.net.

From Proto-Karen *khwiᴬ (“nine”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d/s-kəw (“nine”). Cognate with Eastern Pwo ခုဲႋ (khwī).

• IPA^(key): /kʰwí/
• (Kayin State) IPA^(key): /kʰʷi³³/
• (Chiang Rai) IPA^(key): /kʰʷi³³/

ခွံ • (khwee)

1. nine