Mặt Trời

See also: mặt trời

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

  • mặt trời, Mặt trời
  • (Northern Vietnam) mặt giời, Mặt Giời

Etymology

A compound of mặt (originally meaning “eye) +‎ trời (sky; heavens), literally “eye of the heavens”, a common metaphor for the Sun in Austroasiatic, Austronesian and Kra-Dai languages in Southeast Asia. Compare Thai ตะวัน (dtà-wan), Malay matahari, Proto-Mon-Khmer *t₂ŋiiʔ (Sun) < **[ma]t₂-ŋiiʔ (Benedict, 1976). Cognate with Muong măt tlời.

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [mat̚˧˨ʔ t͡ɕəːj˨˩]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [mak̚˨˩ʔ ʈəːj˦˩]
  • (Saigon) IPA(key): [mak̚˨˩˨ ʈəːj˨˩]

Proper noun

Mặt Trời • (𩈘𡗶)

  1. (astronomy) Sun
    Synonym: Thái Dương
    • Copy from 18th century, Urtext probably from 12th or 15th century, Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經):
      𪬪(Gió)𠺙(thổi)(Mặt)𫶸(Trời)(đốt)(xương)(bạc)(tan)(tác)(trong)(quê)(nước)(người)
      [Under the] blowing winds and burning Sun, white bones keep decaying on foreign soil.

Derived terms

See also