Mon-Khmer and Vietnamese Basic Words

Comparative Fundamental Word Lists

by dchph

The comparative study of Mon‑Khmer and Vietnamese basic words has long been central to debates over Vietnamese classification. Yet closer analysis reveals that many supposed Mon‑Khmer cognates are better explained as Yue substratal forms or Sino‑Vietnamese correspondences.

Lexical correspondences between Vietnamese and other Mon-Khmer languages suggest that ancient Viet-Muong may represent the root layer. Anthropological evidence indicates that early Mon-Khmer groups in northern Vietnam had migrated from the southwest, in what is now Lower Laos. Loanwords from these ancient languages could be very basic and may have been borrowed in either direction. Etymologically, many such forms descend from Taic and Yue ancestral families that existed in southern China prior to the rise of proto-Chinese, when the so-called sixteen Bak tribes from Southwest Asia moved into the region. Their early mixed speech, later grouped under the Sino-Tibetan family, provided a foundation for further contact.

As new rulers advanced southward, they intermingled with indigenous populations in Cochin-China (Lacouperie 1887/1967). Later waves of Han-mixed Southern Yue migrants reinforced this process, and the fusion of these groups produced what became the ancient Annamese. Linguistically, the interaction of northern resettlers’ languages with local speech gave rise to the earliest form of Annamese, which gradually evolved into modern Vietnamese. Western linguistics has classified this ancient stage within the Austroasiatic family, making it a sister – or more precisely, a cousin – of Mon-Khmer. Yet Vietnamese is not Sinitic, nor does this classification necessarily prove it to be a direct descendant of Austroasiatic, as argued by the so-called Mon-Khmerists. Had Annam remained a province of China after the 10th century, its speech might today be regarded as a Chinese dialect.

The debate over “Mon-Khmerism” and its relation to Taic-Yue subfamilies recalls Merritt Ruhlen’s (1994:92) discussion of Greenberg’s Amerind hypothesis and its critics. By analogy, the Taic-Yue family may be substituted for Amerind, and Austroasiatic Mon-Khmerism for the “Bantuist” opposition. In support of an earlier Taic-Yue stratum predating Sinitic, this survey presents nearly 300 cognate words across Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer and Sino-Tibetan languages that correspond to fundamental Vietnamese vocabulary, along with grammatical elements such as prepositions and particles.

Ruhlen observed that Mon-Khmerists tended to ignore commonalities between Chinese dialects and Vietnamese, despite the presence of numerous shared core words – one, two, sky, heaven, father, mother, sister, head, eye, fire, water, eat, drink, and others – many of which also appear in his comparative tables (The Origin of Language, 1994). Strikingly, such forms are widespread in southern Chinese dialects but absent from Mon-Khmer languages of Indochina. Austroasiatic scholars have explained these similarities as the result of multilingualism and intense diffusion in Asia, prior to the southward migration of Taic-Yue groups into Indochina and Thailand.

The term Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer as the root of Vietnamese may thus be seen as a euphemism, avoiding acknowledgment of the Chinese-Yue connection identified by de Lacouperie (1887/1963) in his discussion of the Bok (百姓) and later BaiYue (百越). Similarly, the Austro-Thai hypothesis was proposed to explain parallels between Tai-Kadai languages such as Siamese and Laotian, though it never gained the same traction as Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer. The Mon-Khmerist rejection of the Taic-Yue theory for both Chinese and Vietnamese resembles earlier debates over the Sino-Tibetan family. Rather than examining China before the Chinese, Austroasiatic pioneers advanced their family model prematurely, often misunderstanding or dismissing alternative perspectives.

As Ruhlen (1994:29) noted, languages can be classified into families on the basis of shared words, which change over time through phonetic and semantic shifts. Comparative tables of Mon-Khmer and Vietnamese illustrate this principle. Yet caution is warranted: related forms are scattered across Mon-Khmer languages and do not consistently belong to the same lexical classes or categories. For example, numerals, among the most frequently borrowed items, show variation: Khmer bases its system on 1-5, while other Mon-Khmer languages count 1-10 with decimal systems.

Etymologically, similarities in the basic realm, such as vocables /ba/ and /pa/, /mama/, /mig/, /mwei/, /mua/, /mjəkw/, /myak/, /mat/… meaning the concept eye (VS mắt, ‘eye’), or even fly (VS bay, ‘fly’) in world languages, and their parallels such as /bej/, /fej/, /par/, /pere/, /puaRR/, /p’er/, /parV/, /phur/, /apir/, /paru/, etc., could be coincidental. Such patterns are often associated with monosyllabic words and their reduplicative forms, especially those beginning with /b-/, /p-/, /m-/, /n-/, and so on. This phenomenon of apparent cognacy occurs widely across Austroasiatic, Austronesian, and Sino-Tibetan languages. Some authors interpret this as lexical residue from an ancestral mother language of all the world’s languages (see Roland Breton 1991; Merritt Ruhlen 1994).

However, Chinese and Vietnamese examples such as cha and tía for Chinese 爹 diè (father), mẹ and mợ for 母 mǔ (mother), bay 飛 fei (fly), uống 飲 yǐn (drink), xơi 食 shí (eat), and others, actually belong to the basic vocabulary and are thus highly resistant to borrowing. As Ruhlen (1994:106) emphasized: “In addition to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever proposed any sound-symbolic connection between these particular meanings and any particular sequence of sounds. So if we find that one meaning is consistently represented by the same phonetic shape in many different language families, the only reasonable explanation is that all these forms have evolved from a common source.” Loanwords must therefore be sifted out from vocabularies under examination, in contrast to items of true genetic affiliation.

In Vietnamese, dialectal variants of the same words have historically been reintroduced, such as cha vs. tía and mẹ vs. mợ, partly due to migratory resettlements during successive southward movements. These groups reused the same original words spoken by earlier emigrants, while also introducing new forms from unrelated languages. This process brought them closer within their geographical peripheries, for example shifting from a zero-tone language to a tonal language with two or more tones. Such migratory patterns mirrored earlier movements that split the aboriginal Chamic speakers between central Vietnam and their cousins, the Li people of Hainan, whose languages evolved into distinct Austronesian dialects. The same process recurred when early Chinese colonization disrupted the linguistic unity of the ancient Viet-Muong group.

I) Methodological preface

• Traditional reliance on Mon‑Khmer wordlists (e.g., Luce’s Danaw tables).
• Limitations: neglect of Chinese parallels, overemphasis on Austroasiatic correspondences.
• Need for a triangular comparison: Vietnamese ↔ Mon‑Khmer ↔ Chinese.

Methodologically, linguists of Vietnamese usually began with a premise and followed common approaches – such as techniques of comparative linguistics, established by predecessors in the field to discover, classify, and enforce new theories of language families. Yet each new theory eventually replaced the previous one. It is no surprise that such an analytic methodology has been widely employed by most Vietnamese specialists in their surveys, especially when comparing Vietnamese with Mon-Khmer languages. This has often been considered the safe way to begin a career in Vietnamese historical linguistics. Newcomers in the field tended to produce similar tabulations, such as the case of Danaw, a Tibeto-Burmic language sharing many features with Mon languages, including Mon-Khmer, as cited in the wordlist provided by Luce (ibid.). From the outset, Mon-Khmer basic words made widely available by earlier Austroasiatic scholars were extensively quoted.

So what was their methodology? Typically, they examined and compared scattered basic words in Vietnamese to identify cognates in neighboring Mon-Khmer languages. However, they often left out Chinese correspondences, largely due to a lack of familiarity with that tradition.

To conduct a comparative analysis, the following table is arranged in imitation of the format used by Merritt Ruhlen (1994:44). Basic words are grouped with regional neighboring languages to illustrate how comparative linguistics has been applied to identify the supposed family affiliation of a language. The particular words here have been chosen arbitrarily to avoid personal bias, that is, not selectively chosen in favor of the abundant Chinese-Vietnamese cognates that appear in other wordlists. The words are tabulated in a way intended to be as reliable as Ruhlen’s original table. For all the listings, the data are presented without elaboration, serving as an exercise worksheet for readers to identify which language the items belong to (with the hint that the single-letter abbreviation may provide guidance).

II) Comparative Evidence

• River / agriculture terms: sông 江 jiāng, chuối 蕉 jiāo, gạo 稻 dào.
• Everyday lexemes: nồi 豆 dòu ‘cooking pot’, đất 地 dì ‘earth’, tay 手 shǒu ‘hand’.
• Semantic layering: Vietnamese forms often carry extended meanings absent in Mon‑Khmer parallels.

A. Comparative framework for the present table

• The table is modeled after Merritt Ruhlen (1994:44), grouping basic words with regional languages.
• Purpose: to illustrate how comparative linguistics is applied to identify supposed family affiliations.
• Word selection is arbitrary to avoid bias, not favoring the abundant Chinese-Vietnamese cognates.

Example: inclusion of “snow” instead of “cold”, “rain”, or “wind”, which are mostly Chinese-Vietnamese cognates.

B. Rationale and intended use

• Words are tabulated in a format designed to be as reliable as Ruhlen’s original table.
• Listings are presented without elaboration, serving as an exercise worksheet for readers.
• Readers are invited to identify the likely family affiliation of each item, with single-letter abbreviations as hints.

Table 1 – Basic words in Vietnamese and other regional Asian languages

Lang-uage	Two	Three	Bird	Eye	Give	Blood	Water	Stone	Name	Snow	Who	Say
A	njidh	səm	ghjəm	mjəkʷ	kjəp	maŋ	tujʔ	khiagw	ɕiŋ⁵¹	snhot	duj	ghwra:ts
B	nhait	sone	nghaat	myetlone	payy	shaayy	ray	kyaww kya	nar m tyaww ko	moe pw ng	a bhaalsuu sai	pwayar so
C	ˀɑɻ⁵¹	san⁵⁵	ʨin⁵	mu⁵¹	ʨj²¹⁴	huaŋ⁵	świ²¹⁴	tan⁵¹	seŋs	ɕɥ̯œ²¹⁴	świ⁵	xu̯a⁵¹
D	du	se	sae	nun	jugi	pi	mul	dol	seong	nun	nugu	malhada
F	dalawang	tatlo	ibon	mata	magbigay ng	dugo	tubig	bato	pangalan	snow	sino	sinasabi
G	jiː²²	saːm⁵⁵	kam⁴⁴	mʊk̚²	kap⁴⁴	fong¹¹	sɵy³⁵	taːm³³	sɛːŋ³³	syːt̚³	sɵy²¹	waː³⁵
H	ob	peb	noog	qhov muag	muab	ntshav	dej	pob zeb	lub npe	daus	uas	hais
I	dua	tiga	burung	mata	memberikan	darah	air	batu	nama	salju	siapa	mengataka
J	ni	san	tori	me	ataeru	etsueki	mizu	ishi	furunēmu	yuki	dare	Iu
K	pir	bei	baksaei	phnek	phtal aoy	chheam	tuk	dom th	chhmoh	pril	del	niyeay
L	song	sam	nok sanid	ta	hai	leuod	noa	hin	su	hima	thi	vao
M	dua	tiga	burung	mata	memberi	darah	negara	batu	nama	salji	yang	berkata
S	Ssxng	s̄ām	nk	tā	H̄ı̂	leụ̄xd	pratheṣ̄	f̄in	chụ̄̀x	f̄ima	khır	phūd
T	ñii	sum	bya	mig	sbyin	ƫhaa	ćhū	to	miŋ	qhań	sū	smra
V	haːj˧	ɓaː˧	ʨim˧	mat˥	ʨɔ˧	maw˥	nɨək˥	ɗaː˥	ten˧	twiət˥	aːj˧	nɔj˥
X	jī	saⁿ		ba̍k			chuí		sèⁿ	seh	chuí	hoā

The following are two major Mon-Khmer wordlists that have been frequently cited because of their influence on Vietnamese linguistics through the identification of basic cognates. Both lists were compiled in the 1960s, one by Thomas (1966:194) and the other by Wilson (1966). To broaden the perspective, we also consider the work of Nguyễn Ngọc San (1993), who organized these and other wordlists into a series of comparative tables.

It should be noted that the basic words included below represent what these researchers identified in Mon-Khmer languages as potential cognates with Vietnamese. By contrast, the pool of Chinese and Vietnamese correspondences appears virtually inexhaustible. In the following sections, we will examine each list in turn.

Firstly, in the Mon-Khmer listing surveyed by Thomas, the author began with the premise that “language relationships can only be established with certainty by a study of phoneme shifts and mergers, as their imprint is indelible, while lexical and syntactical features are easily erased.” Whether one agrees or not, the essence of this statement also holds true for comparative work on many Vietnamese lexicons in relation to Sino-Tibetan languages as they evolved. As Ruhlen observed, “it has long been clear that there is no single, simple reason why languages change; rather, there are a whole series of reasons – which interact in incredibly complex ways – to produce the linguistic variation that we perceive in the world’s language family” (Ruhlen 1994:29).

With this in mind, let us examine the entries in the Mon-Khmer wordlist selected by Thomas, who argued that these basic words are genetically related to those of Vietnamese. It should be noted, however, that Thomas completed this work with the assistance of local field recorders.

III) Interpretive Framework

Many Mon‑Khmer similarities are contact phenomena, not genetic inheritance.Early Chinese glossaries confirm Yue origins for key Vietnamese items.Proto‑Taic/Yue strata provide a more coherent explanation of cross‑family cognacy.

Table 2 – Comparative basic vocabulary of Vietnamese and Mon-Khmer languages
(after Thomas 1966)

Vietnamese	English	Sedang	Katu	Brôu	Chrau	Comments
		semi-phonemic list by Kenneth Smith, using Richard Phillips’ script	semi-phonemic list by Eva Burton	semi-phonemic list by John Miller	semi-phonemic list by David Thomas	For comments and elaboration on possible cognates with Chinese etyma, please refer to Table 1. The number of stars (*) to (******) indicates the degree of cognateness between the Vietnamese and Chinese etyma in relation to the respective cited Mon-Khmer etymon. Refer back when needed.*
ba	father	pa	ama	mpoaq	vàp	**** 爸 bā (SV ‘ba‘)
ba	three	páy	pe	pái	pe	*** 三 sān, sàn (SV tam), M 仨 sā (SV ta, VS ba)
bay	to fly	lapah	par	pâr	par	**** 飛 fēi (SV phi) [ M 飛 fēi < MC pwyj < OC *pjəj | FQ 甫微 ]
biết	know	nany	nal	dáng	gứt	**** It is plausibly that the word is totally Chinese contracted form transcribed as 捌 /bat/ from the disyllabic form 明白 /mɓat7/ (understand, know) where spoken Min dialects of 明 being pronounced variably as bêng, bîn, miâ, mê, mêe, mî, môa, mâ… e.g., 伊毋捌字. i m̄ at jī. ‘He cannot read’.  ]
bông	flower	rêaq	pơq	piar	ngkau	**** 葩 pā (SV ba, VS bông)
bước	walk	lám	vôiq	paưq ayơng	sàq	**** 步 bù (SV bộ, VS bước) [ M 步 (埠 phù) bù < MC buo < OC *baːs | Ex. ‘cấtbước‘ 起步 qǐbù (lift one’s feet) ]
bạch	white	bông	bǒk	klok	vòq	***** 白 bái (SV bạch, VS bạc) [ M 白 bái, bó, bà, băi, zì < MC baɨjk < OC *bra:g | Note: As with black, the sense of white could also be expressed by 素 sū (SV tô) for VS trắng, or by several other terms. The form 白 bái (SV bạch) is selected here because its OC initial *br- in *brak could plausibly yield tr- in Vietnamese, as seen in other cases, to account for a possible derivative of VS trắng. ]
bảy	seven	tapah	tapăl	tapul	poh	* 七 qī (SV thất)
bốn	four	puán	puân	poun	pwổn	* 四 sì (SV tứ, VS tư)
chuối	banana	priat	priq	priat	prit	****** 蕉 jiāo (SV chiêu) [ M 蕉 jiāo, qiáo, qiāo < MC tsiaw < OC *ʔsew || Note: The Chinese form must have been loaned from the same etyma in the Yuè languages. Amusingly, no other Mon-Khmer forms are close to that of the Vietnamese lexeme. This fundamental word is rebutting Mon-Khmer vs. Taic-Yue relationship, so to speak. ]
chuột	rat	kanáy	chlâng are	kunâi	kine	**** 鼠 shǔ (SV thử, VS chuột)
chà	rub	play	krdil, kôrjiut	chut	—	**** 擦 cā (SV sát) [ ~ VS ‘chùi’, also, ‘xớt’ (rub) | M  擦 cā < MC tʂat < OC *srat, *shlaːd | According to Starostin: The word is attested very late (the MC reading is taken from Zihui), and the reconstruction is thus unreliable. In Viet. cf. also xớt ‘to rub, touch lightly, pounch on’. Standard Sino-Viet. is sát. | Ex. 擦鹽 cāyán, VS ‘xátmuối’ (rub salt on) ]
chín	nine	tachen	takia	takêh	sưn	*** 九 jǐu (SV cửu, VS chín)
chó	dog	chó	amuq	acho	so	**** 狗 gǒu (SV cẩu, VS chó, cầy)
chùi	wipe	chuat	jut(?)	chut	jùt	*** 擦 cā (SV sát, VS chà, xát)
chết	die	hêa	chet	kuchêit	chưt	*** 逝 shì (SV thệ, VS chết) | M 逝 shì, zhì, shé < MC dʑiɛi < OC *ɦljeds | Cf. 死 sǐ (SV tử)
chồng	husband	kanôw	kayik	kayak	siklô	*** 君 jūn (SV quân, VS chồng) [ M 君 jūn < MC kɨun < OC *klun | Cf. ‘chồng‘ (clipping of) 丈夫 zhàngfū (SV trượngphu’ 夫君 fūjūn (SV phuquân) ~ 郎君 lángjūn (SV langquân) ]
con	child	kuat	akǒn	kon	kòn	**** 子 zǐ (SV tử, VS con) [ Dialects: M 囝 jiăn (a dialectal variant of 子 zǐ) ’child’ Fukienese (Amoy) /kẽ/, nasalized to evolved into ‘con‘ , Hainanese /ke1/, which could be cognate to the Austroasiatic form /kiã/ ‘son, child’. ]
cánh	wing	maná	nang	khlap	pơnar	** 翅 chì (SV sí, VS cánh)
cây	tree	luáq	long	aluang	chhơ	** 棵 kē (SV khoả) [ Cf.  株 zhū (SV châu, VS cây) ]
cười	laugh	tó	kachâng	cacháng	gờm	*** 笑 xiào (SV tiếu, VS cười)
cắt	cut	chyeh	iât	kứt	chit	****** 割 gē (SV cát, VS cắt)
cỏ	grass	ña	bơi	bát	kinji	*** 草 căo (SV thảo, VS cỏ)
cổ	neck	krôk	tuar	takong	ngko	*** 胡 hú (SV hồ, VS cổ) | Cf. 喉 hóu (SV hầu, VS họng)
cột	tie	takue	ngkat	chằq	nchap	**** 結 jié (SV kết, VS cột, thắt)
da	skin	kea	ngkar	nghkâr	ntô	*** 膚 fū (SV phu, VS da)  | Cf.  皮 pí (SV bì, VS da), Ex. 皮膚 pífū (SV bìphu, VSdadẻ)
dài	long	syát	yal	kuti	jòng	*** 長 cháng (SV tràng,  VS dài, lớn) [ M 長 cháng, zhǎng (tràng, trường, trưởng, trướng) < MC ɖɨaŋ, ʈɨaŋ < OC *taŋʔ, *daŋʔ, * daŋs ]
dây	rope	kasáy	ngon(?)	kansái	chhe	*** 線 xiàn (SV tuyến,  VS dây, sợi, chỉ, nhợ) | M  線 (綫) xiàn < MC sian < OC *sqʰeːns ]
dệt (?)	sew	chep	ih	yêih	jinh	**** 織 zhī, zhì (SV chức, thức, VS dệt) [ M 織 zhī, zhí, zhì, chì (chức, chí, xí, thức) < MC tɕɨk, tɕɨ < OC *tjɯɡ, *tjɯɡs | Note: the word ‘dệt’ cited here does not mean ‘sew’, for which the corresponding Vietnamese form should be VS ‘may‘ or Chin. 鑝 péng. The Vietnamese ‘dệt‘ appears to be an attempt to match the Mon-Khmer forms to denote the concepts of ‘weave’ or ‘plait’. In the sense of ‘sew’ there         might be a flaw in translation that shows the poor knowledge of linguistics by Thomas’ informants that went unchecked. ]
gà	chicken	í	atưit	nutruoi	iêr	****** 雞 jī (SV kê, VS gà) [ M  雞 (鷄) jī < MC kiej < OC *ke:  | cf. VS ‘gởi‘ 寄 jì (SV ký) ‘send’, ‘gươm‘ 劍 jiàn (SV kiếm) ‘sword’, ‘gần‘ 近 jìn (SV cận) ‘near’. There is no need to elaborate further on the fact that both the Vietnamese and Chinese cognate forms are highly plausible while all others are not. ]
gãi	scratch	wo	kabǒk	piaiq	khwàch	*** 抓 zhuā (SV trảo, VSgãi)
gạo	rice	páy	chineh	rakáu	phe	**** 稻 dào (SV đạo, VS gạo) | Cf. ‘lúa‘ 來 lái (paddy)
gần	near	ache	dan	cheq	mờch	****** 近 jìn (SV cận, VS gần) [ M 近 jìn (SV cận, cấn, ký) < MC gɨn < OC *ɡɯnʔ, *ɡɯns | ¶ /j- ~ c-(k-), g-/, Example: 雞 jī (SV kê, gà ,’chicken’), jì 記 (SV ký, ghi , ‘to write down’), 寄 jì (SV ký, VS gởi, ‘send’, 及 jí  (SV cấp, VS gấp, ‘urgent’). Like the Chinese form /xiá/ 遐 (SV hà, VS xa), ‘gần‘ is cognate to the Chinese form. ]
gỗ	woods	kong	—	arưih	nggô	*** 材 cái (SV tài, VS gỗ)
hai	two	pêá	bơr	bar	vàr	*** 二 èr (SV nhị, VS hai)
heo	pig	chu	sdơk	alik	sưl	**** 亥 hài (SV hợi, VS heo) [ M 亥 hài < MC ɠɤj, ɦəj < OC *ghə:ʔ, *ɡɯːʔ | Cf. 豘 (豚) tún (SV đồn, độn, VS lợn) in Chinese it means ‘piglet’. ]
hông	hip	pangtêa	—	bran	jèt	*** 胸 xiōng (SV hung, VS hông) [ M 胸 (胷) xiōng < MC huawŋ < OC *qʰoŋ | According to Starostin: breast, chest (L.Zhou). Regular Sino-Viet. is hung (in fact, Viet. hông ‘hip, side, flank’ may be merely a chance coincidence – because of the semantic difference).
khóc	weep	krôw	nhim	nhiam	nhìm	**** 哭 kù (SV khốc, VS khóc)
khói	smoke	ngôy	gơyuâk	phêak	nhuq	*** 汽 qì (SV khí, VS hơi, ‘vapor’) | M 汽 qì, gài, yǐ (VS khí, cái) < MC hɨt < OC *kʰɯds | Dialect: Cant /hei31/ | According to Starostin: vapor, odor, steam, gas. Attested already in Yijing, but absent in Schussler’s dictionary. Viet. hơi is colloquial; regular Sino-Vietnamese is khí (cf. perhaps also Viet. khói ‘smoke’).
khạc	spit	ka-chôw	katwiq	kuchóh	chhoh	**** 咳 ké (SV khái, VS khạc ‘spit’, ho ‘cough) | M 咳 ké, hāi < MC ɦəj < OC *qʰɯː, *ɡɯː ]
kéo	pull	huá	pajuâk(?)	âk	dưk	*** 牽 qiān (SV khiên, VS kéo) | M 牽 qiān, qiàn (khiên, khản) < MC kʰɛn < OC kʰiːn, *kʰiːns | Cf. 拽 zhuāi (VS kéo) ]
lá	leaf	hlá	asơq(?)	sala	la	**** 葉 yè (SV diệp, VS lá) [ M 葉 yè, dié, shè, xiè < MC jiap, ɕiap < OC *leb, *hljeb | Note: the patter of the interchange /j-/ ~ /l-/ is the most popular in historical linguistics. Besides the OC and PC cognates, note that most of the Tibetan languages carry the the sound near Vietnamese ‘lá‘. Tibetan: ldeb leaf, sheet, Burmese: ɑhlap petal., Kachin: lap2 leaf, Lushei: le:p bud, Lepcha: lop leaf, Rawang ʂɑ lap leaf (for food wrapping) ; Trung ljəp1 leaf, Bahing lab. Sh. 138; Ben. 70. (See Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.) ]
lúa	unhusked rice	báw	haviq	saro	va	*** 來 lái (SV lai, VS lại, lúa)
lưng	back	roq	hông	kloong	vưt	*** 呂 lǚ (SV lữ, VS lưng) | M 呂 (吕, 膂) lǚ, lǔ (Lữ, Lã) < MC lɨə̆ < OC *ɡ·raʔ | Cf. 脊梁 jǐliáng (SV tíchlương, VS sốnglưng, ‘spine’]
lưỡi	tongue	rapiê	ntak	liaiq	lơpiêt	*** 舌 shé (SV thiệt, VS lưỡi) | Cf. 脷 lěi (SV lợi, VS lưỡi)= Cant. /lei/
lạnh	cold	rahngew	kau	sangeit	kakàt	****** 冷 lěng (SV lãnh, VS lạnh) [ M 冷 lěng < MC lɛjŋ, laɨjŋ < OC *reːŋ, *raːŋʔ, *re:ŋʔ ]
lấy	take	syo	pai	êit	nhưp	**** 拿 ná (SV nã, VS lấy) | Cf, Dialects: Nanchang lak41, Cantonese na12 (colloquial /lɔ12/, /lɔ3/) ]
lội	swim	klê	baluâh	loui	re	**** 游 yóu (SV du, VS bơi)  [ M 游 yóu, líu, qíu < MC juw < OC *lu | ¶ /y- ~ l-/ > /b-/ : Ex.: 郵 yóu (SV bưu), 葉 yè (SV diệp) ~ VS ‘lá‘, 兵 bīŋ (SV binh) ~ VS ‘lính‘, 杯 bēi (SV bôi) ~ VS ‘ly‘, etc. ]
lửa	fire	ón	aih	ôuih	uinh	*** 火 huǒ (SV hoả, VS lửa)
miệng	mouth	rakong	bop	bouq	mưnh	*** 吻 (脗) wěn (SV vẫn, VS mồm, miệng, hôn ‘kiss’ | M 吻 (脗) wěn < MC mun < OC *mɯnʔ  | ¶ /w- ~ m-/  ]
muối	salt	po	poh(?)	boi	voh	*** 硭 máng (SV mang, VS muối)
máu	blood	mahêámp	aham	aham	n’ham	****  衁 huáng (VS hoang, VS máu, ‘blood’)
mây	cloud	syok	dơluk	ramưl	tuq	*** 雲 yún (SV vân, VS mây) [ M 雲 yún < MC ɦun < OC *ɢun ¶ OC */wh- ~ m-/ | Cf. 雨 yǔ (SV vũ, VS mưa, ‘rain’) | ¶ /y-, v- ~ m-/ and /-n ~ -j(-i)/, Ex. 蒜 suàn: VS ‘tỏi‘ (garlic). Also, the character 霧 wù (SV vụ, VS mù) denotes ‘misty’ and ‘foggy’ and in Vietnamese this meaning as a noun appears only in the compound ‘mùsương’ (霜霧 shuāngwù, SV sươngvụ). So for 霧 wù if the ‘mist’ is high in the sky then this word can be related to mean ‘cloud’. ]
mũi	nose	moâh	moh	múh	muh	* 鼻 bí (SV tỵ, VS mũi)
mưa	rain	mêny	bă	mia	mi	*** 雨 yǔ (SV vũ, VS mưa) [ MM 雨 yǔ yǔ, yù (vũ, vù) < MC ɦuə̆ < OC *ɢʷaʔ, *ɢʷaʔs | ¶ /y-(v-) ~ m-/ | § 雲 yún (SV vân, VS mây), 舞 wǔ (SV vũ, VS múa), 無 wú (SV vô, VS mô) | Etymology: According to Starostin: precipitation, rain. Also read *whaʔs, MC h|u\ (FQ 王遇) ‘to rain upon, fall’. For *wh- cf. Xiamen ho|6, Chaozhou hou4, Jianou xu6. Protoform: *qhw|aH ( *r-). Meaning: rain, Chinese: 雨 *whaʔ rain. Tibetan: kha-ba snow, mkha heaven. Burmese: rwa rain, LB *r-jua rain, cf. also *wax snow. Kachin: ru1 to pour, to fall in torrents, as rain. Lushei: ruaʔ rain, KC *r2uaʔ Lepcha: so rain (?) Kiranti: *wə . Comments: BG: Garo mikka wa, Dimasa ha to rain, Bodo ha rain; Digaro kəra rain; Bahing rya-wa. Sh. 39, 43, 138, 431; Ben. 109, 168. For Jnp. ru1 see also notes under *g(h)w|rə ‘wash’. | ¶ /y-, v- ~ m-/ | Cf. 雲 yún (SV vân, VS mây, 舞 wǔ (SV vũ, VS múa, ‘dance’) ]
mười	ten	monychat	majet	muoi chit	mớt	* 十 shí (SV thập, VS chục, mười) ]
mắt	eye	mañ	mat	moat	mat	**** 目 mù (SV mục, VS mắt) | Note: Interestingly, this etymon appears to exist with similar forms virtually in other Asian languages, such as Malay /mat/. ]
mẹ	mother	nôw	ameq	mpiq	mê	**** 母 mǔ (SV mẫu, VS mẹ, mệ, mợ, mái)
một	one	môny	muy	muoi	mwòi	*** 一 yī (SV nhất, VS một) [ M 一 yī, yí, yì, yāo < MC ʔjit < OC *qliɡ ] (See Table 3A below)
mỡ	fat	romañ	nchiâng	naseing	lơvau	**** 肥 féi (SV phì, VS phị, phệ, béo, mập) [  肥 féi, bǐ < MC buj < OC *bɯl  | ¶ /f-, b- ~ m-/ ]
mửa	vomit	hêa	kâta	kuta	hòq	** 嘔 ōu, ǒu (SV âu, VS ói, ộc, mửa) | M 嘔 ōu, ǒu, xū, yù, òu (ẩu, âu) < MC ʔəw, ʔəwk < OC *go:, *qoːʔ | ¶ /ow- ~ mw-/ ]
nghe	hear	tang	châng	tamứng	chang	*** 聽 tīng ‘hear’ (SV thính, VS nghe) [ M  聽 (听) tìng, tīng < MC tʰɛjŋ < OC *l̥ʰeːŋ, *l̥ʰeːŋs | Dialects: Hainanese /k’ɛ1/, Amoy thiɛŋ11 $, thiã11, Chaozhou thiã11 ]
ngày	day	hany	tangay	tangái	nar	*** 日 rì (SV nhật, VS ngày, giời)
ngắn	short	nang nay	ep	kakéh	dêh	**** 短 duăn (SV đoản, VS ngắn, vắn, ngủn, lùn, tịt, ‘short in height’ | M 短 duǎn < MC twan < OC *to:nʔ | ¶ /d- ~ l-, ng-/, Ex. 停 tíng (SV đình, VS ngừng, ‘stop’) ]
ngồi	sit	ôý-anay	tơt	taku	guq	*** 坐 zuò (SV toạ, VS ngồi) [ M 坐 zuò < MC dzwa < OC *zoːlʔ, *zoːls | ¶ /z- ~ ng-/ |  Etymology: According to Starostin, Proto-Vietmuong: *ŋoj, Thomson: ŋo:j.434, Tum: ŋu:j.33, Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *ŋo(:)j || Note: ¶ /z- ~ ng/- | § 座 zuò (toạ)=VS ‘ngôi‘  ]
ngửi	smell	sú	huin	hôun	ta-nơm	*** 嗅 xìu (SV khứu, VS hửi, ngửi)
nhiều	many	hen	bơk	sa-ơưi	goq	**** 饒 ráo (SV nhiêu, VS nhiều) [ M  饒 ráo < MC riaw < OC *ɲiew, *ŋjaws | Note: Cannot see which words in all those of Mon-Khmer languages is cognate to that of Vietnamese nhiều ,but there is no problem to posit VS ‘nhiều‘ with C 饒 ráo that shares also with matching dissyllabic forms, such as 有饒 yǒuráo (VS rấtnhiều, ‘numerous’) ]
nhà	house	hngêny	dong	dống	nhi	**** 家 jiā (SV gia, VS nhà) | ¶ /j- ~ nh-/: Fx. 撿 jiăn (VS nhặt, ‘pick up)’ ]
nhìn	see	hlo	lei	nhêng	sưn	*** 眼 yăn (SV nhãn, VS nhìn) [ M 眼 yăn, ěn, wěn < MC ŋŋəɨn < OC *ŋrɯːnʔ  | Cf. 相 xiāng (SV tương, VS nhìn), 朢 wàng (SV vọng,VS nhìn) | ¶ /x- ~ nh-/,  /w- ~ nh-/ ]
nhỏ	small	kuat	katuiq	kớt	kèn	*** 小 xiăo (SV tiểu, VS nhỏ) [ M 小 xiăo < MC siaw < OC *smewʔ | Dialect: Hainanese /njɜw21/ | ¶ /x- ~ nh-/ | Note: all other Mon-Khmer words appear not to be cognate at all. ]
nhớp	dirty	kamônw	nhơp	nhơp	soq	**** 污 wū (SV ô, VS dơ, nhơ, nhớp) [ ~ M 污 wū < MC ʔo < OC *ʔʷā | ¶ /w- ~ nh-, j-/ | According to Starostin: Also written as 汙 q.v. Another reading (attested in LZ) is *ʔʷrā (MC ʔwạ, Pek. wā) ‘impure, vile, mean (probably connected with *ʔʷā); dig a hole in the ground’. | Note: the Sinitic-Vietnamese form ‘nhớp‘ carries the ‘greasy’ connotation that could possibly be cognate to Chin. 膩 nì. ]
những	all	‘taytang	babơt	nyeq	leq	*** 眾 zhòng (SV chúng) [ M 眾 (衆) zhòng < MC tʂʊŋ < OC *tuŋs | Ex. 眾名 zhòngmíng (những tên), (萬物之名), 眾有 zhòng yǒu (nhữngcó) (萬物); 眾物 zhòngwù (những vật) (萬物;諸物); 眾聖 zhòngshèng (những thánh) (諸聖人) | Note: Depending on the context it could be a variation         of  不僅 bùjǐn (khôngnhững, ‘not only’.), 一切 yìqiè (những), 那些  nàxiē (những), etc.
nói	say	tapuy	praq	taq ntaưng	nhai	*** 說 shuō (SV thuyết, nói) [ M 說 shuō, tuō, shuì, yuè < MC ɕwiaj, ɕwiat < OC *ɬot, *lod | ¶ /d- ~ n-/| cf. phonetic stem 兌 duì (SV đối, VS ‘đối’ ~> ‘nói’) |  According to Starostin: Protoform: *l^o>t. Meaning: speak, say. Chinese: 說 *l^ot speak, explain. Tibetan: s/od (p. bs/ad) to say, to declare; a~c/had (p., f. bs/ad, i. s/od) to explain; cf. also rz|/od (p., f. brz|/od) to say, to declare. Kachin: (H) brat, prat to speak, as a foreign dialect with ease and accuracy. Sino-Tibetan to explain, excuse, speak; speech, words, agreement. | Note: Depending on the context, it could be a variation of  聊 liáo (SV liêu, VS nói, ‘talk’), ¶ /l- ~ n-/: Ex., 聊天 liáotiān (VS nóichuyện, ‘chat’) ]
nóng	hot	tôw	pưih	kutâu	duh	**** 燙 tàng (SV tháng, VS bỏng, phỏng) | M  燙 tàng, dàng (năng, đãng, thang) < MC tʰaŋ, ɕɨaŋ < OC *l̥ʰaːŋs | Note: In Chinese, there are numerous words that carry the concept of “hot”, e.g. 焱 yàn, 炎 yán, 融 róng, 熱 rè, 烔 tóng, etc., which might have originated from the scorching heat and sub-zero freezing weather in today’s China’s north and northwestern areas where cradle of civilization of China originated, that is, from region of the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts. ]
núi	mountain	ngo	karung kalong(?)	kóh	gung	*** 山 shān (SV sơn, VS non, núi) [ M 山 shān (sơn, san) < MC ʂəɨn < OC *sre:n | ¶ /sh- ~ n-/: Ex. 說 shuō (SV thuyết’ VS nói | ¶ /-n ~ -i/ : Ex. 蒜 suàn (SV toan, VS tỏi, ‘garlic’). Note that most dialects have the initial s- such as Amoy san11 (lit.); suã11, Chaozhou suã11, except for Hainanese 山 /twa1/, ¶ /s- ~ t-/. From /suã11/, /twã/, or /twa1/ we can posit the initial /n-/ in the place of /s-/, /t-/, to have given rise to something like /nwã/, then ‘non’ => núi. The ¶ /t- ~ n-/ interchanges are commonplace in Chinese ~ Vietnamese corresponding sound patterns, ex. 尿 niào (SV niệu, VS tiểu, đái, ‘urinate’), 鳥 niăo (SV điểu, ‘bird’). Also, let’s not rule out 垚 yáo (SV nghiêu, VS núi, ‘hill’), though. Per Starostin, the MC reading /san/ is irregular (*s.a.n would be expected). In the meanwhile no Mon-Khmer forms are cognate to VS ‘non‘ or ‘núi‘, a basic word. ]
năm	five	patáp	châng	saưng	pram	* 五 wǔ (SV ngũ, VS năm, nhăm, lăm) [ M 五 wǔ, wu < MC ŋuo < OC *ŋaːʔ | Note: For the Vietnamese vocables “lăm” and “nhăm” used with numbers over 10, it is interesting to see that the Chinese Hainanese carries the vocable /lan1/. Again, Khmer form /pram/ is assumed to be cognate to VS ‘năm‘ just because of their whole set of numbers is lumped together as mentioned in the case of ‘four’ /pwổn/. Meanwhile other Mon-Khmer forms do not appear to be cognate to the Vietnamese /năm/ for “five”. Is it possible that VS numeral ‘năm’ could be possibly related to ‘wǔ’ for the interchange ¶ /w- ~ n-/ and /-uw ~ -m/? ]
nước	water	tea	dơk	daưq	dăq	*** 水 shuǐ (SV thuỷ, VS nước) [ M  水 shuǐ < MC ɕjwi < OC *qʰʷljilʔ | Note that the OC *qʰʷljilʔ, ended with /-ʔ/ which gives rise to ~ /-k/ of ‘nước‘ where old Vietic form is /ɗaːk/ which in turn is conventionally considered from Proto-Mon-Khmer *ɗaak (‘water’). Compare Chin. 踏 tà, tā  (SV đạp’, ‘trample’), 沓 tà, dá (SV đạp, VS đầy, ‘full’), with the phonetic stem 水 ended /-k/ and /-ʔ/. Should that be the case, it is not hard to reconstruct /dak/ for Vietic /dak/ as    having evolved into VS ‘nước‘. For the interchange ¶ /sh- ~ n-/: Ex. 說 shuō (SV thuyết) VS ‘nói’, 山 shān (SV san, VS non > núi). Most of dialects start with an initial s- such as Amoy san11 (lit.); suã11, Teochew suã11, but Hainanese reads /twi2/ { ¶ /s- ~ t-/} just like ‘núi’ 山 shān (Hai. /twa1/). From t- we can assume the sound changed into /n-/, hence 水 /*tujʔ/ ~ ‘nước’, similar to ‘núi‘ (mountain). According to Starostin, MC ʂ- is irregular; a clear indication of *t- is given by Min forms: Xiamen cui3, Chaozhou, Fuzhou cui3. Protoform: *tujH. Meaning: water, Chinese: 水 *tujʔ water (which is similar to Hai. /twi2/) Burmese: LB: Achang ti water. Kachin: mjədi1 be wet. Lushei: tui, KC *Dui\ water. Lepcha: da a pond, a lake, stagnant water. || Cf 淂 dé (SV đắc)= Proto-Vietic *ɗaːk > Vietic “đắk” (water) ]
nằm	lie	koy	bech	bếq	viq	*** 躺 tăng (SV thảng, VS nằm)
nặn	squeeze	rang, rup	kapât	daíq	bat	**** 捏 niē (SV niết, VS nặn, nằn, nót) [ M 捏 (揑) niē < MC net < OC *niːɡ | Ex: 捏捏 niēniē (nắnnót, ‘knead’), 揉捏 róuniē (nhàonặn, ‘knead’) ]
nặng	heavy	hngáp	haleng	ntâng	kinjoq	**** 重 zhòng, chóng (SV trọng, trùng, VS nặng)
phải	right	paro-wañ	atuâm	atoam	ma	* 右 yòu (SV hữu, VS phải) [ M 右 (佑) yòu, yǒu (hữu, vữu, vỹ) < MC ɦuw < OC *ɢʷɯʔ, *ɢʷɯs | Etymology: This etymon is speculated based on an analogy of the antonymous ‘trái‘ (left) 左 zuǒ (SV tả) while sound change patterns could be speculated as { ¶ /y- ~ b-/ ~> /ph-/ } as in many cases, e.g., 郵 yóu: (SV bưu) ‘postal’, 游 yóu: (VS bơi) ‘swim’, 柚 yóu: (VS bưởi) ‘pomelo’, 由 yóu: (VS bởi) ‘because’, etc. In Vietnamese, ‘phải‘ and ‘trái’ are also associated with the concepts ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ which is meant to connote the concept of 是非 shìfēi: VS ‘phảitrái‘ (right and wrong). For the Vietnamese ‘phải’, Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 被 (“to suffer; passive marker”, SV: bị) (Old Chinese: /*m-pʰ(r)ajʔ, m-pʰ(r)ajʔ-s, mə-pʰ(r)aj, pʰ(r)aj-s/ in Baxter and Sagart (2014), along the semantic evolution of “to have to endure; to suffer” > “have to; must” > “correct” > “right (in direction)”. It may reflect an Old Chinese pronunciation /*N-pʰ(r)ajʔ-s/ with the loss of a nasal prefix as is also seen in other early loans (Sagart, per. comm.).  The common Vietic word for “right” is Proto-Vietic *dam ~ *tam, whence the now-archaic đăm. ]
quăng	throw	wang	mpeq	tôi	hwot	**** 扔 rēng (SV nhưng, VS quăng, vất, ném) [ M 扔 rēng < MC  ȵiŋ < OC *nhjəŋ | Dialects: ʐjəŋ11, Xi’an ʐjəŋ2, Taiyuan zjəŋ1, Hankou njən 11, Wenzhou zeŋ12 || Note: Possibly, the word ‘quăng‘ /wjaŋ1/could be a derived doublet ‘vất’ in Vietnamese. ]
ruồi	fly	róy	raroi	ruai	rơwei	*** 蠅 yíng (SV dăng, VS nhặng, lằng)
ruột	intestines	hatêa/klea	luânh	ruaiq	tơlaq	* 腸 cháng (SV trường, VS ruột) [ M 腸 cháng < MC ɖaŋ < OC *ɫaŋ | Cf. Xiamen tŋ2, Chaozhou tŋ2, Fuzhou toŋ2, Jianou toŋ2 | ¶ /h-, sh-, s- ~ r-, d-/, Ex. 長 cháng (VS dài, ‘long’), 蛇 shé: (VS rắn, ‘snake’), 祟 suì (VS rủi, xui ‘misfortune’ ]
răng	tooth	haneq	kaiâng	kaneing	sềch	*** 齡 líng (SV linh, VS răng)
rơi	fall	kaneh	ntôq	dớm	vùng	**** 落 luò (SV lạc, VS lặn, rơi, rớt)
rắn	snake	pah	kaseng	kusân	vis	** 蛇 shé (SV xà, VS rắn) [ M 蛇 (虵) shé, chí, tuó, yí, yé (trà, xà, đà, di) < MC tʰa, jiə̆, ʑia < OC *l̥ʰaːl, *lal, *ɦljaːl  | Note: Also read *laj (MC je, FQ 弋支, Mand. yí) in the compound 委蛇 *ʔw|aj-laj ‘be compliant, gracious’. | ¶ /s- ~ r-/, cf. 祟 suì (VS rủi, sui)  (misfortune) |  Note: for the vocable /yí/, cf. *** 乙 yǐ, also means “snake” in the original etymon. ]
rễ	root	rê	riah	rêh	diyeh	*** 蒂 dì (SV đế, VS rễ) | ¶ /d- ~ r-/ || Ex. 深根固蒂 shēngēngùdì (SV thâmcăncúđế, ‘deeply rooted tree – or of an issue).
rửa	wash	jíw	erưoh	ariau	rau	**** 洗 xǐ (SV tẩy, VS rửa) [ M 洗 xǐ, Xiăn (tẩy, Tiển) < MC sen < OC *sɯːlʔ, *sɯːnʔ | ¶ /x- ~ r-/ : Ex. 婿 xū (SV tu, VS rể), 鬚 xū (SV tu, VS râu) | Note: Vietnamese ‘tẩy‘ also means ‘bleach’. Besides the similarities that the Mon-Khmer forms carry, M 洗 also reads ‘xiăn’ (SV tiển) >  ‘tắm‘ (wash) which Starostin accounts to 浸 jìn (SV tẩm) ‘soak’ because of the closeness of the Sino-Vietnamese sound. ]
rữa	rotten	su-wáng	kung	nsóq	ôm	**** 腐 fǔ (SV hũ, VS rữa, vữa, bựa) [ M 腐 fǔ < MC buə̆ < OC *boʔ ]
sao	star	haloq	chitur	mantour	simanh	**** 星 xīng (SV tinh, VS sao) [ M 星 xīng < MC seŋ < OC *sleːŋ | Dialects: Hainanese /se11/, cf. shēng 生 (SV sanh): VS ‘đẻ‘ Hai. /de1/ (give birth) ]
sáu	six	tajów	chapat	tapoât	praw	*** 六 lìu (SV lục, VS sáu) [ M lìu, lù, líu < MC luwk < OC *rug ]
sông	river	taê ‘kan	karung	kroung	dàq	****** 江 jiāng (SV giang, VS sông) [ M 江 jiāng < MC kawŋ < OC *kraŋ | Cf. 工 MC koŋ (SV công) | FQ 古雙 | According to Starostin: river; Yang-zi River. Viet. sông ‘river’ may be an older loan from the same source | Note: Old Viet. *krung > *krong > ‘sông’ which are cognate to /karung/, /kroung/. ],
sống	live	reh	mâmông	tâmoong	hômrih	****** 生 shēng (SV sinh, sanh, VS sống ‘live’, đẻ ‘give birth’ | M  生 shēng (sinh, sanh) < MC ʂaɨjŋ < OC *shleŋ, *sreŋs | Dialects: Hainanese te11 (cf. đẻ), Chaozhou: sẽ 11, Xiamen : sĩ11 ~ cĩ11, Wenzhou siɛ1, Pk chiaŋ1. | Note: Degree of plausibility of cognateness for this Chinese and Vietnamese etyma is six stars ****** for ‘sống‘, not to mention derived variants of ‘đẻ‘ (give birth) or ‘dưng‘ /jiəŋ1/ as in 生人 shēngrén (VS ngườidưng, ‘stranger’), 陌生 mòshēng (VS lạlùng, ‘strange’) ]
sợ	fear	takhen	kakhin	ngkắh	phung	**** 懼 jù (SV cụ, VS sợ) [ Vh @ M 懼 (惧) jù < MC gǜ < OC *ghʷas | cf. 怯 qiē (SV khiếp) ~ VS ‘nhát‘, ‘khớp‘ (scared) | Note: in reality, as doublets in other languages, there are several Chinese words all conveying the notation of of ‘fear’. If we take frequency of common use then 怕 pà would come into the picture, M 怕 pà, pò, bó < MC pʰaɨ < OC *pʰraːɡ,  *pʰraːɡs, ¶ /b- (p-) ~ s-/, among other similar words such as 怵 chù, 悚 sǒng, 懾 shè​, or 慴 zhé, etc., like VS ‘sợ‘, simply to convey the concept of ‘fear’. ]
tai	ear	tuat	katǒr	kutôur	tôr	** 耷 tāp (SV đạp, VS tai, ‘big ear’) [M 耷 dā, zhé < MC tap < OC *taːb ]
tay	hand	koq	tey	atêi	ti	*** 手 shǒu (SV thủ, VS tay)
thổi	blow	hluap	kabru	kuhôuh	khlôm	**** 吹 chuī (SV xuy, xuý, VS thổi) [ M 吹 (龡) chuī, chuì, cuì < MC tɕʰʷiɛ < OC *kʰjol, *kʰjols | ¶ /ch- ~ th-/| Note: No Mon-Khmer etymon fits in the comparanda while  the Chinese 吹 chuī is plausibly cognate to Vietnamese ‘thổi‘. ]
thở	breathe	ihianm	ahâm	tangứh	ta-nơm	**** 吸 xī (SV hấp, VS hít, ‘inhale’) | M 吸 xī < MC xip < OC *sŋjəp | According to Starostin: to inhale, to absorb (L.Zhou). In Viet. cf. also ‘hớp‘ (sip), ‘húp‘ (drink) | Ex. 呼吸 hūxī ~ VS #’hítthở‘ (breathe) ]
tim	heart	ihiam	yâyul	kớl palhaưm	nus	****** 心 xīn (SV tâm, VS tim, lòng) [ M  心 xīn < MC sim < OC *slɯm | Note: Chinese dialect Hainanese /tim1/ matches Vietnamese /tim/ exactly while Mon-Khmer forms seem to be unrelated to that of Vietnamese, of whic h the closest form plausibly cognate is /’ihiam/. ]
to	big	kan	gơmak	toâr	maq	****** 大 dà (SV đại, VS to) [ M 大 (太) dà, duò, dài, dăi, tài (đại, thái) < MC daj, da < OC *da:d, *da:ds ]
tro	ashes	pló ón	plah	bắh	vùh	*** 灰 huī (SV hôi, khôi, VS tro) [ M  灰 huī  < MC xuaj < OC *hmɯː | Note: Postulation of this etymon is partly based on the articulation of Middle Chinese and Sino-Vietnamese. There are other words for ‘tro’ in Chinese dialects, e.g., Hokkien /hua1/ given analogical cognates of ‘than‘ 炭 tān (charcoal) , ‘lửa‘ 火 huǒ (fire), ‘củi‘ 柴 cái (firewood), ‘mồi‘ 煤 méi (coal), ‘đốt‘ 燒 shāo (burn), ‘cháy‘ 焦 jiāo (charred), ‘trolửa’: 爐渣 lǔzhā (stove ashes), 灰渣 huīzhā (burnt ashes), 炭渣 tànzhā (coal ashes) ]
trái	fruit	play	pale	palái	plai	*** 實 shí (SV thực, VS trái)
trái	left	paro-êó	adai	avêr	gyau	*** 左 zuǒ (SV tả, VS trái) [ M 左 zuǒ < MC tsa < OC *ʔsaːlʔ, *ʔsaːls | ¶ /z- ~ tr- / | According to Starostin: In some inscriptions glossed also as ‘to oppose’ (note: ‘chống‘) which is rather dubious. Etymologically connected is 佐 OC *ca:jʔs, MC ca^\, Mand. zuǒ (phonetically under the influence of 左) ‘to help, assist’ q.v. cf. 右 (佑) yòu: phải (right), phò (support), phù (bless) as in 護佑 hùyòu (VS phùhộ) ]
trăng	moon	—	kache	rliang kasâi	khai	** 月 yuè (SV nguyệt, VS giăng, trăng)
trơn	smooth	têá	sasil(?)	siel	ntiêl	*** 潤 rùn (SV nhuận, VS nhuần, nhờn, trơn) [ M 潤 rùn < MC ȵwin < OC *njuns | Note: The Mon-Khmer forms also suggest the Chin. 跌 diē, diè (SV điệt, trật) for VS ‘trợt’, ‘té’ (slippery and fall) | M 跌 diē, diè (điệt, trật) < MC det < OC *l’i:g ]
trời	sky	pleng	pleng	paloăng	trôq	** 天 tiān (SV thiên, VS trời)
trứng	egg	kata	karau	tareil	chap	**** 蛋 dàn (SV đản, VS trứng)
tám	eight	tahéñ	takǒl	takual	phàm	* 八 bā (SV bát, VS tám)
tặng	give	ám	dăng	youn	àn	***** 贈 zèng (SV tặng) [ M  贈 zèng < MC dzəŋ < OC *zɯːŋs || Note:  for ‘tặng’, clearly this is a loanword from Chinese for which the variant 送 sòng (SV tống, VS tặng) which is a doublet. ]
tốt	good	lém	liâm	o	yah	*** 吉 jí (SV cát, kiết, VS tốt [ M 吉 jí < MC kjit < OC *kjit | ¶/ j- ~ t/-, Ex. 節 jié (VS Tết, ‘Spring Festival). In other cases, alternatively, it could be 德 dé (SV đức), denoting more of the ‘virtues’ of good character. ]
tới	come	lám akô	dơk	toâq	tơt	**** 逮 dài (SV đại, VS tới) [ M 逮 (迨) dài, dăi (đại, đãi, đệ) < MC dəj < OC *l’ɯːd, *l’ɯːds | According to Starostin: to come to, reach, come forward; be perfect. MC has also a parallel (originally dialectal) reading di\ej (FQ 特計) id. Viet. tới is colloquial; standard Sino-Viet. is đại. During Early Zhou sometimes written as 棣 (thus in Shi 26.3), which allows to reconstruct *lh-. OC *lhə:p-s is an *-s-derivate from OC *lhə:p ‘to reach’. | Note: like many other doublets, the Chin. 到 dào (SV đáo) could be its doublet in modern usage, M 到 dào < MC taw < OC *taːws ]
vai	shoulder	kasyah	chrlang	apal	pơniq	** 肩 jiān (SV kiên, VS cánh, vai) [ M 肩 jiān, xián, hén < MC ken< OC *ke:n | ex. 肩膀 jiānbăng ~ 肩背 jiānbèi: VS ‘bảvai‘ (shoulders), 並肩 bìngjiān: VS ‘chenvai‘ (shoulder to shoulder)  ]
vô	enter	mont	mot	mut	lap	*** 入 rù (SV nhập, VS vô, vào) [ M  入 rù, rǔ, rì < MC ɳip < OC *njub | Dialects: Beijing: ʐu3, Xian: vu11, Taiyuan: zujəʔ41, Hankou: y12, Changsha: zu12, Yangzhou: ljəʔ4, Wenzhou: zai42, Ts: y4, Shuangfeng: y31, Nanchang: lat41, Hakka: ɲip 42. Cant: jap42, Xiamen : ʑip42, Fuzhou : iʔ42 | Zhongyuan Yinyun: zɨu43 | Note that in ancient sound there was no /v/ phoneme in both C and V. Cf “dô” /jo/ (Viet. central and southern dialectal variations) = vô (cf. modern M 入 rù or /ju4/, to be exact. ]
vỏ	bark	katôw	halăk	ndắk	mòq	*** 皮 pí (SV bì, VS vỏ, da) [ M 皮 pí < MC bjiə̆ < OC *bral | Ex. 樹皮 shùpí (VS vỏcây, ‘bark’ ]
vỡ (?), chẻ (?)	split	pa	ploh(?)	ploah	vlah	*** 伐 fá (SV phạt, VS: phạt, phát, bạt, bửa, bổ | M 伐 fā, fá, pèi (phạt, phiệt) < MC buat < OC *bad  | Dialectal: Cant. /fat6/, Hẹ fat8 || Note: The word 伐 fá means ‘cut down’, ‘cut off’, ‘chop off’… Thomas’ postulated word ‘vỡ‘ appears out of place unless that means VS ‘bể‘ (broken) while ‘chẻ‘ is, amusingly, not cognate to any of the Mon-Khmer forms, probably another misleading translation from his local informant. ]
vợ	wife	kajay	ka-diâl	lakuoi	si-ùr	**** 婦 fù (SV phụ, VS bụa, vợ)
xa	far	rahngế	chingai	yơng	ngài	**** 遐 xiá (SV hà, VS xa)
xanh	green	ñiat	taviâng	ramoong	sanh	**** 青 qīng (SV thanh, VS xanh) | M 青 (靑) qīng, jīng < MC chieŋ, ce:ŋ, cieŋ < OC *shleːŋ | Note: there are many words in Chinese that connote the concepts of color ‘green’, ‘blue, ‘azure’, ‘jade’, etc., and one among them could also be 蒼 cāng ~ VS ‘xanh’ (green). They are plausible cognates in the form of doublets. ]
xơi	eat	ka	cha	cha	sa	**** 食 shí (SV thực, VS xơi)
xương	bone	kasyeng	nghang	nghang	ntin	** 腔 qiāng (SV xoang, VS xương)
xấu	bad	ratôh	môp	sâuq	viêm	****** 醜 chǒu (SV xú,  VS xấu)
đen	black	praq	tam	kôum	sindôch	*** 玄 xuán (SV huyền, VS đen) [ M 玄 xuán, xuàn < MC ɦwɛn < OC  *ɡʷeːn | Note: In effect, in Chinese there are many other words for the concept of ‘black’ and this is simply one among them, ex. 黔 qián, 縝 chēn, etc., where there exist common the Chinese-Vietnamese interchanges of the pattern ¶ /q-, ch- ~ d-/ ]
đào	dig	chia	pich(?)	piq	khwày	**** 鑿 záo (SV tạc, VS đào, đục) [ M 鑿 záo, zuò < MC dzəwk, dzak, tsak < OC *zoːwɢ, *ʔsoːwɢ ]
đá	stone	hmố	dơl	tamáu	tamô	**** 石 shí (SV thạch, VS đá, tạ)
đánh	hit	tok	mbi	toân	pom	****** 打 dă, dá (SV đả, VS đánh) [ M 打 dă, dá, děng < MC tɛjŋ, taɨjŋ < OC *te:ŋ, *rteŋʔ | Also read OC *tre:ŋʔ, MC t.a/.iŋ id. The strange -ŋ-less reading is first attested in Zhengyun (FQ 都瓦 = *ta/). Most Sino-external systems reflect the latter reading; note, however, Viet. đánh ‘to beat, hit’ which probably directly reflects MC ti/eŋ (although with an aberrant tone). | cf. ¶ /d- ~ w-/ for ‘quánh’ (colloquial) ]
đâm	stab	tapet	tak	choat	jùh	****** 捅 tǒng (SV đồng, VS đâm) [ M QT 桶 tǒng, yǒng, dòng (dũng, thùng, đồng) < MC tʰəwŋ, dəwŋ < OC *l̥ʰo:ŋʔ, *lho:ŋʔ ]
đêm	night	kamaq	hayum	sadâu	mang	*** 宵 xiāo (SV tiêu, VS đêm) [ M 宵 xiāo < MC sjew < OC *saw, *sew | ¶ /-w ~ -m/ ]
đúng	correct	cho	—	—	gàl	**** 中 zhòng (SV trúng) [ M  中 zhōng, zhòng < MC ʈuwŋ < OC *tuŋ, *tuŋs | Note: The usage of 中 zhòng (cf. Vietnamese đúng) is far more colloquially widespread in many dialects, often functioning interchangeably with 對 duì in Modern Mandarin (SV đối) to mean ‘correct.’ The form 對 duì (< Middle Chinese twəj < Old Chinese \tuːbs*), realized as /toj/, may itself have developed in part from Middle Chinese 中 zhòng. Over time, however, the two etyma diverged semantically: 對 duì came to specialize in the sense of ‘right, correct, appropriate,’ while 中 zhòng retained its more literal nuance of ‘to hit the mark’ – as with an arrow or dart striking precisely at the target. ]
đường	road	choát	kalơng	rana	tròng	*** 道 dào (SV đạo, VS đường, nẻo) | M 道 dào < MC djəw < OC *lhu:ʔ  | Etymology: According to Starostin, the core meanings are ‘road, way, route, method.’ Since Chinese dentals are in some cases reflected in Vietnamese as /n-/, comparison may also be made with VS nẻo ‘way, direction.’ A derived form is 導 (OC lhuːʔ-s, MC da^w) ‘to lead,’ which in colloquial Xiamen appears as chua6, supporting the reconstruction of aspiration in Old Chinese. Alternatively, 唐 táng (SV đường, đàng) in early usage denoted a ‘passage or corridor within the palace.’ Another close doublet is 途 tú (SV đồ), likewise meaning ‘road, path.’ Cf. 彤 tóng (SV đồng): VS đỏ ‘red’; 痛 tòng (SV thống): VS đau ‘pain’.  ]
đất	earth	tanê	katiơk	kuteiq	nteh	**** 土 tǔ (SV thổ, độ, đỗ, VS đất) [ M 土 tǔ, dù (thổ, độ, đỗ) < MC thʰɔ, duo < OC *l̥ʰaːʔ, *l’aːʔ | Li Fang-Kuei: OC *dagx ]
đầu	head	ko	âkoq	plaư	bôq	頭 tóu (SV đầu) | M 頭 tóu < MC dəw < OC *do: | Cf. ‘trốc’, ‘trôốc‘
đẩy	push	kachot	daluaq	kutớl	chlưl	**** 推 tuī (SV thôi, VS đẩy) [ M 推 tuī, chuī (suy, thôi) < MC tʰwəj, tʂʰwi < OC *tʰjul, *tʰul | Note: the Mon-Khmer forms show similarities in the forms ‘daluaq’ and ‘khutớl’. ]
đỏ	red	khêy	brông	kusáu	pơhor	*** 彤 tóng (SV đồng) | M 彤 tóng < MC dawŋ < OC *l’uːŋ | Note: Japanese reading dō, tō, (tou, zu); Kan-on: tou, Go-on: dou; The coincidence in pronunciation between Vietnamese đỏ (‘red’) and the Japanese Kanji reading of this word does not imply borrowing from one another. Rather, it illustrates the possibility of sound change: in Japanese, the form results from the loss of a final consonant, while in Vietnamese it is the outcome of labial rounding. Interchange between endings ¶ /-wŋ ~ -w/, cf. 痛 tòng (SV ‘thống‘) ~ VS ‘đau‘ (pain) ]
đứng	stand	sông	yong(?)	taứng	tiyaq	**** 站 zhàn (SV trạm, VS đứng) [ M 站 (𥩠) zhàn, zhān < MC ʈɯæm < OC *rteːms | ¶ /zh- ~ d-/ ]

Table 3B – The Case of Numeral Một

Khmer – Vietnamese pathway	Chinese – Vietnamese pathway
Khmer 1 – 5 numerals show parallels with Vietnamese 1 – 5.	Old Chinese yì 一 (nhất) ended in -t, -it, -ɨt. Still preserved in dialects: Nx it41, Hẹ jit41, QĐ jat41, Hm it41/cit41, TrC ik41.
Proto-Vietic *moːc < Proto-Mon-Khmer *muuj ~ *muəj ~ *muuɲ.	Other dialects end with glottal stop ʔ: Tn ijəʔ41, Dc ijəʔ4, Tc ioʔ41, Pk eiʔ41, Th iʔ4. Central/Southern Chinese pronounce một as /moʔ/.
Cognates: Muong mốch, Bahnar mĭnh/mônh, Khmer មួយ muəy, Mon မွဲ mòa, Bolyu maːi³¹, Mang mak⁷.	Phonetic shift: nhất /ɲʌt/ → một /mot/.
Related: Vietnamese mốt (day after tomorrow).	Sino-Vietnamese nh- < ʔj- (also ʔi-), perceived as implosive *ʄ- > nasalized ɲ-. Development: ʔjit > *ʄit > ɲit.
Usage: unlike other numerals, ordinal is not thứ một but thứnhất (“first”), also đầutiên (“foremost”).	Parallel case: nhân < 因 (MC ʔiɪn). See Ferlus (2009).
–	Systematic contrasts:  nhất (< *ʔj- < 一 MC ʔiɪt̚) vs. ất (< *ʔ- < 乙 MC ʔˠiɪt̚) ; dân (< *j- < *mj- < 民 MC miɪn) vs. mân (< *m- < 珉 MC mˠiɪn); tần (< *bj- < 嬪 MC biɪn) vs. bần (< *b- < 貧 MC bˠiɪn). → Chongniu IV shows palatalization; Chongniu III yields simpler initials.

Table 3C – The Case of Numeral Một

1. Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese nhất, nhứt, nhít from 一 (“one”).

The ‹nh-› is from ʔj-, which was perceived as the implosive *ʄ- then developed into ɲ- as implosives nasalized: ʔjit > *ʄit > ɲit. For a similar case of development of Middle Chinese ʔj-, compare nhân, from 因 (MC ‘jin). See Ferlus (2009) for details.

Sino-Vietnamese shows fairly systemic contrast between characters belonging to Chongniu III and IV rime groups with certain initials: nhất (< *ʔj- < 一 (MC ‘jit)) vs. ất (< *ʔ- < 乙 (MC ‘it)), dân (< *j- < *mj- < 民 (MC mjin)) vs. mân (< *m- < 珉 (MC min)), tần (< *bj- < 嬪 (MC bjin)) vs. bần (< *b- < 貧 (MC bin)). The first character of each pair belongs to Chongniu IV group and shows clear palatalization in its Sino-Vietnamese reflexes, while the second belongs to Chongniu III and yields simplex initial.

Note: Although the numerical relationship between Khmer and Vietnamese from 1 to 5 (why only up to 5? It is very possible that the numbers from 6 to 9 or 10 are related to Chinese) has been recognized, a corresponding pattern can also be identified between Chinese and Vietnamese:

a. Interchange: /y-(j-) ~ m-/:

• 滅 miè → diệt
• 舀 yáo → môi (~muỗng)
• 鹽 yán → muối
• 眼 yăn ~ 目 mù → mắt
• 民 mín → dân /jʌn/
• 面 miàn → diện /jiən/
• 秒 miào → diệu /jiəw/
• 名 míng → danh /jaɲ/

b. Phonological note: The final consonant of 一 yì (nhất) in Old Chinese ended in -t, -it, -ɨt, and is still preserved in several dialects:

• Nanchang: it41
• Hakka: jit41
• Cantonese: jat41
• Hokkien: it41, cit41
• Teochew: ik41

Other dialects end with a glottal stop ʔ (e.g., speakers in central and southern China pronounce một as /moʔ/):

• Tn: ijəʔ41
• Dc: ijəʔ4
• Tc: ioʔ41
• Pk: eiʔ41
• Th: iʔ4

Thus, nhất /ɲət̚˧˦/ can shift phonetically into một /mot/.

2. Wiktionary (etymology):

• From Proto-Vietic *moːc, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *muuj ~ *muəj ~ *muuɲ.
• Cognates: Muong mốch, Bahnar mĭnh, mônh, Khmer មួយ (muəy), Mon မွဲ (mòa), Bolyu maːi³¹, Mang mak⁷.
• Related to mốt (“day after tomorrow”).
• In Yao: mo. Cognates include Swahili moja.
• Numeral mo = one. Usage: follows a noun and takes the noun class prefix (e.g., libweta limo = one box).

3. Usage notes

Unlike other cardinal numbers, the ordinal form of một is not thứ một, but thứnhất (“first”).

Alternatively, “first” can also be translated as đầutiên (“foremost”).

a. For nhất (Sino-Vietnamese from 一 “one”):

• Initial nh- derives from ʔj- (also rendered ʔi-), perceived as implosive *ʄ-, then nasalized into ɲ-.
• Development: ʔjit > *ʄit > ɲit.
• Parallel case: nhân from 因 (MC ʔiɪn). See Ferlus (2009).

b. Systematic contrasts in Sino-Vietnamese:

• nhất (< *ʔj- < 一 MC ʔiɪt̚) vs. ất (< *ʔ- < 乙 MC ʔˠiɪt̚)
• dân (< *j- < *mj- < 民 MC miɪn) vs. mân (< *m- < 珉 MC mˠiɪn)
• tần (< *bj- < 嬪 MC biɪn) vs. bần (< *b- < 貧 MC bˠiɪn)

→ Characters in Chongniu IV show palatalization in Sino-Vietnamese reflexes, while those in Chongniu III yield simpler initials.

x X x

Let us now turn to another representative study, that of Wilson (1966), who aligned herself with the views of J. Przyluski, Thomas, and Buttinger. She wrote:

“Both the Vietnamese language and the Mường dialects are based on a Mon-Khmer (Cambodian) vocabulary. The words for numbers, family relationships, and domestic animals are of Mon-Khmer origin.” (p. 203)

In her survey, Wilson calculated that:

“196 basic Mường words compared with the Mon-Khmer family, 65 or 33% are apparent cognates with three or more Mon-Khmer languages. Another 30 possible cognates appear on the second list. Together the two lists yield 48%. Either of these percentages seems to establish Mường as a member of the Mon-Khmer family. This in turn would lend additional strength to the arguments for the inclusion of Vietnamese in the Mon-Khmer family.” (p.213)

It should be noted, however, that the percentages cited are based on cognates dispersed across “three or more Mon-Khmer languages”, many of which may not be genetically related. A number of the items could well be loanwords from the highly Sinicized ancient Annamese, the ancestral form of modern Vietnamese, after the divergence of Viet and Mường from their presumed common parent, Viet-Mường, roughly a millennium ago (Nguyễn Ngọc San 1993:5). It is equally plausible that these basic cognates reflect influence from neighboring Mon-Khmer languages. This interpretation accords with Wilson’s own observation that “Mường seems to show greater similarities to the Mon-Khmer languages than does Vietnamese.” (p. 204)

Yet Wilson’s statement could just as readily be applied to the relationship between Chinese and Vietnamese. In the realm of basic vocabulary, the case for Chinese-Vietnamese cognates is even stronger: virtually all kinship terms are shared, and this holds true across Chinese dialects as well. Like the wordlists cited in the tables below, Wilson’s analysis overlooked the fact that many of the same basic Chinese words also appear in her data, and in fact yield an even higher percentage of cognacy.

The same caveat applies to Thomas’s earlier list, since many of the items commonly cited in both works are also attested in Chinese and other Sino-Tibetan languages (see Vietnamese Parallels with the Sino-Tibetan Languages). This pattern is typical: subsequent specialists have closely followed these approaches or used them as a springboard, but the field has remained bound to the same worn-out assumptions, namely, “Mường < Viet-Mường”, “Mường ~ Mon-Khmer”, and therefore “Vietnamese = Mon-Khmer.” Wilson’s conclusions, drawn from lists compiled with the help of local interpreters during a short, institute-funded field trip, exemplify this circular reasoning.

What follows are “the better attested cognates listed first in the list” (p. 204), along with additional examples.

Note: The Mon-Khmer languages considered include Bahnar (Bah), Sedang (Sed), Bơnam (Bnm), Jeh, Rơngao (Rng), Cua, and Hre of the Kontum area; Mnong Gar (Gar), Mnong Biat (Biat), Chrao (Chr), and Koho of the southern highlands of South Vietnam; Katu, Bru, and Pơkoh (Pko) of the northern highlands; Boloven (Bol), Laʔven (Lv), and Alak of southern Laos; Kui of eastern Thailand; and Khmer (Khm) of Cambodia. (p. 204)

(Note for the immediate table below: Chinese correspondences as suggested by dchph. A count of stars from * to ****** indicates degrees of cognateness, i.e., plausibility, between the Chinese and Vietnamese etyma in relation with the respective cited Mon-Khmer etymon.)

Table 4 – Basic words in Vietnamese and representative Mon-Khmer languages by Wilson

English	Vietnamese	Mường	Mon-Khmer cognates	Comments For comments and elaboration on possible cognates with Chinese etyma, please refer to Table 1.
three	ba	pah	paa (Lv); pai (Alak, Pko, Bru); pay (Gar); peh (Cua); pae (Katu); ʔapay (Kui)	*** 三 sān, sàn (SV tam, VS ba)
fly	bay	pal	pal (Cua); paal (Kui); par (Koho, Gar, Bru, Katu, Chr); par (Rng)	**** 飛 fēi (SV phi, VS bay)
foot	bànchân	pan chơn	pan tyeng (Rng); pang jơng (Bol); pyang dyeng (Bnm)	*** 腳板 jiăobăn (SV cướcbản, VS bànchân) | cf. 巴腳 bājiăo ~ #’bàntay’ (手板 shǒubăn)
squeeze	bóp	póp	bop (Chr); rop (Bah); katop (Bnm); kadap (Hre); rup (Katu)	*** 壓 yā (SV áp, VS ép, ẹp, óp, bóp, bẹp) | M  壓 yā, yà < MC ʔaɨp < OC *qreːb | According to Starostin: Viet. ‘ẹp‘ (crushed, flattened) probably borrowed from the same source). Regular Sino-Viet. is áp. | Note: similar to the pattern ¶ /y- ~ b-/, e.g., ¶ /y- ~ l- ~ b-/, cf. 由 yóu ~ ‘bởi’ (because), 柚 yóu ~ ‘bưởi‘ (pomelo), 郵 yóu ~ ‘bưu‘ (postal), 游 yóu: VS ‘bơi‘…, and for ¶ /Ø- ~ b-/, ex. 案 àn (SV án): VS ‘bàn‘ (table), 按 àn (SV án): VS ‘bấm‘ (press) ]
suck	bú	púʔ	pu (Biat, Chr); pouʔ (Koho); bàu (Khm)	**** 哺 bǔ (SV bộ, VS bú) [ M 哺 bǔ < MC bo < OC *ba:s || Note: Note: This item is intriguing in its apparent connection: the Vietnamese basic verb bú ‘to suck, nurse’ may be cognate with Chinese 哺 bǔ. Such a pairing highlights a deeper layer of linguistic kinship, one that resonates with parallels across other Mon – Khmer languages as well.  The puzzle lies in the uniformity of form across these languages. It seems improbable that speakers of one language would have needed to borrow such a fundamental word from another. More likely, the resemblance is either coincidental or a residual inheritance from a common ancestral stock. This would place bú alongside other widespread nursery‑type or basic lexical items such as ba, ma, mắt, bay, etc., which recur across language families and often resist neat etymological compartmentalization. ]
swim	bơi, lội	pơi loiʔ	loi (Bru); looy (Kui); glơy (Hre); glai (Rng); glưy (Bah); zilois (Cua)	**** 游 yóu (SV du, VS bơi, lội) [ M  游 yóu, líu, qíu < MC juw < OC *lu | Schuessler: MC jiəu < OC *ljəw | According to Starostin: to float, swim; to wander about, ramble. With the meaning ‘wander about, ramble, divert oneself’ usually written as 遊. For OC *l- cf. Xiamen, Chaozhou, Fuzhou iu2. | For the pattern ¶ /y- ~ l- ~ b-/, cf. 由 yóu ~ ‘bởi’ (because), 柚 yóu ~ ‘bưởi’ (pomelo), 郵 yóu ~ ‘bưu’ (postal), etc. ]
four	bốn	pón	pon (Bru); poon (Alak); pwon (Hre, Chr); phoon (Rng); puon (Bah)	* 四 sì (SV tứ, VS bốn)
because	bởi	po	pho (Bol); tai boh (Koho); phroʔ (Kui)	****由 yóu (SV du, VS bởi) [ M 由 yóu < MC jəw < OC *ɫu | ¶/ y- ~ b-/, Ex. 游 yóu: VS ‘bơi‘ (swim), 郵 yóu: SV ‘bưu‘ (postal), 柚 yòu: VS ‘bưởi‘ (pomelo) ]
father	cha, ba	băk	ʔbaʔ (Cua); ba (Khm); mba (Hre); bap (Gar, Chr)	****** 爹 diè (SV ta, VS cha, tía)
bird	chim	chim	chium (Biat); tyim (Sed); tym (Rng); sim (Koho)	**** 禽 qín (SV cầm, VS chim)
rub	chà	chuih	chuy (Chr); kơkoy (Bah) toyh (Katu); Koyh (Hre)	**** 擦 cā (SV sát) [ M 擦 cā < MC tʂat < OC*srat | Note: Interestingly, the two Mon-Khmer forms look more like ‘chùi’ (rub) in Vietnamese. If Wilson’s local interpreter had been familiar with some linguistics, he would have had related this word to ‘chùi’ right away. ]
leg	chân	chơn	jơng (Bah, Bol, Koho); djong (Biat); jưng (Gar)	*** 腳 jiăo (SV cước, VS chân)
louse	chí	chí	ch’i (Biat); chai (Lv, Alak); si (Chr); nhcee (Kui)	**** 虱 shī (SV siết, sắt, VS chí)
dog	chó	chó	cho (Bol); choo (Lv); ch’o (Biat);tyo (Katu); tyoo (Rng); so (Chr)	**** 狗 gǒu (SV cẩu, VS chó)
die	chết	chét	chet (Katu); chit (Chr); tset (Cua); cachet (Bnm); kơchit (Hre)	** 死 sǐ (SV tử) [ M 死 sǐ < MC sji < *OCsijʔ | See etymology in the list above or other previous sections.]
husband	chồng	owng	ong (Bnm); ʔong (Hre); kơmong (Sed)	*** 君 jūn (SV quân, VS chồng) [ M 君 jūn < MC kɨun < OC *klun | Note: According to Starostin, the modern Chinese word for ‘husband’ is the disyllabic 丈夫 zhàngfu, which may underlie the Vietnamese contracted form chồng. At the same time, 君 jūn became associated with chàng or 郎 láng (‘man, young gentleman’), as in the well‑known line 何日 君 再來? Hérì jūn zàilái? → Ngàynào chàng trởlại? (“When will my man return?” / “When will you come back?”). In such contexts, 君 jūn could be assimilated with chồng (‘husband’), and both function as personal pronouns of intimate address. Dialectal Huế call husband ‘dộn‘]
animal	convật	kon vật	kon se mprem (Bah); kon tye (Sed); kon kohnem (Jeh); kong kyak (Rng)	*** 禽獸 qínshòu (SV cầmthú, VS convật, conthú) | M 禽獸 qínshòu \ @ 禽 qín ~ con, @ 獸 shòu ~ vật | M 禽 qín < MC gim < OC *ɡrɯm ||| M 獸 shòu < MC ɕuw < OC *qʰljus | See also item ‘chim’ in this table.]
fish	cá	ka	ka (Koho, Bah, Biat, Chr); kaa (Sed, Rng, Gar)	**** 魚 yú (SV ngư, VS cá)
tree	cây	kơl	kạl (Kui); ơl (Cua); kơlaa ‘bamboo’ (Hre, Sed, Koho)	*** 棵 kē (SV khoả, VS cây)
cut	cắt	kayk	kơtac (Katu); kat (Bah, Bru, Hre, Chr); chiat (Lv); siat (Kojo)	**** 割 gē (SV cát, VS cắt)
neck	cổ	kel	kal koong (Kui); ơkor (Bah); ka (Khm); kao (Gar)	*** 喉 hóu (SV hầu, VS cổ, họng) [ M 喉 hóu < MC ɠʊw < OC *go | Note. 喉嚨 hóulóng: VS ‘cổhọng‘ (throat) > VS ‘cổ‘ (neck) || Cf. 胡 hú (SV hồ, VS cổ) ]
scratch	gẫy [sic]	kãiʔ	kai (Bah, Khm); kwaiʔ (Cua); kayʔ (Rng); kayh (Katu); Kar (Bru)	*** 抓 zhuā (SV trảo, VS gãi)
narrow	hẹp	hèp	hrap (Bah); hat (Koho, Gar, Rng); rhat (Biat)	**** 狹 xiá (SV hiệp, VS hẹp)
dry	khô	xo	xo (Chr); kro (Bah); kroo (Rng)	***** 枯 kū (SV khô) [ M 枯 kū < MC kʰuo < OC *kʰa:  | Note: The Chinese and Vietnamese forms are clearly cognate. By contrast, the Mon – Khmer parallels appear more plausibly to have radiated through Vietnamese rather than directly from Chinese. This raises the question: is khô in fact a Chinese loanword in Vietnamese, or does it reflect a deeper shared inheritance? TThe lexeme is productive in Vietnamese compounds such as ‘khôcằn’ ~ khôcạn’ ~ ‘khôkhan‘ 枯幹 kūgān (dry up, wither). ]
spit	khạc	chủ xàk	kơchuʔ (Hre); choh (Koho); kacheh (Kui); kachoh (Katu)	**** 咳 ké (SV khái, VS khạc, ho, ‘cough up’)
leaf	lá	lá	la (Chr); là; laa (Rng, Lv); hla (Bah, Hre, Cua, Katu); hlaa (kui); hala/sala (Bru)	**** 葉 yè (SV diệp, VS lá)
liver	lòng, gan	lom	klơm (Bah, Biat); k’lơm (Bol); kloom (Lv, Alak)	****** 肝 gān (SV can, VS gan, ‘liver’) [ M 肝 gān < MC kan < OC *ka:n | Note: On the one hand, Vietnamese lòng corresponds to Chinese 心 xīn ‘heart’ (VS tim) ~ M 心 xīn < MC sjəm < OC sjəm (< ljəŋʷ). Pre‑Sino‑Vietnamese forms include sjʌmʔ; cf. Cantonese /sʌm5/, Old Vietnamese lâm. For VS lòng and tim, compare SV tâm. An illustrative case is 點心 diǎnxīn: SV điểmtâm → VS lótlòng (‘snack, breakfast’). On the other hand, while Mon – Khmer forms such as lom, klơm, and kloom point toward lòng, they cannot be straightforwardly related to VS gan (‘liver’). The question remains whether Wilson’s analysis implies an initial /kl‑/ cluster for both sets of forms. ]
salt	muối	mơi/bóiʔ/boei	ʔboi (Bru); mboh (Rng); mboh (Cua); boh (Koo, Bah); mwoyʔ (Kahu); pooh (Kui)	*** 硭 máng (SV mang, VS muối)
cloud	mây	mơl	hamơl (Bah); Kamơl (Kui); hmưl (Bru); hmol (Lv)	*** 雲 yún (SV vân, VS mây)
nose	mũi	mũi	mui (Katu); mu (Bol); muh (Koho, Bah, Cua, Chr); mụh (Khui, Bru, Hre)	** 鼻 bí (SV tỵ, VS mũi)
rain	mưa	mưa	mưa (Lv); mia (Kui, Bru); mih (Gar); mi (Bah, Chr)	*** 雨 yǔ (SV vũ, VS mưa)
eye	mắt	mặt	mat (Koho, Cua, Hre, Katu, Bah, Sed, Chr); mạạt (Kui); matʔ (Lv)	**** mù 目 (SV mục, VS mắt)
face	mặt	màt	mat (Bol); mũh măt (Chr); mỗh măt (Biat); mukh meẫt (Khm)	**** 面 miàn (SV diện, VS mặt) [ M 面 miàn < MC mian < OC *mens ]
mother	mẹ	mê	mè (Koho); me (Bah); meʔ mey Chr)’ meeʔ (Katu, Alak); ʔameeʔ (Kui)	**** 母 mǔ (SV mẫu, VS mẹ, mệ, mợ, mạ)
one	một	mòt	mo (Khm); moy (Sed); mwoi (Chr); mooe (Lv); mooi (Alak); mơyʔ (Katu)	*** 一 yī (SV nhất, VS một)
fat	mỡ	mỡ	lơma (Koho); rơma (Bah, Hre); rưma (Rng, Sed)	**** 肥 féi (SV phì, VS mỡ, mập)
hear	nghe	mang	hmang (Sed); mưng/pang (Bah); tơmưng/kamang (Bru); nang (Katu)	*** (1) 聽 tìng, tīng (SV thính, VS nghe),  (2) *** 聞 wén, wèn (SV văn, vấn, vặn, VS nghe) [ M 聞 wén, wèn < MC miun < OC *mɯn, *mɯns | According to Starostin: to hear; to smell, perceive; as wèn ‘be heard, renowned’ ]
day	ngày	ngày	ngay (Chr); ngăi/tơngăi (Khm), tangay (Kui); tơngai (Bol); tơngyi (Katu)	*** 日 rì (SV nhật, VS giời)
smell	ngửi	hít	hiet (Bol); het (Khm); hip (Cua); hiep (Bah); huut (Lv)	**** (1) 吸 xī (SV hấp, VS hít),  (2) 嗅 xìu (SV khứu, VS hửi, ngửi)
small	nhỏ	nhỏ	yo/yoh (Hre); ơnoh (Cua); yoh (Rng); ʔyoh (Bnm)	*** 小 xiăo (SV tiểu, VS nhỏ)
year	năm	năm	năm (Biat); nam (Koho, Gar); hu-nam (Rng); ch’năm (Khm); xanâm (Bah)	***** 年 nián (SV niên, VS năm)
water	nước	dák	dak (Bah, Biat); ʔdak (Katu); ndak/tak (Cua); daʔ (Chr); daak (Lv, Alk, Gar); diak (Hre); diaʔ (Kui)	*** 水 shuǐ (SV thuỷ, VS nước)
here	nầy	luơ nì	nih (Khm); ne (Bol); n’he (Chr); nẹẹ (Kui)	*** 這 zhè (SV giả, VS đây, nầy, này) | M 這 zhè, zhèi, yàn (giá, giả, nghiện, nghiến) < MC ŋian < OC *ŋrans | ¶ /zh- ~ d(đ)-, d- ~ n-/ ]
right side	phải	tăm	tam (Kui); ơtơm (Pko); atơm; sdam (Khm); tươm (Katu)	** 右 yòu (SV hữu, VS phải)
intestines	ruột	rwayk/ruot	rway/rueʔ (Bru); rụạk (Kui); royʔ (Pko); proac (Koho); proit (Gar)	** 腸 cháng (SV trường, VS ruột)
root	rễ	reyk	hrex (Alek); reh (kui); re (Sed); ria (Koho)	*** 蒂 dì (SV đế, VS rễ) | ¶ /d- ~ r-/ ]
woods	rừng	rừng	krong (Gar); krơng (Katu); kong (Sed)	**** 林 lín (SV lâm, VS rừng)
wash	rửa	thươ/sữa	rua (Katu); brưa (Lv); ruh (Rng); rao (Koho); riaw (Kui)	*** 洗 xǐ (SV tẩy, VS rửa)
river	sông	xong/khônh	krong (Bah, Sed); karung (Katu); Klong (Bru); rong (Gar, Koho); dakhom (Lv); n;hong (Biat); khroang Hre)	****** 江 jiāng (SV giang, VS sông)
hunt	săn	payng	pơn pain (Alak); pănh (Chr); tow bănh (Khm)	*** 田 tián (SV điền, VS săn ‘hunt’, đồng (paddy field) | M 田 tián < MC dɛn < OC *l’iːŋ | ¶*/l- ~ s-/ : Ex.. lián 蓮 (SV liên) ~ VS sen (lotus) | Cf. modern M 獵 liè: VS ‘săn’ (hunt), Ex. 打獵 dăliè: VS ‘đisăn‘ (go hunting), 獵手 lièshǒu: VS ‘thợsăn‘ (hunter) | According to Starostin: For *lh- cf. Min forms (with secondary palatalization): Chaozhou chaŋ2, Fuzhou cheŋ2, Jianou chaiŋ2. Used also for a homonymous (and possibly related) *lhi:n ‘to hunt’. ]
hand	tay	thay	tai (Lv, Bol); taii (Katu); dăi/dăy (Khm); atai (Vru); t’i (Chr)	*** 手 shǒu (SV thủ, VS tay)
breathe	thở	thǒ/thôn	taʔ nhom (Koho); tangoh (Kui); tơngưh (Bru); tơnguh (Pko); tơng chap (Chr)	**** 息 xī (SV tức, VS thở) [ M 息 xī, xí < MC sɨk < OC *slɯɡ | According to Starostin: Shuowen 喘 也. 從 心 自. to rest. The original and more common now meaning is ‘to breathe’; but during Early Zhou the word is attested only with the meaning ‘to rest’. | ex. 氣息 qìxī: VS ‘hơithở’ (breath). Cf. 呼吸 hūxī (SV hôhấp): VS ‘hítthở‘ (breathe). ]
heart	tim	tláy nó	plii noyh (Hre); Ple nuih (Bah); nuyh (Chr)	****** 心 xīn (SV tâm, VS tim, lòng)
ashes	tro	buing	buh (Chr, Gar); bǔh (Biat); bu (Koho)	*** 灰 huī (SV hôi, khôi, VS tro) [ M  灰 huī  < MC xuaj < OC *hmɯː ]
fruit	trái	tlai	plai (Koho, Chr); plai (Bol); plăi (Biat); plei (Bah)	*** 實 shí (SV thực, VS trái)
child	trẻcon	dươkon	kon (Hre, Pko, Bru); kon (Chr, Briat, Koho, Bah); koon (kui)	**** 稚子 zhìzǐ (SV trĩtử, VS trẻcon) | M 稚 (穉) zhì < MC ɖji < OC *l’ils || M 子 zī, zǐ, zì, zí, zi, cí (tử, tý) < MC tsɨ < OC *ʔslɯʔ || Dialects: M 囝 jiăn (~ 子 zǐ) ’child’ Fukienese (Amoy) /kẽ/, Hainanese /ke1/, which could have originated from an Austroasiatic form as /kiã/ ‘son, child’. || Handian: 稚子 zhìzǐ 亦作 “穉子”, “稺子”。幼子；小孩。 唐 寒山《詩》之二四八：“餘 勸 諸 稚子，急 離 火宅 中。三 車 在 門外，載 你 免 飄蓬。” 元 楊載《春 晚 喜 晴》詩：“歌 呼 從 穉子，談笑 或 嘉賓。” | Note: the 稚子 zhìzǐ postulated hereof is to match the cited “trẻcon”, but, in effect, the monosyllabic “囝 jiăn 子 zǐ)” would suffice.]
sky	trời	tlơy	trơy (Katu); trôʔ (Chr); trok (Gar); trồ (Koho); trok (Hre)	** 天 tiān (SV thiên, VS trời)
hair	tóc	thák/sák	sak (Brm); sẫk (Khm); sok (Alak); soʔ (Kui); chok (Biat)	** 髮 fà (SV phát, VS tóc) | M 髮 fà, fă (phát, bị) < MC puat < OC *pod | ¶ /p- ~ t-/
green	xanh	seng	seng (Cua); ceng (Bru); seeng (Pko)	**** 青 qīng (SV thanh, VS xanh)
bone	xương	sương	kusieng (Sed); kưseng (Rng); seng (Hre); ksiing; ch’eng (Khm)	** 腔 qiāng (SV xoang, VS xương)
tail	đuôi	tuơy	kan tui (Km); suwai (Lv), suêi k’nai (Bol); sooy (Kui)	*** 尾 wěi (SV vĩ, VS đuôi) | M 尾 wěi, yǐ < MC muj < OC *mɯlʔ  | ¶ /w- ~ đ-/ | Note: In Luce’s comparanda, Old Mon /birta/ (?), /bata/, Danaw /tɔŋ2tɑ/, Riang White /taʔ-/, Black /sʿən\taʔ-/, /săɗɑ2/, Wa /ʃi4taʔ1/, T’eng /hěnta/, the closest forms are those initials of the second morph that starts with /t-/ on the condition that /t-/ ~> /d-/. ]
hit	đánh	tayng nhaw	toang (Bnm); ting (Bru); tiơn (Cua); ton/toʔ (Bah)	****** 打 dă, dá (SV đả, VS đánh)
road	đường	tàng xá	trong (Biat, Bah, Gar, Hre); ntoong (Alak; crong (Chr)	*** 道 dào (SV đạo, VS đường, đàng) | Ex. 街道 jièdào (VS đàngxá, ‘road’) | See elaboration in the previous list by Thomas and more in Chapter Ten on Sino-Tibetan etymologies.]
head	đầu	tlok	plo (Pko); plơ (Bru); ploo (Kui); bôk (Biat); boʔ (Chr)	***** 頭 tóu (SV đầu, VS trốc, trôốc)
push	đẩy	dun	tun/tul (Bah); runh (Khm); drung (Koho)	**** 推 tuī (SV suy, thôi, VS đẩy)

Table 4.x – Addendum

Note by Ruth S. Wilson: The following words are possible cognates which may be more firmly established by further study.

Chinese correspondences as suggested by dchph. A count of stars * to ****** indicates degrees of cognateness between the Chinese and Vietnamese etyma in relation with the respective cited Mon-Khmer etymon. 

English	Vietnamese	Mường	Mon-Khmer cognates	Comments
–	–	–	–	For comments and elaboration on possible cognates with Chinese etyma, please refer to Table 1.
flower	bông hoa	pong	pooh/ʔbowng (Katu)	*** 葩 pā (SV ba, VS bông)
fall	bổ (?)	pôʔ/poʔ	bo/bong (Chr)	* 爬 pá (SV bà, VS bò, ‘crawl, climb’) | M 爬 pá < MC bɯa < OC *bra: | Note: Not sure what Wilson’s ‘bổ‘ exactly means here with the definition of “fall”; it is probably derived from ‘bổnhào’. An arbitrary Chinese word is temporarily posited here, which could be replaced with 奔 bèn. ]
dust	bụi	pul	thuli (Khm); gơthul (Koho)	*** 灰 huī (SV muội, VS bụi, vôi, tro) [ M 灰 huī (hôi, khôi) < MC xuaj < OC *hmɯː | Note: Another Chinese cognate should be 粉 fěn (SV phấn, VS bụi) \ | ¶ /f- ~ b-/, /-n ~ -i/, ex. 蒜 suàn: VS ‘tỏi‘ (garlic) ]
burn	cháy	chal	choh (Alak, Lv); choh (Chr)	**** 灼 zhuó (SV chước, VS cháy) [ M 灼 zhuó < MC tɕiɐk < OC *pljewɢ | Cf. 燒 shāo (SV thiêu, VS đốt, cháy)  ]
split	chẻ	chẻ	sre (Koho); treh (Chr)	*** 切 qiē, qiè (SV thiết, VS chẻ, xẻ) [ M 切 qiē, qiè, qì (thiết, thê) < MC tsʰɛj, tsʰɛt < OC *sn̥ʰiːd, *sn̥ʰiːds ]
that	cái kia	káy lưaʔ	laeʔ (Lv)	*** 那個 nèigè (SV nảcá, VS cáiấy)  [ M 那 nà, nèi, nuò, nuó, nă (nỏ, nã, ná) < MC na < OC *na:l, *naːlʔ, *na:ls ||  M 個 (箇, 个) gè, gě < MC ka < OC *kaːls   ]
skin	da	ta	tao (Gar); nto (Chr); n’tou (Biat)	*** 膚 fū (SV phu, VS da)  | Ex. 皮膚 pífū: VS ‘dadẻ‘ (complexion) ]
rope	dây thừng	chaak	ch’ẽ (Chr); che (Koho); sih (Hre);ksiʔ (Sed); kachii (Bnm)	*** (1) 線 xiàn (SV tuyến, VS dây) [ M 線 (綫) xiàn < MC sian < OC *sqʰeːns ] **** (2) 繩 shéng (SV thằng, VS thừng) [ M 繩 shéng, shèng, yìng, mǐn < MC ʑiŋ < OC *ɦbljɯŋ ] *** (3) 繩子 shéngzi  (VS dâythừng) [ If we treat this word in its disyllabic form, as provided by Wilson’s local informants, posited in reverse order, 繩子 shéngzi is the right word with 子 zi associated with 線 xiàn for ‘dây’, and it appears as loanword from Chinese. ]
what	gì	chì	nchi (Koho)	**** 啥 shà (SV xá, VS chi, gì ) | phonetic stem M 舍 (捨, 舎) shě, shè (xả, xá) < MC ɕia < OC *hljaːʔ ]
near	gần	khơyng	khang (Khm); kơnh ‘about to’ (Chr)	****** 近 jìn (SV cận, VS gần)
smoke	khói	xoi	juui (Alak); nhoy (Hre); nhoi (Bah)	*** 汽 qì (SV khí, VS khói, hơi) [M 汽 qì, gài, yǐ (khí, cái) < MC hɨt < OC *kʰɯds | Cant: hei31 | Note: According to Starostin: vapor, odor, steam, gas. Attested already in Yijing, but absent in Schussler’s dictionary. Viet. hơi is colloquial; regular Sino-Viet. is khí (cf. perhaps also Viet. khói ‘smoke’?) ]
cold	lạnh	chá	khaw (Katu); tkat (Alak); kat (Gar); Kơkaat (Chr); takooʔ	**** (1) 冷 lěng (SV lãnh, VS lạnh) **** (2) 淒 qī (SV thê, VS giá, rét) || Based on other Mon-Khmer forms 淒 qī is likely related. | M 淒 qī < MC chiej < OC *shjə:j | According to Starostin, the protoform is reconstructed as chijəː. Comparative evidence includes Tib. bsil ‘cool, coolness’; Kachin gjəci¹ ‘cold,’ gjəcin² ‘be cool,’ jəsi⁴ ‘cold!’ (interjection); and (H) ci ‘cold,’ cin ‘be cool.’ | Note: Wilson glosses the Vietnamese reflex as lạnh, but this form is not cognate with the Muong or Mon – Khmer parallels. By contrast, Vietnamese giá and Chinese 淒 qī align more harmoniously with the wider etymological set. One wonders whether Wilson’s treatment here was more impressionistic than systematic. ]
fire	lửa	kủi	ʔuing (Bah); ʔuing (Hre); uinh (Bol, Chr); ʔuyih (Bru, Pko)	*** 火 huǒ (SV hoả, VS lửa)
many	nhiều	từ	ti dơng (Rng); diʔdong (Bnm); didong (Sed)	*** 饒 ráo (SV nhiêu, VS nhiều)
five	năm	nam	tam (Hre); pơtam (Sed); podam (Bah); pudeem (Rng), pram (Chr); prăm (Khm)	* 五 wǔ (SV ngũ, VS năm, lăm, nhăm)
heavy	nặng	nạng	ntong (Kui); leng (Katu)	**** 重 zhòng, chóng (SV trọng, trùng, VS nặng)
how	thếnào	thiớ nò	neh nó (Gar)	* 何如 hérú (SV hànhư, VS thếnào, rasao) ) | M 何 hé, hè (hà, hồ) < MC ɦɑ < OC *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ || M 如 rú < MC ȵɨə̆ < OC *nja, *njas ]
blow	thổi	wơl	hul (Jeh); thuơl (Bah); thor (Bru); thui (Hre)	**** 吹 chuī (SV xuý, VS thổi)
big	to	to	toh (Cua); tơr (Bru); t’om (Khm); tomix (Alak); trok (Hre)	****** 大 dà (SV đại, VS to)
left	trái	tlai	trai (Cua); ʔdaiy (Katu)	** 左 zuǒ (SV tả, VS trái)
drink	uống	óng	oʔ (Bnm); ʔoʔ (Rng); okʔ (Lv); ok (Bol)	**** 飲 yǐn (SV ẩm, VS uống) [ M 飲 (飮) yǐn < MC ʔjim, ʔɯim < OC *qrɯmʔ, *qrɯms | Dialects: Cant. jəm21, ZYYY: ijəm2 || Note: The Mon-Khmer forms /oʔ/, /okʔ/, and /ok/ sound more like Vietnamese ‘ực‘ /əjk8/ (swallow). | Cant. ex. 飲飲 jəm21jəm21 (VS dôdô) ]
and	và	và	baʔ/pảng (Sed); ma (Bah); mơ (Koho)	**** 和 hé (SV hoà, VS và) [ M 和 hé, huō, huò, huó, hú, hè, he, hàn (hoà, hoạ, hồ) < MC ɦwa < OC *go:l, *ɡoːls ]
bark	vỏ	ta	ntoh (Chr); kdoh (Rng); kưtoo (Sed); toʔ (Katu); kadoʔ (Bah); ʔndoh/ndoh (Bru)	*** 皮 pí (SV bì, VS vỏ, ‘bark’, da (skin)
black	đen	yòm	gam (Hre); nggơm (Bah); tam/yong (Katu); jong (Lv)	*** 玄 xuán (SV huyền, VS đen) [ M 玄 xuán, xuàn < MC ɦwɛn < OC *ɡʷeːn  | In C there are several word for the concept of ‘black’, for example, 黔 qián (VS kiền, VS đen): M 黔 qián < MC kɦiam < OC *giam | ¶ /q- ~ đ-/ | Ex. 黔首 qiánshǒu (SV kiềmthủ, VS đầuđen,. ‘black hair’) | In reality, like ‘red’, in Chinese there exist many word for ‘black’. ]
turn	đi vòng [sic]	kwong	kuan (Khm)	*** 拐彎 guăiwān (SV cảiloan, VS quẹovòng |  | M 拐 guăi < MC gaɨj < OC *ɡʷroːlʔ  || M 彎 wān < MC ʔwaɨn < OC *qroːn | Note: Wilson obviously had taken the face value of the Vietnamese “đi vòng” provided by her local informant without being aware the that the Vietnamese “vòng” was totally fit those Mon-Khmer monosyllabic forms /kuan/ and kwong. In any case, the author tries to match her word ‘đi vòng’ with Chin.  拐彎 guăiwān that is equivalent to Vietnamese ‘quẹovòng‘, or ‘make a U turn’. ]
dig	đào	tàw	taa/tò (Koho); tyơ (Bnm); tong, tuh (Bah)	**** 鑿 zào (SV tạc, VS đào)
earth	đất	tất	kơtiiak (Katu); dơkieʔ (Chr)	**** 土 tǔ (SV thổ, độ, đỗ, VS đất)
come	đến	tíơng	teang hane (Alak); tuoh/ơtơt (Katu); tươʔ (Bru); tơrong (Bah)	*** 逮 dài (SV đại, VS tới, đến)
stand	đứng	twãng	tayưng (Bru); tưk (Cua); yuang (Bnm); yoong (Rng); yong dang (Sed)	**** 站 zhàn (SV trạm, VS đứng)
at	ở	ở	a (Biat); ae (Km); a ‘from’ (Chr)	**** 於 yú (SV vu, VS ở) [ M 於 yú, yū, wū (vu, hu, ư, ô) < MC ʔuo, ʔɨə̆ < OC *qa:, *qa ]

Ruth S. Wilson’s analysis:

“Four points can be seen from the cognate lists: First, frequent correspondences. Second, Mương form intermediate between Vietnamese and Mon-Khmer forms. Third, a wide geographical distribution of the cognates. Fourth, significant cognate percentages between Mương and the Mon-Khmer family.”

Comments:

A different conclusion can be drawn from the same lists. The correspondences between Chinese and Vietnamese, or more broadly Sino-Tibetan and Vietnamese, are equally frequent, and in fact occur with an even higher percentage of plausible cognates (see Shafer’s wordlists in Vietnamese Parallels with the Sino-Tibetan Languages on etymologies).

The fact that Mường forms stand between Vietnamese and Mon-Khmer may be interpreted as evidence of an intermediate vehicle transmitting words across languages. This could include numerals and other basic vocabulary items scattered across the region. Such a view aligns with the theory of a “lexical rippling effect” among neighboring languages: spatially, the Mường have long been in close proximity to the Kinh, and their languages inevitably intermingled. They shared a pool of communal words of common origin, beginning in the earliest stages of conceptual development , from basic to abstract notions, before the Viet-Mường split (Nguyen Ngoc San, ibid.). When annotated with additional Chinese parallels, these shared items help substantiate hypotheses of cognacy through cross-reference with Sino-Tibetan comparanda.

What Thomas called “fundamental words” in Mon-Khmer are likewise fundamental in both Chinese and Vietnamese. Importantly, they are cognate in more than 85 percent of cases. This raises a methodological issue: attempts to establish Vietnamese genetic affinity with Mon-Khmer solely on the basis of such wordlists are overshadowed by the equally strong resemblance between Chinese and Vietnamese. Many of these basic words are demonstrably closer to Chinese than to Mon-Khmer, not only in semantics but also in phonetic shape and other lexical attributes such as tonality, features that typically persist only in genetically affiliated languages.

To illustrate, consider the wordlists of Cambodian (modern Khmer), Mường, Vietnamese, and Chinese presented by Nguyen Ngoc San (1993: 48, 56). Although the author states that these languages have no direct genetic relation, he acknowledges that they share a set of common basic lexemes of the same origin. In fact, many of the fundamental words cognate to both Khmer and Mường also appear cognate to Chinese. This is likely not coincidental. As in the lists compiled by Thomas and Wilson, the Mon-Khmer data appear exhaustive, that is, no further plausible cognates can be added. By contrast, the Chinese-Vietnamese correspondences seem inexhaustible, with additional etyma continually surfacing. For this reason, only those items most relevant to the present investigation are included here.

x X x

Table 5 – Basic words in Vietnamese and Khmer by Nguyễn Ngọc San ^(a)

Chinese correspondences as suggested by dchph. A count of stars * to ****** indicates degrees of cognateness between the Chinese and Vietnamese etyma in relation with the respective cited Mon-Khmer etymon.

English meaning	Vietnamese	Muong  (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách)	Cambodian	Chinese For comments and elaboration on possible cognates with Chinese etyma, please refer to Table 1.
(a) Body parts
belly	bụng		puok	******腹 fú
chin	cằm		thkiêm	****頷 hàn
leg	cẳng		keeng	****脛 jìng
neck	cổ		ko	****喉 hóu
skin	da	ta		***膚 fū
testicle	dái	tar/kơtal		****玉(丸) yù(wăn) #VS ‘(hòn)dái’
swipe	gạc	kaak		*****擱 gē
knee	gối	kor/ơkul		***膝蓋 xīgài [ cf. ‘đầugối’ ]
breath	hơithở		comhai	****氣息 qìxī
tongue	lưỡi	las		****脷 lì (Cant. /lei6/)
eyelash	mí	bir (Uýlô)		***睫 jié
nose	mũi	mus	chromuh	**鼻 bí
gut	mật		promăt	*膽 dăn [ As Vietnamese names of body parts are mostly from Chinese, “mật” is more like “脾 pì”, meaning ‘spleen’, though, not ‘gale bladder’. ]
face	mặt			****面 miàn
mouth	mỏ		chompuh	***嘴 zuǐ
sweat (oily)	mồhôi (nhớt)		nhơts	****冒汗 màohàn [ cf. 膩 nì ~ VS ‘nhớt’ (oily) ]
mouth	mồm		moat	****吻 wěn
armpit	nách		kliêk	***腋窩 yèwā
beard	râu	tho		****鬚 xū
tooth	răng	răng		***齡 líng
spine	sống(lưng)		khnong	***脊(梁) jǐ(liáng)
hand	tay	tay		***手 shǒu
meat	thịt		sach	***膱 zhí (SV thức)
heart	tim			******心 xīn (Hainanese /tim1/)
hair	tóc		sok	***髮 fá (SV phát) | ¶ /f- ~ t-/
trunk	vòi		compuôi	***喙 huì
breast	vú	pu		****乳 rǔ
skin (thin)	vảy	paj		***皮 pí
bone	xương		choâng	**腔 qiāng [ cf. 腔骨 qiānggǔ: VS ‘xươngcốt’ (bone) ]
tail	đuôi	toy	atui	**尾 wěi
buttocks	đít			****臀 diàn

Table 6 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese ^(b)

English meaning	Vietnamese	Muong  (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách)	Cambodian	Chinese
(b) Action verbs by men and animals
jump	(nhảy)cởn	kal		****跳 tiāo (SV khiêu)
swallow	(nuốt)ực		ak	****咽 yàn (SV yết)
close	bít, đóng		baôt	****閉 bì (SV bế), ***關 guān (SV quan)
peel	bóc		booc	****剝 bō (SV bác) [ cf. ‘variant VS ‘lột’ (peel off)]
bundled hairdo	búi	pul		****襆 pú
shoot	bắn		banh	****放 fàng
break off	bẻ		bec	****掰 bāi
break off	bẻ		beeh	****掰 bāi
carry in arms	bế		bây	****抱 bào
weave	bện, quấn		kbên	***編 biān, ***捲 juān
pluck	bứt		baoc	****拔 bā
sway	chaođảo		chao	***搖動 yáodòng (SV daođộng)
fry	chiên (rán)			****煎 jiān
net fishing	chài	char;		****羅 luó (SV la, VS chài, lưới) [ M 羅 luó < MC la < OC *ra:l ]
stand	chànghãng, chòhõ	chòhõ (đứng)		***伸腳 shēnjiăo, [ Also, ‘dangchân‘ (stretch out legs). For the meaning of ‘stand’, however, ****站 zhàn (VS đứng) will be the word. ]
burn	cháy		chle	****灼 zhuó
wait	chămchắm (đợi)		chăm	****等等 děngděng
sway	chạngnạng		changnang	***儣俍 kuăngliáng [ Also, variant VS #’lạngchạng’ }
run	chạy	chăl		****走 zǒu;
rush	chạy(rút)		rut	****走 zǒu
comb	chải;	chas		***梳 shǔ
cut, tear	chẻ, xé		cheek	****切 qiè, ****撕 sī
prick	chọc		crok	****戳 chuō
choose	chọn		chrơs	****選 xuăn
squat	chồmhỗm (ngồi trướcmặt)		chrohok [in Khmer: ‘sit in the front of’ ]	****犬坐 quánzuò [ in Vietnamese: ‘sit like a dog’ (straight up with fore legs and squatting hind legs) ]
jump(?)	cò(?)	kò		*跳 tiāo (SV khiêu)
handcuffs	còng		kong	****銬 kào
shave	cạo		kao	****刮 guā
hold	cầm		kăn	**** 擒 qín
urgent	cập, gấp		thkiep	****急 jí (SV cấp, cập, VS gấp)
stick in	cắm		koăm	***𢳍 qiān
gnaw	cắn, gặm		khăm	****啃 kěn
clip	cặp, kẹp		kiep	****夾 jiá
firewood	củi	cus		***棷 (棸) zōu
?	dong (?)		đong	?
spread(?)	dàn(?)		đal	*陳 chén (SV trần) (?) ]
rise	dậy	yơl		****起 qǐ
lead along	dắt		đâc	***牽 qiān [ cf. VS ‘kéo’ (pull) ]
lead along	dắt		đak	****牽 qiān
move	dọn	ktoon		****搬 bān
hide	giấu	chu		****隱 yǐn
hook up	gài	kaaj		***扣 kòu [ cf. ‘cài’ ]
crow	gáy	tơkel		**呝 è (OC *ʔre:k)
scratch	gãi			****抓 zhuā
knock	gõ			****敲 qiáo
meet	gặp		chuôp	****遇 yù
wash	gội		kooc	***浴 yù
rinse	gột	kot		***溉 gài
open mouth	há		ha	***哈 hā (SV ha)
choke	hóc		khok	***噎 yè
drill	khoan		khvan	****鑽 zhuān
cough out	khạc		khac	******咳 kè
stagger	kềng(càng), khệnh(khạng) (?)		nokiêng	****蹌蹌 qiāngqiāng
buzzling	laoxao		rôsao	****嘵嘵 xiāoxiāo
wailing	lu loạ (?)		lu	***號哭 hàokù [ Note: Also, the Vietnamese ‘luloa’, ‘bùlubùloa’ (wailing).
ascend	lên		laơng	***上 shàng
gaze	lóngngóng		lngong	***望望 wàngwàng [ cf. ‘trôngngóng’, ‘ngótrông’… ]
rocking	lúclắc		hroluk	***搖搖 yáoyáo [ Note the interchange ¶ /y- ~ l-/ ]
stupefied	lơngơ		lngơơ	***愣著 lèngzhe [ cf. variant ‘chếtsững‘, ‘sữngsờ‘ , ‘lớngớ‘]
glide	lượn		grôlang	****翔 xiáng [ Also, VS lạn ]
carry	mang, bưng		băng	****捧 pēng
lose	mất		bât	****失 shī (SV thất)
wear	mặc		pẹc	***披 pī [ Also, VS ‘bận’ ]
wear	mặc		pek	****披 pì (Also, VS bận)
open	mở		baơt	***開 kāi
swagger	nghênhngang		srônghanh srôngngang	****昂揚 ángyáng [ cf. symnonymous doublet VS ‘ngôngnghênh‘ ]
yawn	ngáp		sngap	***(哈)欠 (hā)qiān
fell	ngả		p’nga	***逵 kuí
close eyes	nhắm		nhăm	****眠 mián
beg	nài(xin)		nai	***央 yāng [ cf. 央請 yāngqing: VS ‘nàixin’ (entreat) ]
squeeze	nén		nén	***捏 niè
shelter	nép		kneep	****匿 nì [ cf. 隱匿 yinnì: VS ‘ẩnnáu‘ (hiding) ]
grip	nắm		noăm	****拎 lìng
sunbake	phơi (hong)		hal	***曬(烘) shāi(hōng) [ Also, VS ‘sấy(hong)’ | ¶ /sh- ~ ph-/, Ex. 煽 shăn (SV phiến) ]
hurry;	rảo		srao	***繞 rào
?	thelè		tlec	?
bake	thui		thui	****燒 shāo (SV ‘thiêu’)
wide	tùmlum		tlum	**混亂 húnluàn (SV hỗnloạn) [ VS ‘tùmlum’ means ‘chaotic’, not ‘wide’. In addition, this word should not belong to this category, i.e., action words. That said, the Mon-Khmer binome is probably coincidental in sound. ]
descend	tụt		trut	***滑 huá
stroke	vuốt		chbôôt	***捋 lǚ (SV loát)
scatter	vãi		khvai	***播 bō
slice	vót		bâât	***刮 guā (SV quát) [ Also, SV ‘khoát‘ > VS ‘cạo‘ (shave), ‘gọt’ (shed) ]
surpass	vượt		foat	****越 yuè
delimit	vạch, vỡ		bach	****劃 huà
transport (?)	vấn (?), vận		voan	*****運 yùn
wave	vẫy	kơpêh	booc	****揮 huī
clap	vỗ		baôk	****拍 pāi (SV phách)
reach	với	pơơj		**騖 wù [ Also, VS ‘bói’ ]
pretend	vờ		pó	***偽 wěi
consume	xài (tiêu)		chai	****消 xiāo
eat	xơi		pixa, saơi	******食 shí
embrace	ôm		aôm	****擁 yōng
go	đi		đảơ	****去 qù
shake	đun, dun(dẩy)		tuul	***動 dòng [ cf. ‘dundẩy‘ doublet 悸動 jìdòng: VS ‘runrẩy‘ ]
follow	đòi(theo)		đoi	**隨(著) suí(zhe)
cover	đùm		đum	**包袱 bāofú \ ¶ /-f ~ -m/ [ cf. 包庇 bāobì: VS ‘đùmbọc‘ (protect) ]
cover	đậy		das	***套 tào
give birth	đẻ	teh		****生 /te1/ (Hai.) [ cf. 生 shēng: VS ‘sống‘ (live, unripen) ~> VS ‘tái‘ (raw) ]
burn	đốt		dot	****燒 shāo
pour	đổ		đôh	****倒 dào
wear	đội		tuôl	****戴 dài
exchange	đổi		đôr	****兌 duì

Table 7 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese ^(c)

English meaning	Vietnamese	Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách)	Cambodian	Chinese
(c) terms indicating family relationship
father	bố		âupuk	****父 fù
grandchild	cháu		chău	****姪 zhí
older sister	chị		chêê	******姊 zǐ [ cf. 姐 jiě, Tchiewchow-Vietnamese reads ‘chế‘ ]
child	con		kôôn	****子 zǐ (Minnan: /kẽ/)
other (people)	kẻ (ngườita)		kê	***其(他) qí(ta) [ cf. variants of 其他 qíta: VS ‘kẻkhác’, ‘ngườita’ ]
you	mày		mi	***你 nǐ
mother	mẹ		mđây, mây	****母 mǔ
s/he	nó		no	****他 tā

Table 8 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese ^(d)

English meaning	Vietnamese	Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách)	Cambodian	Chinese
(d) Terms indicating natural phenomena
level ground	bãi		vial	***坪 píng
bubble	bọt (nước)		popuh	****泡 pào
dust	bụi	pul		***粉 fěn
lightening	chớp	ơchơp		***閃 shăn
sand	cát		khsach	***沙 shā
mount	doiđất		chroi	****土岳 tǔyuè [ VS /tu2/ > /dɐt7/, /jwe5/ > /joj1/ ]
wind	gió		khzol	****風 fēng [ Also, VS ‘giông‘ (windstorm) ]
cluster	khóm		cum	***群 qún
creek	lạch		preek	****澤 zé (SV trạch) [ Also, cognate VS ‘rạch‘ ]
salt	muối		ombâl	***硭 máng
day	ngày		thngay	***日 rì
mountain	non (núi)		phnom	****山 shān [ VS ‘non‘ > ‘núi’ \ ¶ /sh- ~ n-/, /-n ~ -i/ ]
water	nước;		tưk	***水 shuǐ [ Note: ancient Vietic forms /dak5/, /nak4/, which is 淂 dé (SV đắc): Vietic “đắk” || cf. 踏 tă ~ VS ‘đạp‘ (trample). ]
sunshine	nắng		prăng	****陽 yáng
root	rễ		rưs	****蒂 dì
stream	suối		chrôôt	****泉 quán
deep	sâu		ch’râu	****深 shēn
vapor (sparse?)	thưa (?)	hơr		***氣 qì (Cant. /hej1/ ?), 疏 shū (SV thơ) (?)
soil	đất	dak		****土 tǔ
hill	đồi		tuôl	***堆 duī
copper	đồng	toang (Sách)		****銅 tóng
warm	ấm	đăng (Mường khến)	saơm	****溫 wēn

Table 9 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese ^(e)

English meaning	Vietnamese	Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách)	Cambodian	Chinese
(e) Terms indicating space
right	chiêu (bênphải)		chvênh	**右 yōu (SV hữu)
tight	chật		chứt	****窄 zhăi
everywhere	khắp		krupp	*處處 chuchu
next to	kề		kịa	***切 qiè
this	này		ni	***茲 zī [ modern M 這 zhè ]
scattering	rải (rác)	prai		***散 sàn
large	rộng		tuliây	***廣 guăng (SV quãng) [ The Mon-Khmer form “tuliây” appears to be similar to Vietnamese “tolớn” that means “large” rather than “rộng” 廣 guăng (wide). Even Nguyễn Ngọc San, a Vietnamese scholar and a linguistic teacher, does not seen to grasp the precise concept of the cited term, let alone Thomas or Wilson. The etymon of “tolớn” is “龐大 pángdà”. It is no doubt that Chinese 大 dà is cognate to Vietnamese “to“, hence, 龐 páng ~ ‘lớn‘, ‘bự’ in association within the context.
next	sau		kraoi	****後 hòu
region	vùng	pùung	dombon	****域 yù (SV vực)
far	xa		chngai	****遐 xiá
that	đó		nu	****那 nà
left	đăm (bêntrái)		sđăm	**左 zuǒ (SV tả, VS trái)

Table 10 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese ^(f)

English meaning	Vietnamese	Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách)	Cambodian	Chinese
(f) Terms indicating animals
louse	chí, chấy	chi (Pakatan)		***虱 shī
dog	chó	ơcho	chke	***狗 gǒu (SV cẩu, VS ‘cầy‘)
fish	cá	kả	pơka (Mãliềng)	****魚 yú (OC *ŋa) [ Note the interchange between the ¶ /*ŋ- ~ k-/ ]
pig	cúi (lợn)	kur	khun	**豬 zhū, ****腞 dùn (SV độn, VS lợn)
cricket	dế	tiêl		***蟋蟀 xìshuài
bear	gấu	kù		****熊 xiōng
ant	kiến	ken		**蟻 yǐ (SV nghĩ, VS kiến)
mosquito	muỗi		mụ	***蚊 wén
goose	ngan		kngan	****鵝 é (SV nga, VS ngan, ngỗng)
horde	ngựa	mangơ (Pakatan)		**馬 mă (PC **mra:h, **mra:ŋ), ****午 wǔ (SV ngọ) [ Note: Besides 午 wǔ (SV ngọ, VS ngựa), interestingly, the Pakatan form “mangơ” is cognate to 馬 mă **mra:ŋ. ]
flies, maggot	ruồi, dòi		roi	***蠅 yíng, ***蛆 qū
snake	rắn	than		***蛇 shé
scorpion	rết	thút		***蝑 xū (SV tu)
anaconda (?), wall lizard,	trăn, thằnlằn		thlan	***蟒 mǎng (Cf. 蟒蛇 mǎngshé, SV mãngxà), ***蝘蜓 yǎntíng
crab	đam (cua) (?)		kđam	***蟹 xiè [ SV giải, VS (1) cua, (2) cáy, (3) khía, (4) ghẹ. Note: Hainanese /χoj/ ]
leech	đỉa	te		****蛭 zhì

Table 11 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese ^(g)

English meaning	Vietnamese	Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách)	Cambodian	Chinese
(g) Terms indicating plants
gourd	bí	pir		***匏 pāo (SV biều, VS bầu)
banana	chuối		chec	****蕉 jiāo (SV chiêu)
tree	cây	kâr		**樹 shù
mortar	cối	kor		****臼 jìu (SV cựu)
root	cội, gốc		kul	****根 gēn
?	gài	kaaj		?
cluster	khóm, cụm	cum		***群 qún
paddy	lúa (dialect: lọ)		srâu	****來 lái [ Starostin: 稻 dào (SV đạo) ]
sugar cane	mía		ompẩu	Etymology: Proto-Vietic *k-mɛːʔ, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *klmiəʔ. Also: Muong mỉa, Khmu klmeʔ
shoot (bamboo)	măng		tumpeng	***萌 méng
glutinous rice	nếp		domnip	****糯 nuò
mango	soài		svai	**** 檨 shē (SV soa) [ suã (Amoy) ]
sugar palm	thốtnốt		thnaốt	?
fruit	trái(quả)		phlee	****(果)實 (guǒ)shí
betel	trầu		mlu	****檳榔 bīnláng
paddy	tẻ (lúa)		sai;	**(稻)米 (dào)mǐ
?	vả	pả		?
?	vọp (?)	poap		?
fruit skin	vỏ	pỏ		****皮 pí
sprout	đâm(chồi), mọc	đăm		**萌芽 méngyá

Table 12 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese ^(h)

English meaning	Vietnamese	Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách)	Cambodian	Chinese
(h) Terms indicating tools and utensils
chop	bửa	pwa		***礕 pī
pestle	chày	ksay (Thạchbì)	khay (Vânmông)	***杵 chǔ (SV xử)
row	chèo		cheo	***棹 zhào
barn	cót, vựathóc	caot		***庫 kū (SV khố, VS kho)
string	dây		khse;	****線 xiàn
sarong	khố	khao		****褲 kù (archaic SV ‘khố’, mod. M = ‘pants’)
jar	lọ		krolo	***罍 léi
mosquito net	mùng	mung		***網 wăng
basket	nong	kảdong;		**囊 nàng (SV nàng)
knob	núm	kảdum		***鈕 nǐu VS ‘nút’ (button)
lid	nắp	dap		**套 tào
raft	phà	vac (Mon)		***筏 fá
screen panel	phênh		pheeng	****屏 píng (SV bình)
axe	rìu	siw		****鉞 yuè (SV việt)
steering oar	sào		sao	****梢 shāo (SV sao)
milk	sữa(tươi)		ksây	**乳汁 rǔzhī
lime	vôi	pôôl		****灰 huì (SV muội)
fabric	vải		kbas	****布 bù
fabric	vải(vóc)	pas		***布(料) bù(liào)
lamp	đèn	kơten		****燈 dēng
ferry	đò		đo	***渡 dù (SV độ)

Table 13 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese ⁽ⁱ⁾

English meaning	Vietnamese	Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách)	Cambodian	Chinese
(i) Terms indicating burning and cooking
roast	ang, nướng		ăng	***烘 hōng [ Also, VS ‘hong‘ (dry) ]
burnt	bỏng		kropoung	****炃 fén
deep fry	chiên		chhien	****煎 jiān [ Also, VS ‘rán’, ‘rang’ ]
burn	cháy		chhe	****灼 zhuó
broil	chườm		choom	***炙 zhì
fry	chả		cha	***炸 zhà
dry on fire	hơ		chlơ	****烘 hōng [ Also, VS’ hong’ ]
stew	kho		kho	****扣 kòu (Cant., ex. 扣肉 kòuròu: VS ‘ruốckho’)
delicious	ngon		chngan	***香 xiāng
roast	quay (rán)		khvay	****烤 kăo
fry in shallow oil	rang		ling	***煎 jiān [ Also, VS ‘rán’, ‘chiên’ ]
deep fry	rán		comranh	***煎 jiān [ Also, VS ‘rán’, ‘rang’ ]
broil	thui		thui	***燒 shāo (SV thiêu) [ Also, VS ‘đốt’ (burn) ]
bake in coal	vùi	pur	popuur	****烙 lào [ Also, VS ‘lụi’ ]
charred burn	xém		chnghiem	***煓 tuān
forge	đập		teh	***煅 duàn
burn	đốt	tut	đot	***燒 shāo

Table 14 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese ^(j)

English meaning	Vietnamese	Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách)	Cambodian	Chinese
(j) Terms indicating senses
spicy hot	cay	kar		****苦 kǔ (SV khổ) [ Note that modern M 苦 kǔ means ‘bitter’ while for the connotation of ‘spicy’ is M 辣 là. ]
sour	chua		chu	****酸 suān
puckery	chát		chot	***澀 sè
strong order (garlickery)	hăng		hăng	***濃 nóng [ Also, VS ‘nồng’ ]
ill-smelling	khắm (?)		khmoh	*餿 sòu
salty	mặn		prăn;	***鹹 xián (Cant. /ham2/)
fishy	tanh		srêêng	****腥 xīng
appetite	thèm (nhem nhẻm nhèm nhem)		banhem	****thèm 饞 chán (SV ‘sàm’)
smelly	thối, thúi		sôui	******臭 chòu (SV ‘xú’)
sweet	êm (ngọt)		phớêêm	***𩜌 yuē (SV ngạt), VS ‘êm’ (?) [ This etymon is rediculously posited for Vietnamese ‘ngọt’. ]
deaf	điếc	tek		*失聰 shīcōng [ <= (contraction of) SV ‘thấtthông’ /t’ât7t’oņʷ1/: ‘失聰 shīcōng’ (loss of hearing) ]

Table 15 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese ^(k)

English meaning	Vietnamese	Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách)	Cambodian	Chinese
(k) Terms indicating state of appearance (adjectives)
sad	buồn		pruôi	****悶 mèn (SV muộn)
lowly mean	bậpbềnh (?)		pêpao	***卑賤 bēijiàn [ VS ‘bêbối’, also, SV ‘đêtiện’, plausibly means ‘lowly mean’ while ‘bậpbềnh’ is ‘floating, drifting in the water’ (漂浮 piāofú). ]
weary	chán		chal	****倦 juàn [ cf. 厭倦 yānjuàn: VS ‘chánchường’ ]
greedy	chướng (thamlam)		chkoong	***貪(婪) tān(lán) [ modern Vietnamese is derived from the Sino-Vietnamese form ‘tham(lam)‘. For ‘chướng‘ it is possible that is the sound change result of the interchange ¶ /th- ~ ch-/ ]
skinny	còi		khsaoi	***瘦 sòu [ Other derived variants VS ‘còm’ < ‘còi’ < ‘gầy’ < ‘gò’ < ‘sỏ’ < 瘦 sòu (SV sấu) ]
skinny	còm		skom	***瘦 sòu [ Derivatives: VS ‘còm’ < ‘còi’ < ‘gầy’ < ‘gò’ < ‘sỏ’ < 瘦 sòu (SV sấu) ]
haughty	căng		kênh	****嬌 jiāo (VS ‘kênh‘)
old	già, cha		chas	***耆 qí
aggressively strong	hăng(mạnh)		kh’lăng	****兇(猛) xiōng(měng) [ SV hung(mãnh) ]
tired	mệt		khmaơt	****疲 pí
new	mới		thmây	***萌 méng
narrow	quắt(hẹp)		chongyết	****狹窄 jiázhǎi (VS chậthẹp)
tattered	rách		rôyêk	***襤 lán
limp	thọt		khchook	**腿瘸 tuǐqué [ <~ ® contraction of VS ‘càthọt‘ (‘be lame) ]
young	trẻ		khchây	***稚 zhǐ (SV trĩ)
happy	vui		prơi	****快 kuài (Cant. /fai1/)
weak	yếu		khaoi	****弱 ruò

Table 16 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese ^(l)

English meaning	Vietnamese	Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách)	Cambodian	Chinese
(l) Terms indicating counting numbers
three	ba		bây	***三 sān [ SV ‘tam’, Hai. /ta1/; also, 仨 sā: SV ‘ta’, VS ‘ba’ ]
seven	bảy	píh (Sách)		*七 qī [ SV thất, interchange ¶ /q-/ ~ /b-/. cf. 匹 p (SV ‘thất) ]
four	bốn		buôn	*四 sì (SV ‘tứ’, VS ‘tư’)
one	một		muôi	***一 yī [ SV ‘nhất’ > VS ‘một’ ]
five	năm		prăm	**五 wǔ [ SV ngũ, /w-/ ~ /n-/, Hainanese /ŋaw2/ 五十 /ŋaw2tap8/: VS ‘nămchục’ (fifty-five); for /lăm/ \ /-lan2/, as in ‘三十五 ta1tap8lan2: VS ‘bamươilăm’ (thirty-five) ]
two	vài, hai	bar (Ủylô)	pir	***二 èr [ SV ‘nhị’ /nhej6/ > /haj1/ | Note: compare the initial /b-/ (p-) with number ‘two’ in those Mon-Khmer languages. ]

Table 17 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese ^(m)

English meaning	Vietnamese	Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách)	Cambodian	Chinese
(m) Terms indicating adverbs
suddenly	chợt, suýt		chơt	***突 tù (SV đột) [‘suddenly’], ***差點兒 chàdiănr (VS ‘suýt’) [ ‘narrowly’, contraction ]
miss	dỡ(dang)		stơr	***(耽)誤 (dàn)wù
about	khoảng		khtuông	***差不多 chàbùduo [ contraction ]
otherwise, or else	kẻo		krêêng	***要不(然) yàobù(rán) [ contraction ]
very	rất		rưt	***極 jí (SV cực)
conspire	rắp (?)		răp	***協 xié (SV hiệp) [ cf. VS ‘rắptâm’ 協心 xiéxīn (make concerted efforts)
about to	sắp		somrăp	***將 jiāng
leftover	thừa		sol	***乘 chēng (SV thừa)

Table 18 – Basic words in Vietnamese, Mường, Khmer, and Chinese ⁽ⁿ⁾

English meaning	Vietnamese	Muong (Uýlô, Thavừng, Sách)	Cambodian	Chinese
(n) Other words
crinkle	chau(mày)	cho (Thàvừng)		****皺(眉) zhóu(méi)
lucky	hên (may)		hêng	****幸 xìng (SV hạnh)
turn	lượt		lơc	***輪 lún
clearly(?), be	rõ, là		la	**是 shì [ Note on the interchange ¶ /sh- ~ l-/ ]
misfortune	rủi, sui		khsui	****祟 suì [ Note on the interchange ¶ /s- ~ r-/ ]
black	đen	ten (Sách)		***縝 chēn
spill	đổ	kơtoh (Thavừng)		***倒 dào (SV đảo)
overturn	đỗ	tuh (Thavừng)		***倒 dăo (SV đảo)

In all the wordlists above, the same issues arise regarding the affiliation of Vietnamese and Mon-Khmer. What matches between Vietnamese and Mon-Khmer often also matches between Chinese and Vietnamese. Formally: { Vietnamese ~ Mon-Khmer => Chinese ~ Vietnamese }. For example, Thavừng /cho/ vs. Chinese 皺(眉) zhóu(méi) ~ VS ‘chau(mày)’ “crinkle”. However, the reverse is not always true: { Chinese ~ Vietnamese > Vietnamese ± Mon-Khmer }. The reason is that there are many Sinitic-Vietnamese basic words cognate with Chinese that have no equivalents in Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer at all.

For the Mon-Khmer ~ Vietnamese words cited above, the real problem is that these cognates appear isolated and scattered across different Mon-Khmer languages. The phenomenon is not uniform, and several examples are plausibly dubious.

The key point is that analyses supporting the Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer origin of Vietnamese are often based on such wordlists, moving from false premises to false conclusions. Nguyễn Ngọc San (1993), in his Tìm hiểu về Tiếng Việt Lịch sử (“Research on the historical linguistics of Vietnamese”), provides a summary of Mon-Khmer to Vietnamese correspondences that illustrates this problem. His passage, translated here, contains interpretations that are misleading, though his book also provides valuable data and many valid arguments.

“Most of the basic words hard to verify in terms of timeline are of Mon-Khmer and Tai-Kadai origin. Words of Tai-Kadai origin changed less because their phonological system has been closer to Vietnamese since the 10th century. For Mon-Khmer roots it is more difficult to pinpoint the period because they have changed a lot. Derived words formed later show further divergence from the original meaning. For example, the Vietnamese word chẻ [dchph: actually cognate to 切 qiè ‘cut’] evolved from Khmer cheek and both are close in semantics. When the same root shifted to become xé [actually cognate to 撕 sī ‘tear off’] (following the pattern ch > x), the derived form conveys a new meaning. Similarly, cắn [Chinese 嗑 kè ‘bite’] is still close to khăm, but its derivative gặm [cognate with 啃 or 豤 kěn ‘gnaw’] drifts further. The meaning of cụt [孑孒 jiéjué, as in ‘cụtngủn’ ‘pretty short’] appears close to cot, but departs further when ngủn [Chinese 短 duăn ~ Vietnamese ‘ngắn’ > ‘ngủn’ (short in length), ‘lùn’ (short in height)] evolved as a derivative with changed semantics. When a new word was formed, it took over the function of the older form and its significance evolved accordingly. For instance, the chas of Mon-Khmer origin meaning ‘head of a village,’ equivalent to pò in Tai-Kadai, changed when it evolved into cha [actually Vietnamese ‘cha’ is plausibly cognate with 爹 diè ‘father’ with interchange /t- ~ ch-/; also the etymon of VS ‘tía‘ ‘daddy’; hence the rest of this statement is false] in Vietnamese. Its meaning was still close when it changed into già (following /ch-/ > /gi-/) as in giàlàng [ probably equivalent to 鄉長 xiāngzhăng or 里長 lǐzhăng ‘village chief,’ where 鄉 xiāng or 里 lǐ could plausibly evolve into ‘làng‘ ‘village’ ]. It still retained the original meaning by the time cha emerged, which then came to mean ‘head of the household,’ the leader of a small agricultural unit of a family.” (Nguyen Ngoc San 1993: 110)

This type of postulation is typical in works that cite similar wordlists to support the Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer origin of Vietnamese. Readers without a background in historical linguistics may take such rebuttals of randomly chosen etyma as authoritative. To be clear, Nguyen Ngoc San’s book is an important and valuable work, and the author has extracted much useful etymological data from it. However, scattered misleading or incorrect statements risk becoming the baseline for the next generation of linguists.

For example, on pages 154-155 (Nguyen Ngoc San 1993), in discussing the teaching of historical Vietnamese in schools, he concludes that all Vietnamese basic words beginning with /ch-/ instead of /tr-/ are “pure Vietnamese” native words. This is far from the truth. What he actually meant is “true Vietnamese sound” vs. “Chinese sound”. A few examples illustrate the problem:

Vietnamese (VS)	Sino-Vietnamese (SV)	Chinese Character	Mandarin Reading	Gloss / Notes
chổi	trửu, chửu	帚	zhǒu	broom
chuồng	khuyên, quyển	圈	quān / juān	animal pen
chén	tràn, trản	盞 (琖)	zhǎn	bowl
cha	đa	爹	diè	father
chị	tỷ	姊	zǐ	older sister
chú	thúc	叔	shù	paternal uncle
cháu	chí	侄	zhí	nephew/descendant
chấy	siết	虱	shī	louse
chuột	thử	鼠	shǔ	mouse
chuồnchuồn	thanhđình	蜻蜓	qīngtíng	dragonfly
chài	la	羅	luó	fishing net (VS ‘lưới’)
chỉ	chỉ	指	zhǐ	to point, finger
chạy	tẩu	走	zǒu	run
chèo	ạo, trác	棹	zhào / zhuō	paddle
chôn	áng	葬	zàng	bury
chừa	trừ	除	chú	exclude
chèo	trào, trêu	嘲	cháo	ridicule
chém	trảm	斬	zhǎn	chop
chầy	trì, trễ	遲	chí	slow, late

As Nguyen Ngoc San has argued, from today’s perspective all Pre-Han-Viet words should be considered integral elements of the Vietnamese lexicon, indispensable in both function and role. For instance, the Vietnamized phòng pairs productively with native words to form compounds, just as the Pre-SV buồng 房 fáng (SV phòng, ‘room’) does. Both buồng and phòng serve as lexical building blocks beyond their core meaning ‘room’: buồngtắm (‘bathroom’) and buồnglái (pilothouse) are semantically identical to phòngtắm and phònglái. However, unlike phòng, buồng can extend to other disyllabic variants with “chamber-like” meanings, such as buồngtrứng (‘ovary’ 卵巢), buồngcau (‘a hand of areca nuts’ 串檳榔), and buồngchuối (‘a hand of bananas’ 串香蕉). In these contexts, phòng cannot be substituted. Thus, buồng- is best regarded as a purely native element (Nguyen Ngoc San, p. 67), even though it ultimately derives from Old Chinese as a Pre-Sino-Vietnamese form.

Many further examples can be cited, such as 子 zǐ, which underlies several Vietnamese classifiers: cái- (‘item’), con- (‘living being’), trái- (‘fruit’), or 場 chăng, which corresponds to sân-, giấc-, trận-, cơn-, and others, as discussed in the introductory chapters.

Conclusion

The comparative evidence reviewed here demonstrates that many Vietnamese basic words traditionally attributed to Mon‑Khmer are more coherently explained through a Taic‑Yue substratal framework. While contact with Mon‑Khmer languages undoubtedly contributed layers of vocabulary, these parallels are inconsistent, scattered, and often semantically mismatched. By contrast, Vietnamese shares a dense, systematic core of basic lexicon, phonological patterns, and semantic structures with Chinese and other Yue‑related languages—precisely the domains least susceptible to borrowing.

The long‑standing Mon‑Khmerist model emerged from early field surveys that lacked engagement with Chinese historical linguistics and overlooked the deep Yue presence in the Red River region. When Chinese parallels are restored to the comparison, the picture shifts: Vietnamese aligns more closely with southern Sinitic and Taic‑Yue strata than with the Mon‑Khmer languages of Indochina. This alignment extends across kinship terms, body parts, natural elements, verbs of basic action, and grammatical particles, features that point to shared ancestry rather than diffusion.

Reframing Vietnamese within a Sinitic–Yue continuum does not deny its Austroasiatic connections; rather, it situates those connections within a broader, historically layered ecology of migrations, admixture, and linguistic convergence. Vietnamese emerges not as a peripheral Mon‑Khmer language but as a product of multiple strata, Taic‑Yue, early Sinitic, and regional Austroasiatic, interacting over millennia. Recognizing this complexity allows us to move beyond reductive classifications and toward a more accurate understanding of Vietnamese as a language shaped by deep-time contact, shared heritage, and the enduring imprint of the Yue world.

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FOOTNOTES

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(1)^ Cognacy in numbers only will certainly not make languages genetically related. For example, we see that in Thomas’ wordlist above numbers from one to ten in other Mon-Khmer languages are cognate only to those limited to the set of 1 to 5 in the Khmer counting system, whence they could have been loanwords from Vietnamese. In fact, those numbers from 6 to 10 exist in some other Mon-Khmer languages other than ‘Cambodian’ or modern Khmer used in today’s Cambodia. If they are cognate at all, could they probably have been borrowed from Vietnamese, that is, from a tonal language to a toneless one, following the wisdom of those who domineer? In this case the argument whether the Vietnamese numbers actually have any connection with Chinese or not is irrelevant.

(2)^ In general, they are those of lexical building blocks with subtle semantic specificity (such as ‘ănmày’ 要飯 yàofàn ‘beggar’, ‘nhàxí’ 廁所 cèsuǒ (toilet), ‘đáidầm’ 尿床 niàochuáng (bedwetting), or ‘táobón’ 便閉 biànbì (constipation), etc., similar structures in make-up blocks such as morphology (e.g., prominently CVC structured class), intensity of tonal levels (e.g. 8 tone levels fit to any tone in any Chinese dialects), and even grammatical instrumental markers (e.g., virtually all classifiers, articles, prepositions, particles, etc., in both Vietnamese and Chinese being of the same origin). Mark J. Alves (2001) in his paper entitled “What is so Chinese about Vietnamese?” in Papers from the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistic Society has touched on this subject but not as deeply and elaborately as what the author of this writing is trying to do here.