cát

See also: Appendix:Variations of "cat"

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• (North Central Vietnam) gát

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Mon-Khmer *ksac

Proto-Vietic *t-kaːc

Vietnamese cát

From Proto-Vietic *t-kaːc, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *ksac ~ *ksaac (“sand”) (through metathesis, Shorto's reconstruction). Doublet of Kế Sách and cognate with Khmer ខ្សាច់ (khsac).

The unexpected lenition in many North Central dialects (which are often unaffected by lenition compared to the mainstream dialects) is due to hypercorrection.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kaːt̚˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kaːk̚˦˧˥]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kaːk̚˦˥]

• Audio (Saigon):

  (file)

Noun

(classifier hạt) cát • (吉, 葛, 𡋥, 𪶼, 𣻅, 𡑪)

1. sand

   đồng hồ cát ― an hourglass

2. grain (as in a fine grain of silk)

See also

Derived terms

• bão cát (“sandstorm”)
• cát đất
• cát kết (“sandstone”)
• đất cát
• đồng hồ cát
• tranh cát