ချောင်း

• IPA^(key): /t͡ɕʰáʊɴ/
• Romanization: MLCTS: hkyaung: • ALA-LC: khyoṅʻʺ • BGN/PCGN: chaung: • Okell: hcaùñ

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kl(j)u(ŋ/k) (“river, valley”), a Mainland Southeast Asian areal word which was probably borrowed from Proto-Mon-Khmer *ruŋ ~ *ruuŋ ~ *ruəŋ (“river, channel”). Compare Old Chinese 江 (OC *kroːŋ, “river”) (STEDT).

ချောင်း • (hkyaung:)

1. creek, stream, brook, rivulet

ချောင်း • (hkyaung:)

1. to peep, peek
2. to watch for an opportune moment
3. to lie in wait, prowl, lurk

The "throat" sense is linked by STEDT to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *k/s-raw(k/ŋ) ~ *k-rwa(k/ŋ) (“throat”), whence Mizo hrok (“throat”). Said Tibeto-Burman root may be allofamic with a variety of other reconstructed roots, including Proto-Sino-Tibetan *gwaŋ (“neck, throat”) (whence Old Chinese 亢 (OC *kaːŋ, *kʰaːŋs, “neck, throat”), 項 (OC *ɡroːŋʔ, “nape of neck”)) and Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ku (“neck, throat”) (whence 喉 (OC *ɡoː, “throat”)).

The "cough" sense is not given etymology by STEDT (khroṅ:chui: "cough"), and Luce adduces no cognates.^[1] As a compound, ချောင်းဆိုး (hkyaung:hcui:) rather resembles Chinese 咳嗽 (OC *qʰɯː/ɡɯː sloːɡs/sroːɡ/sloːɡ, “to cough”), which appears coincidental. That said, the second syllable ဆိုး (hcui:), traditionally taken by Burmese scholarship to denote the sense of "bad, serious", could possibly have a unique sense of "to cough" here, and be related to the earlier-seen character 嗽 (OC *sloːɡs, *sroːɡ, *sloːɡ, “to cough”). In this case, the first syllable, ချောင်း (hkyaung:), should be interpreted as "throat", and the compound ချောင်းဆိုး (hkyaung:hcui:) as "throat cough". Thus, compounds which invoke a sense of "cough" for ချောင်း (hkyaung:) are doing so metonymically.

ချောင်း • (hkyaung:)

1. cough (expulsion of air from the lungs)

ချောင်း • (hkyaung:)

1. numerical classifier for long, thin objects like pens, pencils, sticks, etc.

   ဘောပင်တစ်ချောင်း ― bhau:pangtachkyaung: ― one ballpoint pen

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