望眉

Chinese

		phonetic
trad. (望眉)		望	眉
simp. ^#(望眉)		望	眉
alternative forms		𠻾𠷯

Etymology

Probably from English Bombay or Portuguese Bombaim through Hokkien.

Pronunciation

Cantonese (Jyutping): mong⁶ mei⁴
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): Bōng-bâi

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: mong⁶ mei⁴
  - Yale: mohng mèih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: mong⁶ mei⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: mong⁶ méi⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɔːŋ²² mei̯²¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Singapore, Penang)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bōng-bâi
  - Tâi-lô: Bōng-bâi
  - Phofsit Daibuun: boxngbaai
  - IPA (Singapore): /bɔŋ²²⁻²¹ bai²⁴/
  - IPA (Penang): /bɔŋ²¹ bai²³/

Proper noun

望眉

(obsolete) Bombay, Mumbai
- 1838, 梁廷枏, editor, 粵海關志, volume 24, page 22:
  
  風俗同𠻾𠷯，物產惟血蝎為𠻾𠷯所無。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  风俗同𠻾𠷯，物产惟血蝎为𠻾𠷯所无。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: translated in 2019 April 2, After Diu: The Forgotten Islamic Trade in Early Nineteenth Century Cantonese Confucian Historiography, by Hung Tak Wai (孔德維), Journal of Islam in Asia, International Islamic University Malaysia, pg. 121-122
  Fēngsú tóng Wàngméi, wùchǎn wéi xuè xiē wéi Wàngméi suǒ wú. [Pinyin]
  The culture of Sula-guo is similar to that of Bombay, and the products of the two places are similar too except Bombay does not have the dragons blood (Sanguis Draconis) Sula-guo produces.
- 1915 March 15, 國民日報 [Kok Min Yit Poh/Chinese Morning Post], Singapore, page 11:
  
  火車標望眉牛油總發行 [MSC, trad.]
  火车标望眉牛油总发行 [MSC, simp.]
  huǒchē biāo wàngméi niúyóu zǒng fāxíng [Pinyin]
  (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

孟買／孟买 (Mèngmǎi), (obsolete) 孟美 (Mèngměi)

References

H. W. Firmstone (1905) “Chinese Names of Streets and Places in Singapore and the Malay Peninsula”, in Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society‎^[1], volume 42, page 197
Barclay, Thomas (1923) “bōng”, in Supplement to Dictionary of the Amoy Colloquial Language (overall work in Hokkien and English), Shanghai: The Commercial Press, Limited, page 12