cây

• (North Central Vietnam) cân
• (North Central Vietnam) cơn

Inherited from Proto-Vietic *gəl ~ *kəl (“tree”). Cognate with Muong câl, cấl, Kha Phong kɨl². Doublet of cấy.

Possibly from Proto-Austroasiatic *kəl (“to fell (trees)”); in that case, cognate with Semai kòl, Temiar kel, Proto-Bahnaric *kal (whence Koho köl), Proto-Katuic *kəl (whence Pacoh câl).

Alternatively, derived from a different root (currently unreconstructed) that yielded Proto-Khmuic *tŋkəl (“stump”) (whence Khmu [Cuang] tŋkɨl), Khmer គល់ (kŭəl), and Mon ဓဂဵု.

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kəj˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kəj˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kəj˧˧]

• Audio (Hà Nội):

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• Audio (Saigon):

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(classifier cái) cây • (核,荄,𣘃)

1. plant with a hard trunk or stem, such as a woody tree or bamboo, as opposed to cỏ (“(soft-stemmed) grass”)

   dưới bóng cây ― under the shade of a tree

2. (by extension) plant (including trees and grasses), or more rarely, mushroom
3. (colloquial) short for cây số (“kilometre/kimometer”)

   Nhà tui cách Sài Gòn cỡ năm chục cây.

   My house is about fifty kilometres from Sài Gòn.

• thực vật

cây • (核,荄, 𣘃)

1. Indicates plants
2. Indicates stick/rod-like objects

   Synonym: thanh

   ăn cây ― to get beaten with a stick

3. (music) Indicates string instruments and some other types of musical instruments