cầu

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kəw˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kəw˦˩]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kəw˨˩]

Sino-Vietnamese word from 球 (“ball; sphere”).

(classifier trái, quả) cầu • (球, 毬)

1. (sports) jianzi shuttlecock

   đá cầu ― to play jianzi

2. (badminton) badminton shuttlecock
3. (sports) short for cầu mây (“sepak takraw ball”)

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 橋 (“bridge”, SV: kiều). Doublet of kèo.

The “latrine; lavatory” sense was so named since latrines were, in pre-modern times, characteristically a wooden construction on the water. Compare Malay jamban (“latrine”) < jambatan (“bridge”).

(classifier cây) cầu • (橋)

1. bridge (construction or natural feature that spans a divide)

   Muốn sang thì bắc cầu kiều.
   Muốn con hay chữ thì yêu lấy thầy.

   If you want to cross a river, build a bridge.
   If you want your kids to be educated, be kind to their teacher.

2. (Southern Vietnam) short for nhà cầu (“latrine; lavatory”)

Sino-Vietnamese word from 求.

cầu

1. to ask for; to demand

   Không ai cầu mày làm vậy cả.

   No one asked you to do that.

2. to pray that something will happen; compare ước (“to wish”)

   Tao cầu (trời) cho cả nhà mày bị xe cán chết !

   I pray (to heaven) your whole family dies in a car crash!

cầu

1. (economics) demand

   Antonym: cung