làm thinh

Vietnamese

Etymology

A contamination of hàm thinh (“to remain silent”) (Lê Văn Đức, Việt Nam tự điển) by the common verb làm (“to do”). The former literally means “to keep sound in the mouth” and is a compound of hàm (含, “to keep in the mouth”) + thinh (variant of thanh (清, “sound”), a meaning that is still preserved in lặng thinh, nín thinh).

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [laːm˨˩ tʰïŋ˧˧]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [laːm˦˩ tʰɨn˧˧]
  • (Saigon) IPA(key): [laːm˨˩ tʰɨn˧˧]

Verb

làm thinh

  1. to keep silent; to remain silent
    Synonym: (dialectal) mần thinh
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