quân tử nhất ngôn

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 君子 (superior person) and 一言 (to speak once).

From Analects:

:「君子一言以為一言以為不知不可不慎。……」 [Vietnamese Literary Sinitic, trad.]
Tử Cống viết: “Quân tử nhất ngôn dĩ vi trí, nhất ngôn dĩ vi bất trí, ngôn bất khả bất thận dã. [...]” [Sino-Vietnamese]
Zi Gong said: "The superior person, by speaking once, is taken as wise; by speaking once is taken as unwise; one cannot afford to speak carelessly. [...]"

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [kwən˧˧ tɨ˧˩ ɲət̚˧˦ ŋon˧˧]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [kwəŋ˧˧ tɨ˧˨ ɲək̚˦˧˥ ŋoŋ˧˧]
  • (Saigon) IPA(key): [wəŋ˧˧ tɨ˨˩˦ ɲək̚˦˥ ŋoŋ˧˧]

Phrase

quân tử nhất ngôn

  1. (rare, usually humorous) I give you my word; you have my word