vú

• (North Central Vietnam) bú (no lenition)
• (slang, eye dialect) vếu

Inherited from Proto-Vietic *k-buːʔ, the prefixed derivative of Proto-Vietic *buːʔ ~ ʔuːʔ (“to suck at breast”), from Proto-Austroasiatic *ɓuːʔ (“to suck, to suckle”). Cognate with Muong Bi pủ (“breast”). Doublet of bú (“to suckle”).

Attested as Northern Middle Vietnamese ꞗú in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651).

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [vu˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [vʊw˨˩˦]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [vʊw˦˥] ~ [jʊw˦˥]
• Homophone: dú (Southern Vietnam)

• Audio (Saigon):

  (file)

vú • (乳, 布, 咘, 𦜘)

1. (anatomy, of a primate) breast
2. (anatomy, by extension, of a non-primate mammal) body part that functions similarly to the primate breast or nipple; udder, teat, etc.

   vú bò ― a cow udder

3. wet nurse
   • 1934, Nguyễn Công Hoan, chapter I, in Lá ngọc cành vàng, Tân Dân:

     – Vú em! / – Dạ. / – Sao vú cứ hát nhảm thế? Ru bài khác không được à?

     "Wet nurse!" "Yes." "Why does wet nurse sing such stupidities? Can't you sing another lullaby?"

4. (Christianity, colloquial) godmother

   vú đỡ đầu ― female godparent

• Albeit used in scientific contexts, this term is still informally considered risqué, and people tend to use euphemisms, such as ngực (“chest”), instead. Compare euphemisms in other languages, such as English chest (“trunk; torso; thorax; breast”) and Japanese 胸 (mune, “torso; thorax; breast”).

• (a woman's breast) bưởi