bảy (Vietnamese)
Where does "bảy" come from?
The Vietnamese word 'bảy', meaning seven, traces its roots back to the ancient Proto-Austroasiatic reconstruction *pɔh ~ *pəɕ. It evolved through the Proto-Vietic stage as *pəs before emerging in its modern form. This linguistic history connects it to related terms in other Austroasiatic languages, such as the Bahnar word 'tơpơh', highlighting a deep shared ancestry across the region.
Full etymology tree
- bảy (Vietnamese), 'seven'
- inherited *pəs (Proto-Vietic), 'seven'
- derived *pɔh ~ *pəɕ (Proto-Austroasiatic)
- inherited *d₁puulh ~ *d₁puəlh ~ *d₁pəlh (Proto-Mon-Khmer)
- derived *pɔh ~ *pəɕ (Proto-Austroasiatic)
- inherited *pəs (Proto-Vietic), 'seven'
Ancestors
- *pəs (Proto-Vietic)
- *pəɕ (Proto-Austroasiatic)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris