Vietnamese Basic Word Lists At the Crossroads

Vietnamese Vocabulary Between Austroasiatic and Sinitic Lineages

by dchph

Basic word lists have long been used as diagnostic tools in comparative linguistics. From Sino-Tibetan lists to Austroasiatic inventories, they serve as benchmarks for identifying cognates and tracing language families. Yet Vietnamese vocabulary sits at a crossroads: while many items align with Austroasiatic Mon‑Khmer, others reveal deep Sinitic–Yue connections. This article explores how cultural embedding and polysyllabic analysis complicate the neat boundaries assumed by basic word lists.

The comparative study of Vietnamese and Mon-Khmer basic vocabulary has long stood at the center of debates over Vietnamese classification. While numerals and a handful of core terms suggest Austroasiatic connections, these correspondences alone cannot account for the full complexity of Vietnamese etymology. The evidence places Vietnamese at a crossroads: its basic lexicon shows overlap with Mon-Khmer, yet its broader structure and vocabulary point decisively toward Sinitic influence.

I) The problem

• Traditional lists: Root‑based inventories (e.g., Mon-Khmer) assume stability and universality.

• Vietnamese divergence: Many Vietnamese forms (mắt 目 mù 'eye', tim 心 xīn 'heart', bụng 腹 fù 'stomach') show clear Sino‑Vietnamese cognacy, challenging Austroasiatic classification.

• Crossroads metaphor: Vietnamese basic vocabulary is not a single path but an intersection of Austroasiatic, Sinitic, and substratal Yue influences, i.e., Dai, Zhuang, Hokkien, etc.

Luce, G. H. (1965) in "Danaw, a Dying Austroasiatic Language" (pp. 104-129) – referring to Danaw (/tʿănɔʔ/), a Tibeto‑Burmic language spoken by a hill tribe in Burma – presents two sets of wordlists totaling 245 entries, including basic vocabulary. The first set highlights correspondences across several Austroasiatic languages, specifically Mon, Danaw, Riang (/rəyɑŋ/), Palaung (Panku), and Wa (Tung Wa) (see The Languages of China Before the Chinese.) 

The second set expands the comparison, incorporating Vietnamese forms alongside other Austroasiatic languages such as Khmer, Bahnar, and Mundari, as well as Austronesian languages like Javanese and Malay, and even Old Burmese from the Tibeto‑Burmic family. Strikingly, many of these cross‑family vocabularies appear cognate with Vietnamese.

It is important, however, to approach this list with caution. Not all items belong to the same genetic family; loanwords inevitably occur across linguistic boundaries. For non‑specialists, this caveat is sufficient: unless proven otherwise, apparent cognates in such comparative lists may reflect borrowing rather than shared inheritance.

Luce’s detailed wordlists contain many lexemes resembling Vietnamese forms, and it appears that these same data have long been employed by Austroasiatic specialists to justify grouping Vietnamese within the Mon‑Khmer family. In addition to the "Vietnamese" column and the "Comments" column used to annotate and explain the cited items, this study introduces a further dimension: the inclusion of Chinese elements. These are brought in to highlight etyma that may plausibly be considered cognates or derivatives from a shared origin. The rationale for including Chinese forms, even in cases where no Vietnamese equivalent was originally listed, is to demonstrate their association with Vietnamese items in comparison to parallels drawn from other languages.

Because many of the cited Chinese words also show cognacy with other Sino‑Tibetan etyma, it is reasonable to suggest that they may share common roots with Yue, or at least with ancestral Taic forms. Such a postulation provides a framework for viewing Vietnamese, Chinese, and Austroasiatic Mon‑Khmer forms as having evolved from proto‑Taic, or from later Taic‑Yue strata. Without this perspective, it is difficult to explain why so many etyma across these linguistic families display striking similarities, suggesting kinship rather than coincidence.

It must be noted, however, that cognates are rarely attested across all branches of a given family, even among basic vocabulary. This pattern indicates that many of these forms may in fact be old loanwords. Nevertheless, the associations drawn here serve an important purpose: they reinforce the argument that ancestral Yue roots should be placed prior to, and foundational for, the later Sinitic elements, as outlined in Chinese and the Vietnamese Basic Vocabulary Stock.

This article emphasizes:

• Methodological framing: how scholars traditionally start with glossarial comparisons between Vietnamese and Mon‑Khmer basic vocabulary.

• Crossroads metaphor: Vietnamese basic lexicon overlaps with Mon‑Khmer but also shows decisive Sinitic influence.

• Comparative caution: many apparent cognates may be old loanwords rather than shared inheritance.

• Illustrative examples: anatomical and everyday terms (đầu, mắt, đất, trời) that reveal both Mon‑Khmer parallels and Sino‑Vietnamese cognacy.

I) Culturally-embedded vocabulary

Lexemes whose meanings are inseparable from Vietnamese ritual, calendrical, and social practices. These words are not simply "basic" items on a universal list; they carry cultural weight, marking ceremonies (vuquy, sínhlễ), festive cycles (ăntấtniên, TânMão), and social institutions (thànhphố, chợbúa). Their embeddedness distinguishes them from Austroasiatic Mon‑Khmer parallels and highlights the unique cultural trajectory of Vietnamese vocabulary.

Table 1A - Basic vocabulary at the crossroads

(Anatomical terms show clear Sino‑Vietnamese cognacy, with Mon‑Khmer parallels often diverging in form or semantic scope.)

Gloss	Vietnamese	Chinese	Sino‑Vietnamese	Mon‑Khmer parallels
head	đầu	頭 tóu	đầu	Proto‑Mon‑Khmer tʰoʔ
face	mặt	面 miàn	diện	Khmer muk (‘face’)
eye	mắt	目 mù	mục	Khmer phnék (‘eye’)
heart	tim	心 xīn	tâm	Proto‑Mon‑Khmer təm
abdomen	bụng	腹 fù	phúc	Khmer pʰoŋ (‘belly’)
stomach	dạ	胃 wèi	vị	Khmer kɔŋ (‘stomach’)
lung	phổi	肺 fèi	phế	Proto‑Mon‑Khmer pʰoːj
liver	gan	肝 gān	can	Khmer tʰlɨm (‘liver’)
kidney	thận	腎 shèn	thận	Proto‑Mon‑Khmer sən

Takeaway

• Vietnamese ↔ Chinese: Clear cognacy in anatomical terms (mắt, tim, bụng, gan).

• Vietnamese ↔ Mon‑Khmer: Parallels exist, but often diverge in form or semantic scope.

• Crossroads: Vietnamese basic vocabulary reflects both Austroasiatic substratum and Sino‑Vietnamese layering, making classification complex.

Table 1B - Kinship

Kinship vocabulary reveals hybrid layering – Sino‑Vietnamese doublets coexist with Mon‑Khmer survivals, reflecting cultural blending.

Vietnamese	Chinese	Sino‑Vietnamese	Mon‑Khmer Parallels
anhtam	兄弟 xiōngdì	huynhđệ	Khmer pʰon ‘brother’
anhem	兄妹 xiōngmēi	huynhmuội	Khmer pʰon‑sao ‘siblings’
chịem	姊妹 zǐmēi	tỷmuội	Khmer pʰeang ‘sisters’
emgái	阿妹 āmèi	amuội	Khmer sao ‘younger sister’

Table 1C - Household / Everyday

(Household terms illustrate dual inheritance – everyday Vietnamese vocabulary draws from both Chinese loans and Mon‑Khmer substratum.)

Vietnamese	Chinese	Sino‑Vietnamese	Mon‑Khmer Parallels
nhà	家 jiā	gia	Khmer pʰteah ‘house’
bếp	庖 páo	bào	Khmer phka ‘kitchen/fireplace’
ghế	椅 yǐ	ỷ	Khmer kae ‘seat’
tủ	櫝 dú	độc	Khmer tuk ‘box, cupboard’
mâm	盤 pán	bàn	Khmer trai ‘tray’

Table 1D - Food utensils

Utensil vocabulary shows shared material culture, where Vietnamese aligns with Chinese forms but retains Mon‑Khmer parallels in daily use.

Vietnamese	Chinese (Char + Pinyin)	Sino‑Vietnamese	Mon‑Khmer Parallels
chén	盞 zhàn	tràn	Khmer chan ‘bowl’
bát	砵 bō	bát	Khmer baat ‘bowl’
đũa	箸 zhú	trợ/trừ	Khmer chaan ‘chopsticks’
thìa	匙 chí	thi/chuỷ	Khmer sbaek ‘spoon’

Takeaway

• Anatomy & kinship: Vietnamese shows strong Sino‑Vietnamese cognacy, with Mon‑Khmer parallels often diverging in form.

• Household & utensils: Everyday vocabulary reveals both Chinese loans and Mon‑Khmer substratal survivals.

• Crossroads metaphor: Vietnamese basic vocabulary is not reducible to one lineage – it is a hybrid of Austroasiatic substratum, Sinitic layering, and cultural embedding.

Outline: Methodological preface to comparative table

A. Methodology in Vietnamese historical linguistics

• Scholars typically begin with a premise and apply comparative linguistic techniques established by earlier researchers.
• Each new theory tends to replace the previous one, reflecting the evolving nature of the field.
• Surveys often rely on glossarial comparisons between Vietnamese and Mon-Khmer languages, considered a safe entry point for newcomers.

B. Example of Danaw and Mon-Khmer comparanda

• New researchers often reproduce tabulations similar to Luce’s wordlist for Danaw, a Tibeto-Burmic language with many Mon-Khmer features.
• Early Austroasiatic specialists made Mon-Khmer basic words widely available, and these were extensively quoted.
• Methodological limitation: focus on Mon-Khmer correspondences while neglecting Chinese parallels due to lack of expertise.

Note: The author has intentionally omitted items from unrelated languages that show no cognacy with the Vietnamese etyma in Luce’s two tables. In the lists, meanwhile, the initial Vietnamese notation in the form Viet. /…/ (e.g., Viet. /nhà/) is reproduced exactly as cited by Luce.

Asterisks (*) ranging from one to six are used to indicate the relative degree of cognateness between Vietnamese and Chinese for each listed item.

Table 2 - Vietnamese and Chinese vs. Mon-Khmer etymologies

Vietnamese	English	Mon-Khmer etymologies	Chinese	Comments
kênkên	vulture	Old Mon /timmāt/, /tammāt/, Modern Mon /tamāt/, Danaw /lɔŋ2tɑʔ2/, Riang White /lɑŋ\tɑʔ\ /, Black /klɑŋ-tɑʔ\ /, Palaung /lɑŋ3ɗɑ2/, Wa /klɑŋ4préŋ2/, Old Khmer /tmāt/, Old Burmese /lāŋta/, Shan /laŋta/, /naŋta/	鷲 jìu (SV tựu) | M 鷲 jìu < MC dzuw  < OC *zuɡs | Also: VS kềnkền= 鷲+鷲 jìujìu (tựtụu)	****It looks like only the Chinese and Vietnamese. forms are cognates.
đực	male	(animal) Old Mon /kmak/, Modern /kmak/	特 tè (SV đặc, VS đực) | M 特 (犆) tè, té < MC dok < OC *dɯːɡ | Note: this etymon means male (animal) in ancient time. According to Starostin: male animal, bull. Used also for homonymous *dhǝ̄k 'be straight-rising'; *dhǝ̄k 'a match, a mate'. In later times the character was frequently used instead of 犆 *dhǝ̄k 'single; special' q.v. The regular Sino-Viet. form is đặc.	******While the Chinese and Vietnamese forms are clearly cognate, the other etymologies listed by Luce appear largely irrelevant for this item, aside from an apparent initial cluster km- that lacks correspondences in both Khmer and Vietnamese.
độc	poison	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /kyɪ/, Danaw /tɑŋ2tsɤʔ4/, Riang White /kɤtjɔʔ\ /, Black /kətsɔʔ/, no Palaung and Wa forms	毒 dú (SV độc, VS nọc, 'venom') |  M 毒 dú < MC *dawk < OC *l'uːɡ	****The Riang forms look like the Vietnamese and Chinese cognates with something similar to VS /chấtđộc/ 'poisonous substance' which is equivalent to to Chin. 毒質 dúzhí ~ SV 'độcchất' in familiarly reverse compound form.
đồngbạc	rupee, tical	Old Mon /dinkel/, Modern Mon /dakew/, Danaw /(rɤn2)ăplɑʔ2/, Riang White /piɑ-/, Black /(ron)pyɑ-/, Palaung /byɑ2/, Wa /plɑh5/, T'eng /nia/ (money)	M 銅幣 tóngbì (SV đồngtệ) → VS 'đồngbạc' (monetary unit VNĐ 'piaster') || M 幣 bì < MC biaj < OC *beds | Cf 銅板 tóngbǎn (SV đồngbản) ~ VS 'đồngbạc', hence, 'đồng' + 'bạc' | See the etymology of 'bạc' from 白 bái (SV 'bạch')	***Of course, only the Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate and have nothing to do with those in other languages.
đỏ	red	Old Mon /birket/, /baket/, Modern Mon /baket/, Danaw /tsôn4/, Riang White and Black /roŋ\ /, Palaung /rén2/, Wa /rɑu5/, Khasi /saw/	彤 tóng (SV đồng, VS đỏ) | M 彤 tóng < MC dawŋ < OC *l'uːŋ	***In Chin. there are several words for ‘red’, but /tóng/ is the most likely cognate to VS 'đỏ' /dɔ3/ \ 彤 tóng, SV đồng /dawŋ/ ~>  /doũ2/ ~> 'đỏ' /dɔ3/, cf. 痛 tòng (SV thống) /dawŋ/ ~> /t'oũ2/ ~> VS 'đau' /daw/ (pain). In the meanwhile, the Riang /roŋ\ / suggests something about Vietnamese 'hồng' /hawŋ/ ~> /hoũ2/ ~> 'hau' /haw1/ (pink) which is cognate to the Chin. 紅 hóng, also meaning ‘red’, VS 'hường' (pink).
đắng	bitter	Viet. /đắng/, no Old Mon, mod. /kɑtɑŋ/, Danaw /tsɑŋ4/, Riang White /tjiaŋʔ-/, Black /tsaŋ-/, Palaung /saŋ2/, Wa /soŋ2/, Khmer /hāŋ/, Sakai /kědetn/, Besisi /kědeg/, Nicobarese /tēak/, Srê /rəhiaŋ/, /bətaŋ/ Stieng, Bahnar /tāŋ/, Khasi /kthang/	辛(苦) qīn(kǔ) (SV tân(khổ)), VS 'đắng(cay)') | M 辛 xīn < MC sin < OC *siŋ | According to Starostin: the 8th of the Heavenly Stems. Used also for a homonymous *sin 'be bitter, pungent, painful'.	***The Vietnamese for 'đắng' is clearly cognate to those of Mon-Khmer forms, but what appears in Chinese is notable. Unless we reinstate an illogical logics that if the Vietnamese form shares the Austroasiatic etymology with its languages then the Chinese form is not cognate to that of Vietnamese.
đậu	bean	Old Mon /bāy/ (?), Modern Mon /ɓɑi/, Danaw /bɑi4/, Riang White /rɤbɑi-/, Black /rəbɑi-/, /bɑi-/, Palaung /rābɑ'i2/, Wa /pɛ`2/, Khmer /pāy/, etc.	荳 dòu (SV đậu) ~ 豆 dòu (VS đậu, also 'nồi' cooking pot.) | M 豆 dòu < MC dəw < OC *doːs	*****While all the Mon-Khmer forms appear something similar to /bai/, /pai/... which can not be cognate to both the Chin. /dòu/ and VS /đậu/.
đầy	full	Old Mon /dak/, /piñ/, Modern Mon /peŋ/, Danaw /biɑk3/, Riang White /nɤk\ /, Black /nək\ /, Palaung /nUk1,3/, Wa /nɑuk3/, /nUk1/, Khmer /beñ/, Sakai /těbik/,	沓 dá (SV đạp, VS đầy) | M 沓 dá, dà, tà < MC dəp < OC *duːb	**The Chinese /dá/ form is related etymologically to the Vietnamese đầy and only the Old Mon /dak/ appears cognate if those words with the pattern ¶ /n- ~ d-/ is discounted.
đầu	head	Old Mon /kdip/, Modern Mon /kɗuɪp/, Danaw /ktɑŋ4/, Riang White /ki:ŋ-/, Black /kiŋ-/, Palaung /kɛŋ/, /kaɪŋ/, Wa /kéŋ/, Khasi /khlieh/	頭 tóu (SV đầu) | M 頭 tóu < MC dəw < OC *do: | Cf. 'trốc', 'trôốc' | Etymology: This lexeme is clearly a fundamental word. As with other core vocabulary items that tend to resist borrowing, one may ask: did Vietnamese not already possess a native term for ‘head’ prior to adopting this Chinese form? The more precise etymon for the semantic core ‘head, cranium’ is arguably 首 shǒu, which in Vietnamese surfaces as sọ ‘skull, crania.’ For 頭 tóu (SV đầu), the word has extended into a range of specialized compounds in Vietnamese. A notable example is đầunậu (M 首腦 shǒunǎo ~ M 頭腦 tóunǎo), glossed as ‘brain, head, headquarters, leader, ringleader,’ etc. This illustrates how the lexeme has been productively reanalyzed and redeployed in semantic domains beyond the literal body part. By extension, similar hypotheses can be applied to many other basic Sino‑Vietnamese words: while they appear as direct cognates of Chinese forms, their semantic layering often reflects a negotiation between native Vietnamese concepts and borrowed Sinitic lexemes. For Vietnamese 'đầu', alternative forms 'trôốc'. Etymologically from Proto-Vietic *k-loːk. Cognate with Muong tlốc. Pronunciation (Hànội) /t͡ɕəwk͡p̚˧˦/, (Huế) /ʈəwk͡p̚˦˧˥/, (Saigon): /əwk͡p̚˦˥/ (Vinh) IPA(key): /ʈoːk˩˩/ Noun (classifier cái) trốc (Nôm '捉, 祿') (dialectal Nghệan dialect dialect, Hàtĩnh dialect, Quảngbình dialect, Quảngtrị dialect, anatomy) a head. Synonyms 'đầu'. Derived terms 'trốcgối' (knee). Ex. 'ăntrênngồitrốc'. North Central Vietnam spelling of trốc is trôốc ]	*****It is so obvious that SV đầu and 頭 tóu are cognate while in Mon for both Old and modern forms they carry some initial variants of /kl-/. No Khmer is listed in Luce's list, though.
đất	earth	Viet. /đất/, Old Mon /ti/, Modern Mon /kăté1/, Riang White /kɤtéʔ-/, Black /kətéʔ-/, Palaung /kăɗɑ'i2/, /kă ɗɔ'i2/, Wa /dɛ`3/, Old Khmer /ti/, Sakai /téh/, Semang /tok/, Nicobarese /mattrai/ (land), Biat /nēh/, Srê /tiăh/, Bahnar /tɛ`h/, P'u-man /tʿui/, T'eng /pětéh/, /pětéʔ/, K'mu /até/, Khasi /pyrthei/ (world), Mundari /otē/, Kurku /watē/	地 dì (SV địa, VS đất): (1) 地 (坔, 墬) dì, de < MC djɪ < OC *l'els , (2) 土 tǔ (SV thổ), VS đất, 'soil') | M 土 tǔ (SV thổ, độ, đỗ) < MC dwo < OC *daʔ | Arccording to Li Fang-Kuei : OC *dagx. | Cf.  地 dì (SV địa)='land' | Etymology: Tibetan གཞི (gzhi, 'ground'), Burmese မ္လိယ် (ma.liy), whence Burmese မြေ (mre), Proto-Tai: *diːᴮ	****It is interesting that almost all the listed forms are cognate to each other, including both Chinese forms, including Ahom: 𑜄𑜣 (tī), Lao: ທີ່ (thī), Lü: ᦑᦲᧈ (tii¹), Northern Thai: ᨴᩦ᩵ Shan: တီႈ (tīi)
đùi	thigh	No Old Mon, mod. dī, Danaw /pluʔ1/, Riang White /pluʔ\ /, Black /kə\diɛ`l-/, Palaung /blɑu2/, /bléu2/, Wa /plɑuŋ4bɑ2/, Mundai /bulu/, Khasi /lbong/	腿 tuǐ (SV thối, VS đùi) | M 腿 (骽) tuǐ < MC tʰwəj < OC *n̥ʰuːlʔ ||  ¶ /t- ~ đ-/, cf. ¶ /n- ~ đ-/	******Like 足 zú (VS chân) and 腳 jiăo (VS giò), 腿 tuǐ (VS đùi) generally meaning 'thigh', has been elevated to designate 'leg' as well, of which the same meaning exists in Chinese. Originally 骽 (OC *n̥ʰuːlʔ).
đói	starve	Old Mon /kanlor/ (=famine), Modern Mon /klow/, Danaw /ŋat2/, Riang White and Black/ ŋuat\ /, Old Burmese /ŋat/, Malay /kěbulor/ (famine).	餒 něi (SV nỗi) | M 餒 (餧) něi, nèi < MC nwəj < OC *nuːlʔ | Sound shift: ¶ /n- ~ đ-/ || Cf. M 餓 è < MC ŋɔ < OC *ŋaːls	***While the VS form đói shows cognacy with 餒 něi (SV nỗi), the M 餓 è (SV ngạ) seems to be cognate to those of Mon-Khmer forms listed here except those of the Mon. (3)
đâm	stab, pierce	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /tʿapak/, Danaw /tat3/, Riang White /tɤ-/, Black /təs-/.	捅 tǒng (SV đồng, VS đâm) | M 捅 tǒng < MC tʰəwŋ < OC *l̥ʰoːŋʔ | Sound shift: ¶ /t- ~ đ-/, ¶ /-əwŋ ~ -əwm/	******Obviously while both Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate, those forms in Luce’s limited list for this item might not be cognate aat all if they are not related to VS 'đục' 鑿 zào. (4)
đá	stone	Old Mon /tmoʾ/, Modern Mon /tmaʾ/, Riang White /sʿɤmoʔ\ /, Back /rə ʔaŋ-/, Palaung /mɑ'2/, Wa /ʃi4mɑʔ3/, Old Khmer /tmo/, Sakai /těmuh/, Malay /batu/, N Nicobarese /patu/, Stieng /tömau/, Bahnar /təmo/, P'u-man /muŋ/, etc.	石 shí (SV thạch, VS tạ /ta6/ (measure unit equal to 100 kilograms) | M 石 shí, dàn (thạch, đán) < MC dʑiajk < OC *djag | According to Starostin, Min forms pointing to *ʒ́: Xiamen cioʔ8, Chaozhou cieʔ8, Fuzhou sioʔ8, Jianou ciɔ6. | cf. Tibetan: rdo.	****the Chinese form /shí/ agrees with the VS 'đá' better than other forms in the Mon-Khmer languages if any. Most of the Sino-Tibetan forms have the vocalic contour of /da/.
đàn	herd, flock	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /tʿakaʾ/, Danaw /pʿôn2/, Riang White /vwuŋ /, Black /wuŋ/, Palaung /pʿɑŋ3/, Wa /pʿUŋ2/, Khmer /hvūŋ/, Biat /pʿuŋ/, Shan /pʿuŋ/	團 tuán (SV đoàn, VS đàn ) | M 團 tuán < MC dwan < OC *do:n || Cf. M  幫 bāng < MC paŋ < OC *pa:ŋ	***Actually 團 tuán as VS 'bọn' is more plausible with other forms in the Mon-Khmer languages, but the word is for people, pointing to 幫 bāng (SV bang) 'group' , while the VS 'đàn' as 'herd, flock' is mostly for animals, which is cognate to 團 /tuán/ with its SV equivalent form of 'đoàn' to use for people in the case of 'họpđàn' (合團, hétuán, 'congregate').
đuôi	tail	Old Mon /birta/ (?), /bata/, Danaw /tɔŋ2tɑ/, Riang White /taʔ-/, Black /sʿən\taʔ-/, /săɗɑ2/, Wa /ʃi4taʔ1/, T'eng /hěnta/	尾 wěi (SV vĩ, VS đuôi) | M 尾 wěi, yǐ < MC muj < OC *mɯlʔ | ¶ /-uj ~ -woj/ \ /d-+/	***The sound change pattern /-uj ~ -woj/ preceded by /đ-/ is plausibly could give rise to 'đuôi'. Cf. 'đánh' vs. /quánh/, /quýnh/, etc. In other cited languages by Luce, the closest forms are those initials of the second morph that starts with /t-/ on the condition that /t-/ ~> /d-/.
ói	vomit	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /tʿa-aʾ/, Danaw /ɔ:ʔ2/, Riang White and Black /hɔl-/, Palaung /hɤ2/, /hak1/, Wa /hɑ’2/, Nicobarese /oàu/, Srê /haʔ/.	嘔 ǒu (SV ẩu, VS ói, ợ, 'babble' , ộc  'throw up' | M 嘔 ōu, ǒu, xū, yù, òu < MC ʔɤw < OC *ʔo:, *ʔo:ʔ | According to Starostin, 嘔 ǒu 'babble' (as a child) (LZ), also used for *ʔo:ʔ, MC ʔow, Pek. ǒu 'vomit'.	*****While VS ói /ɔj5/ is cognate to the C /ǒu/, some of the other Mon-Khmer forms seem to point to VS khạc /k'ak8/ (spit) 咳 ké (VS 'ho' for 'cough') along with VS nhổ (spit) that is from C 吐 tù and SV thổ, the word for 'vomit'.
ác	crow	Viet. /ác/, Old Mon /kil-ak/, /kil-ek/, Modern Mon /kɑɗɑk/, Danaw /lɔŋ4ɑʔ2/, Riang White /luʔ\ʔɑk-/, Balck /luk\ɑk-/, Palaung /kă\ʔɑʔ1/, Wa /lak3/, Old Khmer /kāk/, Sakai /aag/, /gaag/, Semang /ukag/, Malay /gagak/, Srê /kənɗɑ/, Bahnar /āk/, T'eng /kăʔak/, K'mu /klāk/	烏 wū, wù, yā, yān (SV ô, ác, VS quạ, ác | M 烏 wū, wù, yā, yān < MC ʔo < OC *qa | Starostin: Later also attested in the sense ('black as a crow' > ) 'black, very dark'.	****All forms are cognates with an extra variant for the VS form quạ.)
á	dumb, speech-impaired	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /klau/, /lhau/, Danaw /ă4ʔa1/, Riang White /ɑʔ-/, Black /aʔ-/, Palaung /ré:u2/, /rɑ`ì/, Wa /n dɑuʔ3/, Old Burmese /a/, Srê /kloat/	啞 è, yǎ, yā (SV ách, á, nha), also, VS 'dở' | M 啞 è, yă, yā < MC ʔaɨj, ʔaɨjk < OC *qraːʔ, *qraːg, *qraːg, *qraːgs  | According to Starostin, also read (irregularly) MC ʔạik (FQ 於革) id.; during Late Zhou used for *ʔrāʔ, MC ʔạ́ (FQ 烏下), Pek. yǎ, Go e, Kan a 'mute' and *ʔrā(k)-s (MC ʔạ̀, FQ 衣嫁, Pek. yà) 'sigh (interjection)'	****The SV á form, on the one hand, is in line with some of the Mon-Khmer languages and certainly cognate to the 啞 yă which could not be excluded from the pool of etymologies just simply because the Vietnamese form closely matches those of the Austroasiatic languages. Cf.  VS câm 喑 (yīn, SV âm, 'dumb'), or câm 噤 (jìn, SV cấm, 'mute'.)
Ấnđộ	Indian	Old Mon /gulā/, Modern Mon /galā/, Riang White /kɤrɑ-/, Black /kərɑ-/, Palaung /kălɑ2/, Wa /kălɑ2/ Old Burmese /kulā/, Sanskrit/Pali kulaputta	印度 Yìndù (SV Ấnđộ). In MC the word for it is 天竺 Tiānzhú (SV Thiêntrúc). This Tang-dynasty transcription reflected a source form of /ʔindu/ or /ʔindak/, although the source language is unclear.	*****The Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate to 'India' but have nothing to do with the others at all.
xương	bone	Viet. /xương/, Old Mon /jūc(ʔ)/, Modern Mon /jut/, Danaw /kănaŋ4/, Riang White /yɤn\ʔaŋ-/, Back /tsən\ɑŋ-/, Palaung /kă\ʔɑŋ2/, Wa /să\ʔɑŋ2/, Kmer /cʿa-iŋ/, Sakai /ja-akn/, Semang /jaʔis/, Nicobarese /oŋ-eŋ/, Biat /n'tiŋ/, Srê /n'tīŋ/, T'eng /cʿəʔaŋ/, Khasi /Shyeng/, Mundari /jaŋ/, Malay /tulaŋ/	腔 qiāng (SV khang, xoang) | M 腔 qiāng, kòng (xoang, khang) < MC kʰaɨwŋ < OC *kʰroːŋ | Ex. 腔骨 qiānggǔ (VS xươngcốt) 'bone', 盆腔 pénqiāng (VS xươngchậu) 'the pelvic cavity' | Etymology: The Sino‑Tibetan etymology of 腔 qiāng traces back to Proto‑Sino‑Tibetan khyam / khyang 'chest, cavity', with cognates in Tibetan, Burmese, and Loloish, and a Chinese semantic extension to 'voice, accent'. Note:《集韻》骨 體 曰 腔 (VS xương).	***Except for the speculative Chinese etymon 腔 qiāng, all forms above appear to be cognate. Meanwhile, 腔 as VS xương it is aligning with the historical gloss; 腔 was once understood as the 'bony cavity', which makes it a plausible cognate or at least a semantic parallel to xương.
xơi	eat (rice)	Old Mon /ca(hāp)/, /ca/, Danaw /sué4/, Riang White and Black /sʿuam-/, Palaung /hɑm2/, /hɔm2/, Wa /sɔm2/, Old Khmer /cya/, Sakai /cha/, Semang /chiʾ/, Nicobarese /shâ/, Briat /chat/, Stieng, Srê, Bahnar /sa/, Khasi /bsa/ (to tend), Nicobarese /hâm/, Lemet /som/, Khasi /bam/, Mundari /jom/, Savara /jum/, Gadaba /sōm/, Kurku /jōm/.	食 shí (SV thực, VS xơi) | M 食 shí, sì, yì (thực, tự) < MC ʑik < OC *ɦljɯɡ, *lɯɡs | Cf. M 吃 chī (SV ngật) < MC kjit < OC *kɯd	****Both Chinese forms 吃 chī and 食 shí are clearly cognate with the Vietnamese xơi. At the same time, many of the reflexes listed by Luce for this item display parallel sound‑change patterns that likewise point back to a common root. The puzzle, then, is how such a basic verb as ‘eat’ could have entered one language as a loan from another.
xuồng	boat	Old Mon /dluŋ/, Modern Mon /gluŋ/, Danaw /tɔŋ2lui4/, Riang White /tjɤn\luaŋ\ /, Black /tsən\luaŋ\ /, Palaung /rɤ2/, Wa /rɤ2/,Srê, M'nong Gar /plǔŋ/, T'eng /cəlɔŋ/, Khasi /lieng/	船 chuán (SV thuyền) | M 船 (舩) chuán < MC ʑwian < OC *ɦljon | Cf. For VS 'xuồng' as M 艟 chōng, tóng, zhuàng (xung, sung, đồng) < MC ɖaɨwŋ < OC *tʰjoŋ, *rdoːŋs | According to Starostin: 艟 chōng, a k. of boat (Jin), was attested only within the die-sheng 朦艟 *mo:ŋ-thoŋ, thus the borrowed nature of Viet. xuồng is dubious. Hence, 船 (舩) chuán could be plausibly cognate even though modern 船 chuán means 'ship' in general, being more like a 'big ship'.	****Except for the /rɤ2/ form, it is interesting to see that the Vietnamese form 'xuồng' corresponds to the /-l-/ forms, via ¶ /l- ~ s-/ sound changes, in other Mon-Khmer language which are plausibly cognate to 船 /chuán/ or 艟 /chōng/ while SV /sung/ 'small canoe'.
xuyêncốc	Job's tears ('Coix lacryma-jobi')	No Mon forms, Danaw /(plé1)bé2/, Riang White /sʿɤtuʔ-/, Black /sʿətuʔ-/,	川穀 chuāngǔ	***The  Danaw /(plé1)bé2/ form appear to be cognate to V /bobo/ while Riang White /sʿɤtuʔ-/, Black /sʿətuʔ-/ 'xuyêncốc' which is from Chin. 川穀 chuāngǔ.
xa	far	Old Mon /jirŋey/, Modern Mon /sŋai/, Danaw /sʿɔŋ4ŋɑi4/, Riang White /sʿɤŋɑi\ /, /yɑn\ /, Palaung /sāŋɑ'i2/, /sāŋɔi2/, Wa /ʃi4ŋɑi2/, Khmer /cʿŋāy/, Sakai /nyaʾ/, Semang /měnjiʾ/, Nicobarese /ho-i/, Srê, Biat, Stieng /ŋai/, Bahnar /jəŋəi/, /ʃəŋai/, P'uman /ŋai/, T'eng /yaʔ/, /gyaʔ/, Lemet /sŋay/, Khasi /jngai/, War / ʃŋūi/, Mundari /sāŋīn/, Savara /saŋayi/, Gadaba /sāŋayi/, Kurku /sāŋgin/	遐 xiá (SV hà, VS xa ) | M 遐 xiá < MC ɦaɨ < OC *gra: | Cf. 賒 shē (VS xa, 'far') | Note: From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *gra ('long (period of time)'). Cognate with Burmese ကြာ (kra, 'be a long time (since)').	****The Vietnamese form 'xa' /sa1/ looks like cognate with those Mon-Khmer vocables that start with the phoneme /S-/ but their finals can only be related to something like V /xaxôi/ 'faraway'. The Chinese form /xiá/ appears to be cognate to the VS 'xa'.
vợ	wife (Luce: 'woman, female', 'vợ')	Old Mon /brow/, Modern Mon /brau/, Danaw /kămyaʔ3/, Riang White /réŋ\ /, Black /rɪŋ\ /, Palaung /kăloŋ2/, Wa /méŋ/, Kasi /briew/, /briw/ (=homo)	婦 fù (SV phụ) | M 婦 (媍) fù < MC buw < OC *bɯʔ | For Luce's 'vợ', 婦 fù (SV phụ) is also cognate to 'bụa' as in 寡婦 guăfù (SV quảphụ, VS goábụa 'widow'). 婦 fù can be interpreted as 'woman', 'female'. Ex.  '婦女 fùnǚ (SV phụnữ), 婦道 fùdào (VS đànbà).	******Alongside vợ, the Chinese form 婦 fù is also cognate with Vietnamese bụa. In several related languages, an initial cluster br‑ corresponds both to bụa and to bà, while reflexes in ‑eng and ‑ong appear to connect with Vietnamese nàng and Chinese 娘 niáng (SV nương) ‘girl, woman’. A Khmer cognate, however, is lacking for this item. In addition to vợ, another Chinese form shows a clear correspondence with Vietnamese: 妻 qī (SV thê). Here the alternation /q‑ ~ v‑/ reflects the fact that Vietnamese /v‑/, a labiodental onset, is a relatively late development. In southern dialects, vợ is realized as /jəː⁶/. The likely historical pathway, therefore, runs from buạ /ɓwəːʔ⁶/ → dợ /jəː⁶/ or /jəː˨˨/ (in spoken registers) → vợ /və̰ːʔ⁶/.
về	return, go home	Viet. /trở/, Old Mon /cow/, Modern Mon /cau/Danaw /yən2/, Riang White and Black /vwiŋ\ /, Palaung /vwi2 /, Wa /i:ŋ2/, Wa /vwɔk3/, T’eng /věk/, /rəvěk/.	歸 guī (SV qui) | M 歸 guī, kuì < MC kʷɨi < OC *klul  | Cf.  M 回 huí (SV hồi) huí < MC ɦwəj, ɠoj < OC *wjə:j, *ɡuːl	***It appears that Vietnamese trở cannot function independently with the meaning ‘return’; it only occurs in compounds such as trởvề 'return'. For this reason, as Luce (or his informant) indicated, trở is not the appropriate etymon to mean 'go home'. By contrast, Vietnamese về is plausibly cognate with Chinese 回 (huí, SV hồi) and its doublet 歸 (guī, SV quy). What remains intriguing, however, is that–apart from the Mon reflexes–the Vietnamese form aligns in various ways with other Mon‑Khmer comparanda, though often in different guises.
vượn	monkey	Old Mon /knuy/. mod. /knuai/, Danaw /vwɔ2/, Riang White /vwaʔ-/, Black /wɑʔ-/, Palaung /fɑ2/, Wa /rɑu2/, Old Khmer /svā/, T'eng /hwa/, Srê /kuañ/ (gibbon	猿 yuán (SV viên, VS vượn), VS vượn 'gibbon' | M 猿 yuán < MC ɦʷiɐn < OC *ɢʷan | Note that the sound shift for 申 shēn ~ '猿 yuán (SV viện, VS  vượn) that matches the pattern 伸 shēn (SV thân, 'stretch') ~ 援 yuán (SV viện, VS vươn 'reach out'), all means 'monkey'. (See An Chi. 2016. Vol. 1, pp. 177-183)	******Vietnamese 'vượn' (猿 yuán, 'gibbon') and all other are cognates while Old Mon /knuy/, and modern Mon /knuai/ look like to equate khỉ ('monkey') in Vietnamese. According to An Chi, (Ibid. 2016), M 猴 hóu < MC ɦəw < OC *go: \ @ 'khỉ' 猴 hóu (SV hầu) <~ 猢 hú (SV hồ), 猻 sūn (SV tôn, cf. 'thân') <~ 猻猢 sūnhú (SV tônhồ).
vú	breast	Viet. /bú/, Old Mon tohl(pubow = to suckle), Modern Mon /tah/, Danaw /bu/, Riang White /nin\ /, Black /buʔ-/, Palaung /bu2/ /nUm2/, Wa /təh5/, Old Khmer /toh/ (breast), /pau/ (to suck), Besisi /tuh/,Semang /tuk/, Malay /dada/, Nicobarese /toah/, Bahnar /tōh/, Mundari /toa/, Sakai /bot/, Semang /bu/, Shom Peng /bōo-tōa/, Bìat /m'pu/, T'eng /buʔ/, Khasi /buiñ/ (tu suck), /jymbuiñ/, Mundari /jembedʔ/	乳 rǔ (SV nhũ) for 'breast' and 哺 bǔ (SV bộ) for 'to suck'. | M 乳 rǔ < MC njoʔ < OC njoʔ || M 哺 bǔ < MC bo < OC *ba:s | Ex. 'búvú' 哺乳 bǔrǔ (SV bộnhũ) 'to suckle'	****There is no doubt that the Chinese forms are cognate to both of the Viet. /vú/ and /bú/, respectively. For other forms there must be some kind of coincidence similar to /pa/ and /ma/ where p- and m-, hence, b- and v-, forms seem to converge children's early vocables.
vía	spirit (intox)	No Mon forms, Danaw /kădo4/, Riang White /kɤdɑu-/, Black /kədɑu-/, Wa /plɑi2/	魄 pó (SV phách, VS vía) | M 魄 pò, tuò, bó (phách, thác, bạc) < MC tʰak, pʰaɨjk < OC *tʰaːɡ, pʰraːɡ | ¶ /p- ~ v-/	******No similar forms in Vietnamese seem to point to the limited list given by Luce for this item while the Chinese forms are numerous and vary greatly depending on what we are referring to. In any cases, in Vietnamese we have an interesting 'vía' which is cognate to the Chin. 魄 pó (SV phách).
vuốt	to stroke	Viet. /vuốt/, Old Mon /aumpot/, /samput/, Modern Mon /spot/, Danaw /pʿyé4/, Riang White /puas-/, Balck /pruas-/, Palaung /puh3puh3/, Wa /mUh5/, Khmer /cpūt/, Malay /sapu/, Stieng /puōt/, /rəpuōt/, Srê /rəpoc/, Biat /rʾpōt/, Bahnar /pōt/, T’eng /puòt/ (to touch), Khasi /syrpud/.	撫 fǔ (SV phủ, VS vuốt) | M 撫 fǔ < MC pʰuə̆ < OC *m̥ʰaʔ  | According to Starostin, 撫 fǔ accommodate oneself to, follow; manage, handle. The original meaning 'lay the hand on' (whence 'manage, accommodate') is attested somewhat later, during LZ	****All forms seem to be cognate.
voi	elephant	Viet. /tượng/, Chinese /*dzaiaŋ/, Old Mon /cīŋ/, Modern Mon /ciŋ/, Danaw /kătsɑŋ4/, Riang White /sʿɑŋ-/, Black /sʿi-tsɑŋ-/, Palaung /sɑ:ŋ2/, Wa /sɑŋ2/, Sakai /chik/, T'eng /sǐkyaŋ/, K'mu /chaŋ/, Old Burrmese /cʿaŋ/	象 xiàng (SV tượng) | M 象 (𧰼) xiàng < MC zɨaŋ < OC *ljaŋʔ | Cf. M 為 wéi (SV vi, VS voi, 'elephant') | M 為 wéi, wèi (vi, vị) < MC ɦʷɯiɛ, ɦjwiə̆ < OC *ɢʷal, *ɢʷals | According to Starostin, an *-s-derivate from the word is OC *waj-s, MC we (FQ 于偽), Pek. wèi 'for, on behalf', Viet. vì, vị. For initial *w- cf. Min forms, MC we, Xiamen, Chaozhou, Fuzhou ui2; also, Xiamen ui6, Fuzhou oi6, Jianou ue6. Shuowen defines the character as 'female monkey'. Although this word is not attested in literature, it may be compared to PST *qwaj reflected in Kach. (D) woi monkey; Moshang vi-sil; Rawang əwe; Trung a-koi; Kadu kwe id. (STC No 314 *(b)woy; dubious are Mikir ki-pi and Miri si-be). Meanwhile, Thomas: V 'voi'.	***With Viet. /tượng/ all forms appear to be cognate to Chin. /zɨaŋ/, but only VS 'voi' seems only cognate to Chin. 為 (wéi, SV vi) that is posited by Thomas (1969) and that is much more original than 'tượng'.
vay	borrow (articles)	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /gleʾ/, Danaw /wɑi2/, Rieng White /yɯm-/, Black /vwɑi\ /, Palaung /kăvwɑi’2/, /kăvw ɔi’2/, Wa /vwɑi2/.	Chin. 借 jiè (SV tá, VS vay) | M QT 借 jiè, jī < MC tsia, tsiajk < OC *sjaːɡ, *ʔsjaːɡs	***Except for the modern Mon form, all other Mon-Khmer forms appear to be cognate to the V 'vay', which usually means ‘to borrow money’. In the meanwhile, in Vietnamese there is another word 'mượn', possibly derived from the Chin. 賃 rèn (SV nhậm), to use in both cases of either 'to borrow articles' or 'to borrow money'.
vai	shoulder	mon Mid. /pnah/, /pnah/, Danaw /tsɔk3pɑ1/, /tjak-paʔ-/, Black /tsak-paʔ-/, Palaung /yɑʔ1/, Wa /(pyaŋ4)klɪ:p1/, T'eng /tla/	膊 bó (SV bạc, VS vai) | M 膊 bó, bo, pēi, pò, chún, fū, liè < MC pʰwak < OC *pʰaːɡ	***In Chinese there is the form 臂膊 bèibó (upper arm) which can be associated and posited as 'bảvai' (shoulder).
tắm	bathe	Viet. /tắm/, Old Mon /p-hūm/, Modern Mon /hum/, Danaw /θɔn4(u:n4)/, Riang White and Black /hu:n-(om-)/, Palaung /dɑ 2(ôm2)/, /həm2(rɔm2)/, Besisi /hum/, Srê, Stieng /um/, Bahnar /hum/, /pəhum/, T’eng /mum/, Khasi /sum/.	洗 xǐ (SV tẩy) | M 洗 xǐ, Xiăn (tẩy, Tiển) < MC sen < OC *sɯːlʔ, *sɯːnʔ | According to Starostin, Chin. 浸 jìn is probable source (M jìn, qīn < MC tsʰim, tsiəm < OC *shim, *tsiəm, *ʔsims) to overflow, soak, wet.	***All forms appear to be cognate to each other following the sound change pattern ¶ /h- ~ t-/.
tẩm	soak	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /bap/, Danaw /tən4/, Riang White and Black /tam-/, Khasi /pdem/	浸 jìn (SV tẩm) | M 浸 jìn, qīn < MC tsʰim, tsiəm < OC *shim, *tsiəm, *ʔsims | According to Starostin: to overflow, soak, wet. In Mand. also read ji:n (pointing to a variant MC *cjim, OC *cim). The normal Sino-Viet. reading is tẩm; cf. also tắm 'to bathe, have a bath' (probably a colloquial loan from the same source).	****Obviously the Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate to other Mon-Khmer forms in this limited list by Luce except for the Modern Mon /bap/.
túi	shoulder-bag	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /tʿuŋ/, Danaw /tăchi4/, Riang White /sʿɤki-/, Black /sʿəki-/	袋 dài (SV đại, VS túi) | M 袋 (帒) dài < MC dəj < OC *l'ɯːɡs	*****Another Chinese doublet 兜 dǒu ('pocket') could be accounted for the VS /túi/. However, the limited list Luce cited for this item makes it hard to relate to a specific Vietnamese etymon.
tóc	hair	Viet. /tóc/, Old Mon /sok/, Modern Mon /sok/, Danaw /ñok1/, Riang White /huk-/ Black /huk-/, Palaung /huʔ1/, Wa /hɑɯk1/, Old Khmer /suk/, Sakai /sok/, /suk/, Semang /sog/, Nicobarese /yôk/, Biat /chōk/, Srê /soʔ/, Bahnar /sɔk/, Pʿu-man /su-chʿi/, Khasi /shñih/, War /su'kha'/, Mundari /uʔ/, Savara /ū/	髮 fà (SV phát, VS tóc) | M  髮 fà, fă (phát, bị) < MC puat < OC *pod | ¶ /p- ~ t-/	**While others are clear cognates, including that of Vietnamese form, the Chinese modern and ancient forms also appear to fit into the sound change pattern that if there were no other forms for comparison, they would have certainly become a good candidate.
tên	name	Old Mon /yamo/, /imoʾ/, Modern Mon /imu/, Danaw /maʔ2/, Riang White and Black /mus\ /, Palaung /jɯ3/, Wa /tjɯ3/, Old Khmer /jmah/, /jimoh/, Srê /təməh/, T'eng /səŋmɤ/	姓 xìng (SV tính, VS tên) | M 姓 xìng (tánh, tính) < MC siajŋ < OC *sleŋs | Ex. 那 姓 習 的 是 個 流氓. Nà xìng Xí de shì gè líumáng. (Cái tên Tập đó là kẻ lưumanh.) 'The guy named Xi there is a bum.'	****All listed forms and some others do not seem to be cognate to VS tên except that in Chinese it means 'given name' while 'họ' (surname) was likely from 氏 shì (SV thị /thɛj6/, VS họ /ho6/), etymologically, cf. 氏族 shìzú (SV thitộc, VS dònghọ, 'clan') and, phonologically, cf. 二 èr (SV nhị /nhej6/, VS hai /haj1/, 'two').
tê	numb, pins and needles	No Mon forms, Danaw /kăñi:n4/, Riang White /kɤm\ri:m\ /, Black /kəm\ri:m\ /, Mundari /ruiam/	痺 bì (SV tì, VS tê) | M 痺 (痹, 疪) bì < MC piə̆ < OC *pe | ¶ /b- ~ t-/. Ex. 麻痺 mábì (VS têmê)	****Except for those of the Vietnamese and Chinese, other forms listed by Luce are limited and show no cognates.
tám	eight	Viet. /tám/, Old Mon /dincām/, Modern Mon /dacām/, Danaw /tsɑn/, Riang White /pər\tɑʔ-/, Black /pər\tɑʔ-/, Palaung /ta/, Wa /n\dɑiʔ3/, Bahnar /təhŋam/, Srê /p'am/, Lemet /ta/, Khatia /t'am/, Savara /tamji/	八 bā (SV bát) || M 八 bā < MC pɯæt < OC *pre:d | Etymology: For '8', per Shafer, Sino-Tibetan: O Bur. *t-r1iat, Luśei rat, M Bur. hratś, Tarao ti-rit6, Langang tǐ-ret, Amal tă-rik, Tlongsai tśa-ru (=6?), S. and N. Khaimi tă-ya, Hlota ti-za, Tśungli ti10 || A W. Bod. Sbalti bgyad, Burig ŕgyad, -pgyad, -bgyad (p. 78), W. Himal. lang. Kukish t-rkyat?, Almora dźyad (p. 136), Norther Branch *tə-ryat, Matupi -Xŗēt (p. 251), OK Kukish *t-r1iat, Meithlei tă-rēt (p. 284) | Baric Garo, Abeng, Wanang tśet, Atong tśat- Ruga -tśet, Tipora tśsa, Bodo źat, Mets dźat, Dimosa, Hojai dźa, Mośang tă-tśat, Sangge ta-tśat, Mulung tʿutʿ, Angwanku tat, Tśang sat (pp. 437, 438)	**八 bā is another speculative case for Vietnamese while the Khmer form is based on model 5+3. For the pattern ¶ /b- ~ t-/: 匹 pǐ ~ 'thất', 必 bì ~ 'tất', 畢 bí ~ 'tốt', 俾 bèi ~ 'tỳ', 卑鄙 bèibī ~ 'tồitệ', 派 pài ~ 'sai'.
trứng	egg	Old Mon /tumʾāy/ (?), Modern Mon /kʿamhāai/, Banaw /kătn4/, /kătUn4/, Riang White and Black /tam-/, Wa /tɔm2/, Sakai /tap/, Shom Peng /kâtēab/, Bahnar /kətap/, Lemet /ntam/, T'eng /kədóŋ/	蛋 dàn (SV đản, VS trứng) | M 蛋 dàn < MC dan < OC *l'aːns | Note: This character was coined at a late stage in Chinese, since it is unattested on oracle bones, bronzes, Shuowen Jiezi and Guangyun. An Chi (Ibid.) suggested 種 (zhǒng, SV chủng, VS trứng) < MC tɕiowŋ < OC *tjoŋʔ, *tjoŋʔs	****Except for words started with /-/ all other Mon-Khmer forms, it is likely that the VS 'trứng' is cognate to the Chin. /dàn/.
trợt	slippery	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /talit/, Danaw /khit3/, Riang White /li:ɪ-/, Balck /lɪɛ`-/	疐 zhì, dì (SV chí, đế, VS trợt, té) | M 疐 (躓) zhì < MC ʈi < OC *tiɡs, *tiːɡs	**** Vietnamese and Chinese forms are clearly cognate.
trời, ngày	sun, day	Viet. /ngày/, Old Mon /tŋey/, Modern Mon /tŋai/, Danaw /tsʿɪ1/, Riang White /sʿɤŋyiʔ\ /, /sʿəniʔ-/, Palaung /săŋɑ'i2/, /săŋéi2/, Wa /ʃɪ4ŋɑiʔ3/, Old Khmer /tŋaɪ/, Sakai /těŋŋɪ/, Malay /hari/, Nicobarese /heŋ/, Shom Peng /hok-ŋīa/, Srê /ŋái/, /təŋăi/, P'man /nyi/, T'eng /səŋi/, K'mu /simyi/, Khasi /sngi/, War /juŋai/, Mudari /siŋgi/, /siŋ/, Gadaba /sĩi/	日 rì (SV nhật, VS ngày 'day', giời, trời 'sun' | M 日 rì, mì < MC ȵit < OC *njiɡ | According to Starostin: MC ɲit < OC *nit, Min forms: Xiamen tɕit8, lit8, Chaozhou zik8, Fuzhou nik8, Jianou ni8. | @ 日 rì ~ ngày / giời > trời and M /rì/ have their corresponding initials /gi-/ and /r-/ as well as /y-/, close to /nh-/, /j-/, /jh-/ and /ng-/ in SV nhật, Cant. /jat/ and /jit/. | Wiktionary: From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ku-ni(k). Cognate to Tibetan ཉི་མ (nyi ma, “sun, day”), Burmese နေ (ne, “sun”) or Burmese နေ့ (ne., “day”), S'gaw Karen နံၤ (nĩ, “day”), and Nuosu ꑍ (nyip, “day, daytime”).(See etymology of 'trời' posited for 天 tiān, SV thiên)	****All Mon-Khmer forms are cognate to Vietnamese variants, but the intrigue thing is the Chinese form does not appear much different from others.
trời	sky	No Mon forms, Danaw /tăʔɑ:ŋ4/, Riang White and Blak /pléŋ-/, Palung /pléŋ2/, Wa /pak4pyaŋ2/ (above), Old Khmer /phliəŋ/ (=rain), Bahnar /pleñ/, Lemet /mpliñ/, T'eng /ləʿwaŋ/, K'mu /hravaŋ/, Kasi /bneng/	天 tiān (SV thiên) | M 天 tiān < MC tʰɛn < OC *qʰl'iːn | FQ 他前 | Note: 前 Hainanese /tai2/; for VS 'trời', old Vietmuong /blời/. | Etymology: Proto-Viet-Muong: *lǝ:j, bǝ- 'sky, rain', Thomon: mat.35 ṭǝ:j.43 'sun', Phong: mat.44 plǝ:j.21 'sun', Arem: tlǝ:j, Ruc: plǝ:j.2 'sky', mǝʌt.4 plǝi.2 'sun', Thavung-So: balɨj.3, Thavung: maloj.C, Tum: mat.33 plǝ:j.33 'sun' (Notes: Liha, Cuoi mat.31 plǝ:j.43 'sun'; M. Khoi tlǝj.1, ma:t.5 tlǝj.1 'sun', References: F-97: *b-lǝ:j > *blǝ:j, *tlǝ:j) Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *rǝj 'sky, nature, world, wild', Thai: brai.A 'forest', Proto-Katuic: BRU traj.B V?, Proto-Bahnaric: *ri, Khmer: bre:j < OK wraj, Proto-Pearic: *ri.N, Proto-Vietic: *lǝ:j, bǝ-, Proto-Monic: *rǝj, Proto-Palaungic: *raiʔ, Proto-Khmu: *riʔ (References: Kh 801; S-276)	**While the Mon-Khmer /pl-/ initial suggests something like /tr-/, both Vietnamese and Chinese forms could also be cognate which differentiates from 日 rì. cf. 日 rì ~ VS 'giời' (sun), and 'ngày' (day).
trộm	burglarize	Old Mon /kumlec/, /kamlec/ (=thief), Modern Mon /klat/, Danaw /rat2/, Riang White and Black /raʔ\ /, Palaung /brɑ2/, Wa /brɛʔ3/, T’eng /luic/, /luêc/, Mundari /reʔ/.	盜 dào (SV đạo, VS trộm) | M  盜 dào < MC daw < OC *daːws	***The VS 'trộm' agrees with the C /taw4/, that is, they are plausibly cognate while both do not seem to have anything to do with other Mon-Khmer forms.
trồng	to plant (tree)	Old Mon /tal/, /til/, Modern Mon /tuiw/, Danaw tɑi4/, /tan2/, Riang White /pɤsʿɤm-/, Black /pək\sʿəm-/, Palaung /sam2/, Wa /tɑiñ2/, Shan /pʿukswam/.	種 zhòng (SV chủng, VS trồng, giống) | M 種 zhǒng, zhòng, chóng < MC tɕiowŋ < OC *tjoŋʔ, *tjoŋs  | According to Starostin, 種 zhǒng, 'seeds'; 'cereals'. Also read *toŋʔ-s, MC couŋ (FQ 之用), Mand. 種 zhòng 'to sow'. The word also means 'kind, sort, race' (> 'seed'), which is reflected in a colloquial Viet. loanword (from another dialectal source) giống 'kind, sort; race, breed, strain'. (See 'trứng')	****Both the Vietnamese and Chinese forms are clearly cognate, not only in the meaning of 'to plant' but also 'seed, race, kind..' along with other meaning that the Chin. 種 'zhòng' and 'zhǒng' convey, e.g., 種類 (zhǒnglèi, VS giốngnòi, 'race'), 種族 (zhǒngzú, VS dòngdõi, 'clan'). It is also interesting to see that all other Mon-Khmer forms are also cognate, which substantiate the hypothesis of loanwords cross linguistic families.
trọc	bald	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /kʿɑlat/, Danaw /klak3,1/, Riang White /klak-/, Black klɑk-/	禿 tū (SV thốc, VS trọc' lóc) | M 禿 (秃) tū < MC tʰəwk < OC *tʰoːɡ	**** VS 'trọc' and Chin 禿 tū are clearly cognate, but it is interesting to see the the other Mon-Khmer forms that show the pattern /kl-/ which usually appears in Vietnamese as /tr-/. It is plausibly to posit 'lóc' as in reduplicative word 'trọclóc' in Vietnamese.
trầu	betel, betel-leaf	Viet. /trầu/, Mid Mon /sablu/, Modern Mon /jablu/, Danaw /(lɑ1)ku:n2/, Riang White and Black /plu\ /, Palaung /plu2/, Wa /pu2/, Old Khmer /amlo/, Sakai /bluk/, Biat /mʾlu/, Bahnar /bəlâu/, T'eng /blu/, Khasi /tympew/, Old Burmese /sammlhū/ (betel), kwam /areca/	柄榔 bīngláng (SV bínhlang, VS trầu). cf. old VietMuong /blau/. Wiktionary: Inherited from Proto-Vietic *b-luː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *ml(əw) (“betel”). Cognate with Bahnar bơlŏu, Mon ဇဗၠူ (həplùˀ) and Khmer ម្លូ (mluu). Attested as Northern Middle Vietnamese blầu in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651).	****The Chin. 柄榔 bīngláng and VS 'trầu', meaning both betel and betel-leaf (doublet of 蔞 lóu, SV lâu,  VS trầu, 'betel vine'), is cognate to all Mon-Khmer forms, there is no doubt that it is a loanword in Chinese. The formal name (tênchữ) of Phùlưu Village (扶留 (MC bjuljuw)) in Bắcninh, whose demotic name (tên Nôm) is Giầu, attests to the existence of proto-form /*blu ~ *bliu/ in Northern Old Vietnamese.
trăng	moon	Old Mon /kintu/, /garu/, /kăto1/, Riang White and Black /kiɛ`-/, Palaung /păkiɔr2/, Wa /kʿiʔ1/, Old Khmer /khe/, Nicobarese /kâhē/, Bahnar /kʿey/, Lemet /kʿé/, Mundari /ku:r/ (month), Gadaba /arkē/	月 yuè (SV nguyệt, VS giăng > trăng ~> tháng, 'month') | M 月 yuè < MC ŋʷiɐt < OC *ŋod | Etymologically, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ŋʷ(j)a-t (“moon; star”), whence also Magar [Term?] (gya hot, “moon”), Proto-Lolo-Burmese *mwatᴸ (“star; moon”) (whence Lahu məʔ-kə (“star”)), Drung gurmet (“star”) (Matisoff, 1980; LaPolla, 1987; STEDT).according to Starostin: Proto-Austroasiatic: *ra:ŋ, Proto-Katuic: KUI mphriaŋ.B, Proto-Vietic: *ra:ŋ, kǝ-, Proto-Viet-Muong: *ra:ŋ, kǝ-, Thomon: ṭaŋ.43, Arem: mầt karæ:ŋ 'sun', Thavung-So: mat khalaŋ, Thavung: mat.B khaʔlaŋ.C 'sun', M.Khoi mat.5 tlaŋ.2	***While the V 'ngày' and 'giời' appear to be cognate to other forms in the Mon-Khmer languages, the V 'giăng, trăng, tháng' completely diverge from Luce's list in the languages with the interchange /j-/ ~ /k-/, cf. 聽 tìng (SV thính) ~ VS 'nghe' (hear) ~ Hai. /ke1/. At the same time, the Chin. 月 yuè, that fits to the same pattern as that of 日 rì for V 'ngày' and 'giời', seems to fill in the symmetric word /yuè/ for V 'giăng' ~ 'trăng' ~ 'tháng' (month).
trăm	hundred	Viet. /trăm/, Old and Modern Mon /klam/, Riang White /pər-yɑ\ /, Black /pər-yɑ\ /, Palaung /păyɑh/, Khasi /spah/, Old Burmese /ryā/	百 bǎi (SV bách, VS trăm) | M 百 (𦣻) bǎi, bó, mò (bách, bá) < MC paɨjk < OC *praːɡ | According to Starostin: Protoform: *rja: (p-) Chinese: *pra:k hundred. Tibetan: brgja hundred. Burmese: ra hundred, LB *rja. Kachin: l@ca1 hundred. Lushei: za hundred, KC *p-rkya\ (?). Comments: Gurung bhra, Thakali bhra; BG: Dimasa ra>dz/a, Garo ritts/a; Kanauri ra; Thebor gya; Rgyarung pa>rye; Rawang ya, Trung c^a1. Simon 14; Sh. 42, 136, 123; Ben. 45; Mat. 171. | ¶ /b- ~ tr- (bl- ~ tr-/), /p- ~ tr/-, OC */pr- ~ tr- /, cf. blời ~ 'trời', plau ~ 'trầu'	*The Chinese ~ Vietnamese cognateness is subject to speculative interpretation of the interchange /pr- ~ tr-/, OC *praːɡ > VS 'trăm'
trúc	bamboo	Viet. /trúc/, Old Mon /dūñ/, Modern Mon /dun/, Danaw /kărɔʔ2/, Riang White /rɤŋ-/, Black /rəŋ-/, Palaung /hraŋ2/, Wa /oʔ1/, Besisi /dɪkŋ/, Nicobarese /hedw/, Srê, Bahnar /diŋ/ (bamboo pipe), K'mu /rahaŋ/	竹 zhú (SV trúc, VS tre 'bamboo') | M 竹 zhú < MC ʈuwk < OC *tuɡ	****The two forms in both Chin. /zhú/ and V /trúc/ are clearly cognates, including V /tre/, yet it is interesting to see how diverse are the sound changes that occur in other languages for this item.
trâu	water buffalo	Old and Modern Mon /preŋ/, Danaw /mănaʔ3/, Riang White /pɤnɑʔ\ /, Black /pənɑʔ\ /, Palaung /krɑʔ1/, Wa /krak1/, T'eng /tăk/, Mundari /kera/, Karen /pəna/.	丑 chǒu (SV sửu, xú, VS trâu, xấu) || M 丑 (丒) chǒu (sửu, xú) < MC ʈʰuw < OC *n̥ʰuʔ | According to Starostin, C 丑 chǒu < MC ʈhjəw < OC *snruʔ. Cf. 牛 níu (SV ngưu) | M 牛 níu < MC ŋuw < OC *ŋʷɯ. Etymologically, Its association with the ox is from Austroasiatic (Mei, 1980; Norman, 1985; Ferlus, 2013); compare Proto-Vietic *c-luː (“water buffalo”), Proto-Mon-Khmer *krpiʔ ~ *krpiiw ~ *krpuʔ ~ *(kr)puh (“buffalo”), Proto-Austroasiatic *k.r.pu.y (“buffalo”).	****Like the case of 午 wǔ (SV ngọ) being posited for 'ngựa', 丑 chǒu is also a plausible candidate for V 'trâu' where /ch-/ and /tr-/ interchange. In the meanwhile there are no cognates in Luce's list.
trái	fruit	Old Mon /sac/, Modern Mon /sat/, Danaw /plé1/, Riang White and Black /plɛ`\ /, Palaung /plɑ'i2/, /pléi2/, Wa pléʔ/, Old Khmer /ple/, Srê /plê, T'eng /pléh/,Lemet /pʿli/, Khasi /soh/	實 shí (SV thực, VS trái) | M 實 shí < MC ʑit < OC *ɦliɡ | According to Starostin, 實 be solid, true; actually, really. Used also for *lit 'fruit'; *lit 'be rich'. The three meanings of 實 are probably one and the same word: 'fruit' < 'to be fruitful = rich'; 'to bring fruits < be effective, true'. Vietnamese has also a colloquial loanword 'thiệt' (real, genuine.) | cf. M 水果 shuǐguǒ (VS tráicây) and 結果 jiéguǒ (1) VS 'kếttrái' (bear fruits), (2) 'kếtquả' (result)	***All /pl-/ ~ /tr-/ forms appears to be cognate to each other, including the C 實 shí and Old Mon /sac/, Modern Mon /sat/ which are cognate to SV 'thực', 'thật' (real). Meanwhile, the Austroasiatic /pl-/ form appears to fit into old VietMuong /blai/ for 'trái'. The question is, "Is any form of C 實, i.e., those of Old Chinese, Middle Chinese, dialects, etc., truly cognate to VS 'trái' and, for that matter, concurrently to all other Austroasiatic forms?
tranh	thatch grass	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /suit/, /tnam cwo/, Danaw /plɑŋ4/, Riang White and Black /plɑŋ-/, Palaung /plɑŋ2/, Wa /plɔŋ2/, Sakai /plôkn/ (thatch leaves), Besisi /ploŋ/, Khasi /phlang/ (grass	莛 tíng (SV đình, VS tranh) | M 莛 tíng < MC dɛjŋ < OC *l'eːŋʔ | Dialects: Cant. ting4, Hẹ tin2	****All other forms point to VS /tranh/ given old Vietic /bl-/ ~ /tr-/ while both the Vietnamese and Chinese forms appear to be cognate.
tranh	palmyra, toddy palm	Old Mon /tāl/ (< Sanskrit), Modern Mon /tā/, Danaw /(tsok4)tʿan2/, Riang White /(tɤŋ-)tʿan-/, Black /tʿɑn-/, Palaung /tʿɑn3/, Sanskrit /tāla/, Old Burmese /tʿan/, Shan /tʿan/	扇葉 shănyè (SV phiếndiệp, VS 'látranh' ~> 'tranh' (Borassus flabellifer)	**Palmyra used to be native in India, so 扇葉 shănyè could simply be a translation of the word.
trai	male	(human) Old Mon /trūs/, Modern Mon /truʾ/, Danaw /pʿrɔh2/, Khmer /prus/	丁 dīng (SV đinh, VS trai) | M 丁 dīng, zhēng (đinh, chênh) < MC tɛjŋ < OC *te:ŋ, *rteːŋ | Ex. 壯丁 zhuàng​dīng (VS traitráng, 'able man'). | Note: 子 zǐ (SV tử) in ancient usage means both 'trai' (male) and 'gái' (female) (M 子 zī, zǐ, zì, zí, zi, cí (tử, tý) < MC tsɨ < OC *ʔslɯʔ and it's doublet is 仔 zǐ, zī (SV tử, tể, tế | Cant. zai21) < MC tsɨ < OC *tsɨ, *ʔslɯ, *ʔslɯʔ || Ex. Cantonese 仔仔 /zai24zai21/ = VS 'contrai' (boy)	****Except for the Mon forms and that of Khmer initial cluster /pr-/ that suggests the interchange with the Vietnamese /tr-/ which is pronounced variably with a single consonant /ʨ-/, /tʂ-/, or /ʈ-/ depending on Vietnamese subdialects.
tiếng	voice, noise	Old Mon /binru/, Modern Mon /baru/, Danaw /rat3/, Rieng White /rɤs\ /, Black /rəs\ /	聲 shēng (SV thanh, VS tiếng) | M  聲 shēng < MC ɕiajŋ < OC qʰjeŋ | Hai. /tjɜ1/, Cant. ʃieŋ21, Amoy: sɨŋ11 (literary); siã11, Tchiewchow: siã11, Fukienese siŋ11 (literary); Zyyy: ʃijəŋ1	******The limited list provided by Luce gives no cognates with the VS  'tiếng', that plausibly is cognate to he Chinese form. Chin. 聲 shēng ~ VS 'tiếng' also denotes the meaning of 'speech', for example, '言語, 口音. ' 與 人 罕言, 語類 楚聲。' (明 · 魏禧《大鐵椎傳》. ) where 楚聲 means "the Chu language' or VS 'tiếngSở'.
thỏ	hare	Old Mon /batāy/, Modern Mon /batāai/, Danaw /yɤn2/, Riang White /pɤl\tāi-/, Black /pəl\tāi-/, Palaung /pɑŋ3ɗɑi2/, /pɑŋ3ɗɔi2/, Wa /pālɑ2/, Old Burmese /yun/, Malay /tapai/, Biat /r'pai/, Srê dərpae/, Shan /paŋtai/	兔 tù (SV thố, VS thỏ) | M  兔 tù < MC tʰuo < OC *tʰaːs	******The Chinese /tù/ is clearly cognate to the VS /thỏ/ while other Mon-Khmer forms deviate a great deal.
thịt	flesh	Old Mon /psun/, Modern Mon /pʿyun/, Danaw /ñəŋ/, Riang White /yɤŋ\ /, Black /mɑi\ /, Palaung /yɑŋ2/, Wa /néʔ3/	肉 ròu (SV nhục, VS ruốc...| M 肉 ròu < MC ȵuwk < OC *njuɡ |For M 肉 (ròu of 'flesh') which has evolved into several forms related to 'flesh' or 'meat' in Sinitic-Vietnamese: (1) nhục, (2) thịt, (3) lụa, (4) giò, (5) rề, (6) rộp, (7) ruốc, (8) nướu, (9) nạc, etc. For the etymon 'thịt', actually there exists the Chin. 膱 zhí (SV thức, VS thịt)	**It looks like we have a case here that we cannot map VS 'thịt' into any of the above languages except for C 膱 zhí (SV thức) but it is 'meat', not 'flesh'. For C /ròu/, here are some VS examples: 骨肉 gǔròu (cốtnhục), 炸肉 zhàròu (chảlụa), 肉鬆 ròusōng (ruốcthịt), 牙肉 yáròu (nướurăng), 肉粉 ròufěn. (nhụcphở)...
thẹn	to be ashamed, shy	Old Mon /twa/(?), Modern Mon /gwa/, Danaw /kăsʿɑ1/, Riang White /kɤsʿér-/, Black /kəsʿé ʔ -/, Palaung /sɔ’i2/, Wa /kɑɪc5/.	慚 cán (SV tàm, VS thẹn) | M 慚 cán < MC dzam < OC *za:m	***The Vietnamese form is cognate to that of the Chinese form 慚 cán. However, it is interesting to note that in Vietnamese there are other words for ‘shame’, e.g., ‘mắccở’ (Chin. 愧咎 kuìjìu) and ‘cở’ that appears to be similar to other Mon-Khmer forms that start with /k-/ or /g-/ and VS 'xấuhổ' (Chin. 慚愧 cánkuì) where 'xấu' ~ Mon-Khmer /-s-/ vocables.
thôn	village	Viet. /tỉnh/, Old Mon /twañ/, Modern Mon /kwān/, Danaw /tăbo4/, Riang White and Black /pruʔ\ /, Palaung /re:u2/, Wa /yɑ'uŋ2/, Old Khmer /sruk/, T'eng /kūŋ/	村 cūn (SV thôn, VS xóm) | M 村 cūn < MC tsʰwən < OC *shuːn	***Luce’s attempt to equate Viet. tỉnh with Old Mon /twañ/ is erroneous. Tỉnh is a Sino-Vietnamese reflex of 省 shěng ‘province’, not a native form for ‘village’. The confusion likely arose from faulty elicitation or recorder error, reflecting a broader pattern of misinterpretation among early Western fieldworkers insufficiently grounded in the working language.
thóc	millet	No Mon, Danaw /kʿwé4/, Riang White /(kɑi-)kʿuɑi-/, Black /(kai-)kʿuai-/, no Palaung and Wa forms, Khasi /krai/	粟 sù (SV túc. VS thóc) | M 粟 sù < MC suawk < OC *sog	***While the Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate, some forms in other languages look like 'khoai', though, in Vietnamese, meaning 'yam, taro' or SV 'cốc' cereal which in turn is from the C 穀 gǔ as in SV ngũcốc (五穀 wǔgǔ).
thuốc	drug, medicine	Old Mon /kin-ūy/, Modern Mon /ga-uai/, Danaw /lɔŋ2ŋɑ4/, /tɔŋ2ŋɑ4/, Riang White /sʿɤnɤm\ /, Black /sʿənəm\, sănam2/, Wa /ʃi4tah5/, /Khmer /tʿnām/, Srê /sənɔm/	藥 yào (SV dược), VS thuốc) | M  藥 (葯) yào, yuè, shuò, lüè < MC jɨak < OC *lawɢ | According to Starostin: to give medicine, cure. Also used in the diesheng 勺藥 *dakw|-lakw| 'peony'. |  Cf.  ¶ /y- ~ th-/, Ex. 龠 yuè (SV dược ~ thược), 鑠 shuò (SV thước)	******The Vietnamese form 'thuốc' is clearly cognate to the Chinese form 藥 yào (SV dược).
than	charcoal	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /kʿyah/, Danaw /tɔk4tsUət3/, Riang White /kɤr\tji:s-/, Black /kər\cʿas/, etc.	炭 tàn (SV thán, VS than) | M 炭 tàn < MC tʰan < OC *tŋ̥ʰaːns	******No other Austroasiatic or Mon-Khmer forms are cognate with the VS  /than/ that is clear the only cognate only the C /tàn/.ly
tay	hand	Viet. /tay/, Old Mon /tey/, Modern Mon /tai/ Danaw /ti1/, Riang White and Black /tiʔ-/, Palaung /ɗɑ'2/, /ɗéi2/, Wa /tɑʔ1/, Old Khmer /tai/, Sakai /tok, /ti/, Semang /tɔŋ/, Nicobarese /tai/, Car Nicobarese /tiʾ/, Bahnar /tɪ/, P'uman /chʿi/, T'eng /tiʔ/, Khasi /kti/, War /taɪ/, Mundari /tɪhī/, /tɪʔ/, Gadaba /tītī/, Kurku /tī/	手 shǒu (SV thủ, VS tay) | M 手 shǒu < MC ɕuw < OC *hnjɯwʔ | According to Starostin: Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *tǝj, Proto-Viet-Muong: *sɤj, Proto-Vietic: *sɤj, Thomson: sai.4, Tum: sǝj.45, Proto-Katuic: *tǝj., Khmer: taj < OK taj | Etymologically, 杻 (“handcuffs”) can be written as 杽, so 丑 (OC *ᵇhnruʔ) (with a nasal initial) and 手 seem to be interchangeable as phonetics. Cf. 丑 chǒu (SV sửu, xú, VS trâu, xấu)	***Viet. /tej1/ ~ Chin. /shǒu/ appear to be cognate to all the languages involved, including the C '臂 bì (SV tỵ /tej6/)'. In the meanwhile altogether with the Chin. M 指 zhǐ, they seem to be speculative. cf. Japanese 手 /te/Note: Besides Chin. 手, there exi. sts also a 臂 bì (SV tý), denoting 'arm', plus the 指 zhǐ (SV chỉ) form, denoting 'finger', of which the lexemes with /ti/ and /chi/ are included to match those in the list.: M 臂 bì, bèi < MC pje < OC *peks, and M 指 zhǐ, zhì, zhī < MC tɕɨ < OC *kijʔ
tai	ear	(outer; inner) Old Mon /ktor/, Modern Mon /ktow/, Danaw /kătən4/, /kătɔn4/, Riang White /tiôr-/, /kɔtiak-/, Black /tsor-/, /kɔtiɛ`k-/, Palaung /hyUʔ1/, Wa /yɑɯʔ2/, Sakai /ĕntāk/, Besisi /tögn/, /töŋ/, Semang /kentk/, Nicobarese /nâŋ/, Bat /tôr/, Srê /tur/, Bahnar /dɔn/, T'eng /kədɔʔ/, Khasi /shkor/, Mundari /lutūr/, Kurku /lutur/	耷 tāp (SV đạp, VS tai, 'big ear'), M 耷 dā, zhé < MC tap < OC *taːb |  Siamese, Lao tūp_ (pendant ears) (p. 71) | (Haudricourt) Daic Siamese, Lao, Ahom, Shan, Tay noir, Tay blanc, Dioi ta, Tho tha, Nung ha (p. 456), Also: Viet. 'say' (?), tai, *tśru Daic Siamese, Lao, Shan, Tay noir, Tay blanc hu, Tho su, Nung khyu, Cao-lan lɯ Sui qha, Mak tśha, Bê sa, Li say (p. 488) | Chin. #耳朵 ěrtuō (SV nhĩđoá, VS 'lỗtai') | M 耳 ěr, rén, réng (SV nhĩ, nhưng) < MC ȵɨ < OC njɯʔ  || M 朵 (朶) duǒ < MC twa < OC *toːlʔ  | Cf. 耼 dān (VS tai)	**The Viet. /tai/ is not listed here but all the other forms appear to be cognate. The Chinese form 耳朵 ěrtuō posited for 'lỗtai', that, interestingly, looks like those of Mundari /lutūr/ and Kurku /lutur/ but it is subjected to speculation, though.
sớm	early	Old Mon /pras/ (=early), mod /prah/, Danaw /tsɑo2/, Riang White /tjɑu\ /, Black /tsɑ\ /, Palaung /sɑ'u2/, Wa /tjɑ'u2/, Archaic Chinese /*tsôg/, Burmese /co/, Shan /caw/	早 zăo (SV tảo, VS sớm, chào) | 早 zăo < MC tsaw < OC *ʔsuːʔ  | According to Starostin, 早 zăo < MC cʌw < OC *cūʔ < PST *cǝ̄w, cf. Burm. ćawh 'early', Kach. ǯau33 id. (see IST 54).	****It looks like all these forms are cross linguistic family etyma. In reality, in Chin. there are many words for 'early'. The question is what makes this basic concept is cognate to that of Old Chinese for those Mon-Khmer languages.
sắt	iron	Old Mon /birsey/, Modern Mon /pasai/, Danaw /mɛ`4θi1/, Riang White and Vlack /hir-/, Palaung /hlɛ`k1/, Wa /riɛm2/, Malay /běsi/, Sakai /běsi/, Păo Karen /pʿasi/, Old Khmer /hir/	鐵 tiě (SV thiết , VS sắt, thèp) | M 鐵 tiě, dié < MC tʰet < OC *l̥ʰiːɡ | Note: From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *hljak (“iron”). Cognate with Tibetan ལྕགས (lcags). According to the Shuowen, alternative forms included 銕 (OC *l'iːl, *l̥ʰiːd). Compare 驖 (OC *l̥ʰiːɡ, *l'iːɡ, “black horse”).	*****The Vietnamese forms 'sắt', thép' are clearly cognate to the C 鐵 tiě. If the forms /-si/ ~ /hir/ forms in other languages are variants of the Chinese form then they must be loanwords.
sấm	thunderbolt, thunder	Viet. /sấm/, no Old Mon, Modern Mon /dʿaguiw/, /gatah/, Danaw /...tɔŋ4man2/, Riang White /(tɤkɤr-)tɤr\nam\ /, Black /(təkər-)tər\nam\ /, /sər\nam\ /, Palaung / kănam3/, /sănam1/, Wa /mwè2/, /ʃǐnum2/, Khmer /phgar/, Malay /tagar/, T'eng /həŋkǔr/, Cham /grom/, Bahar /grom/	霆 tíng (SV đình) | M 霆 tíng, dìng, tǐng, xiāo < MC dieŋ < OC *ɬhe:ŋ | Pulleyblank: LM tɦajŋ < EM dɛjŋ | ¶ d- ~ s-	**If all other Mon-Khmer forms can relate the V 'sấm' by way of the sound change pattern /d-(t-)/ ~> /s-/, then the Chinese form with the sound xiāo is notable. See also 雷 lěi (SV lôi)
sạn	rest house	Old and Modern Mon /jrap/, Danaw /kărɔt2/, Riang White /sʿrɔp\ /, Black /tsərɔp\ /, Palaung /tjarɔp1/, Wa /brɔk3/, Sakai /cherup/ (crosspieces), karob / (bamboo bed), T'eng /jěrap (bed), Old Burmese /carap/, Pa8o Karen /tjărɔp/	棧 zhàn (SV sạn, trăn, chăn, xiễn, VS sàn ) | M 棧 zhàn, chán, chén < MC ʒan, ʒan < OC *ʒhranʔ, *ʒhrans | According to Starostin, 棧 zhàn 'carriage box made of lath or bamboo'. Also read *ʒ́(h)rān-s, MC ʒ̣ạ̀nid. (MC also has an irregular variant ʒ̣ạ̈́n). A somewhat later meaning is 'flooring (on a mountain pass)', whence probably Viet. sàn 'floor, flooring'. Standard Sino-Viet. is sạn. | Ex. 客棧 kèzhàn (SV kháchsạn, 'inn, tavern')	*It is not quite straigth all these cited lexicons actually refer to, probably a 'guest-house', 'tavern', 'inn' or something similar which is in agreement with the Chin. 棧 zhàn. All the phonetic appearance and words with the meaning 'bed' appear associated with the VS 'sạp' (榻 tà, SV thạp, 'stall), though, or 'sàn' (platform on tilts), which loosely resembles a wooden or bamboo short-legged stall where people can sit or lie down to rest.
sưng	swell	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /guh/, Danaw /Uət3/, Riang White and Black /as-/, Palaung /ah3/, Wa /u1ah5/, Sakai /ki- âs, Srê /as/, T’eng /tərʔɛh/, Khasi /at/, /iar/.	腫 zhǒng (SV thũng, trũng, VS sưng) | M 腫 zhǒng < MC cuawŋ < OC *tjoŋʔ	****The Vietnamese and Chinese forms are clearly cognate to each other while other Mon-Khmer forms seem to show no relation. (1)
sóc	squirrel	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /prip/, Danaw /plɑi2/, Riang White /kɤlɑ'i\ /, Black /klɑ\ /..)	松鼠 cōngshǔ (SV tùngthử, VS consóc) | M  松 sōng < MC tʑjöuŋ < OC *lhoŋ, *sɢloŋ || M 鼠 shǔ < MC ɕɨə̆ < OC *lhiaʔ | Dialects: Amoy /chu3/, Chaozhou /chy3/, Fuzhou, Jianou /chʊ3/, Tc chu2, Wenzhou /chei21/, Hakka /chu2/, Xiamen /chu2/, Trc chɨ21, Fuzhou /chy2/, Shanghai /chʊ3/ | According to Starostin, OC *ɬh- (normally yielding t.h, but here having given a dialectal reflex *s/h- > s/-) is reconstructed on the basis of Min forms: Xiamen chu3, Chaozhou chy3, Fuzhou, Jianou chu3.	***Several Mon-Khmer forms listed by Luce (e.g. Mon /prip/, Riang /klɑ/) show no clear connection to Vietnamese sóc. The Vietnamese form aligns more plausibly with Chinese 松鼠 cōngshǔ, if one allows for a “drop‑out” factor in which one syllable of the compound falls away. This would explain the resemblance between sóc and the second element 鼠 shǔ. If, however, 松鼠 is itself a compound coined to describe a non‑native animal, then its etymological trajectory parallels that of 狗 gǒu ‘dog’ or 虎 hǔ ‘tiger’ , terms widely thought to have southern origins. In that case, the Chinese form may ultimately derive from a Taic source, since the Mon–Khmer comparanda provide no convincing pathway.
sâu	deep	Viet. /sâu/, Old Mon /jrūh/, Modern Mon /sjuih/, Danaw /kărúi2/, Riang White /tjɤruʔ\ /, Black /tsəruʔ\ /, Palaung /lɯk1/, Wa /rɯʔ2/, Old Khmer /jrau/, /jamrau/, Sakai /jěru/, Javarese /jěro/, Stieng /jorǔh/, Srê /juruh/, Bahnar /jěruʔ/, T'eng /jru/, Khasi /jylliew/	深 shēn (SV thâm, VS sâu) | M 深 shēn (thâm, thẩm) < MC ɕim < OC *hljum, *hljums	****Except for the fact that VS 'sâu' is cognate to the C 深 shēn, but it is interesting to see that its resemblance of the modern Mon /sjuih/ and V /sâu/. Meanwhile all variants given in the list are from the same source starting with /j-/
sáu	six	Viet. /sáu/, Old Mon /taraw/, Modern Mon /tarau/, Wa /lyah5/	六 lìu (SV lục, VS sáu) || M 六 (陸, 祿) lìu, lù, líu < MC luwk < OC *rug | FQ 力竹 | According to Starostin, be six, six. For *rh- cf. Jianyang so8, Shaowu su7. | ¶ /l- ~ s-/, Ex. 浪 làng (SV lãng, VS sóng, 'wave'), 蓮 lián (SV liên, VS sen, 'lotus')	***Chin. 六 lìu is highly plausible a cognate with both Wa /lyah5/ and V 'sáu'.In all other languages the etyma appear in polysyllabic form with the common last syllable as -ru. As we all may already know, there is no 'six' in Khmer but 'five plus one' equivalent. It is still possible that 六 lìu > VS 'sáu'. Why not?
sao	star	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /snaŋ/, Danaw /kălɑn2/, Riang White /sʿɤkmɤiñ\ /, /sʿəkməiñ\ /, Palaung /ʃi4múiñ2/, Bahnar /səŋlɔŋ/, Srê /səmañ/, T'eng /səlmiñ/, Lemet /sremeñ/, Khasi /khlur, War /shlashmen/	星 xīng (SV tinh, VS sao) | M 星 xīng < MC seŋ < OC *sleːŋ	****The appearance of both the VS /sao/ and Chin. /xīng/ is the closest sound as compared to other forms.
rừng	forest	Old Mon grīp/, Modern Mon /gruip/ Danaw /pʿrɑ2bo4/, Riang White /priʔ\ /, Black /prɪʔ\ /, Palaung /bréɪ2/, Wa /brɑʔ3/, Old Khmer /vraɪ/, Sakai /brɪ/, Besisi /ʾmbri/, Semang /těpɪʾ/, Srê /brɪ/, T'eng /brɪ/, K'mu /mprɪ/, Khasi /brɪ/, (=grove), Mundari /bɪr/	林 lín (SV lâm, VS rừng) | M  林 lín < MC lim < OC *ɡ·rɯm  | cf. 森 (SV sâm, VS rậm) VS 'rậm' ~ OC /*srjəm/, dialect Cant. /lʌm2/ | ¶ /l- ~ r-/. Ex. 龍 lóng (SV long), VS rồng 'dragon' | Note: Tibetan languages Kachin: diŋgram2 'forest', Lushei: ram 'forest', Burmese: rum 'dense'.	***Including the /brɪ/ form, most of them are loosely cognate to the VS 'rừng' which is more affirmatively a plausible cognate with the Chin /lín/.
rời	go out, issue	Old Mon /tīt/, Modern Mon /tit/, Danaw /lé2/, Riang White and Black /lɛ`\ /, Palaung /lih3/, Wa /lih5/, /lah5/, Biat /lôh/, Khasi /mih/.	離 lí (SV li, VS lìa | M 離  lí, lì, lǐ, chī, gǔ < MC lei, liə̆ < OC *rel, *re:l, *re:ls	****Those MK forms appear to be cognate to Viet. 'rời' and Chin. 離 /lí/ with a slight deviation in meaning which could possibly point to VS /ra1/ or 出 chū in Chinese to mean 'go out'.
rốn, rún	navel	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /poŋluit/, Danaw /kon4dɑiŋ4/, Riang White /kluŋdi:ŋ-/, Black /kən\diŋ-/, Palaung /kădan2/, Wa /pi:t1/, K Khmer /pʿoit/, Semang /lus/, T'eng /kəndɪñ/, Khasi /sohpet/	臍 qí (SV tề, VS rún, rốn | M 臍 qí < MC dzei < OC *zliːl | ¶ /q- ~ r-/ . Ex. 肚臍 dùjí (VS lỗrún)	*It looks like there is no candidate for the cognate to V 'rún' here. Usually in this case, if we look hard enough we may find something other forms in Chinese.
rễ	root	Viet. /rễ/, no Old Mon, mod. /ruih/, Danaw /tɔŋ2rít4/, Riang White rias\ /, Black /riɛ`\ /, Palaung /riɛh3/, Wa /riah5/, Khmer /rīs/, rưs/, Besisi /purus/, Semang /yaes/ Car Nicobarese /Reh/, Sre^ /riăs/, Bahnar /riəh/, /rə/, T'eng /riaχ/, /riɛχ/, Khasi /trai/, Mundai /redʔ/	蒂 dì (SV đế, VS rễ) | M 蒂 (蔕) dì, dài, zhài < MC tei < OC *te:ds | ¶ /d- ~ r-/. Ex. 根蒂 gēndì (VS gốcrễ, 'root')	***Even though all other languages demonstrate apparently plausible cognates etymologically, the VS 'rễ' and Chin. /dì/ form also show similar correspondences phonologically.
rắn	snake	Old and Modern Mon /jrum/, Danaw /păθén4/, Riang White and Black /hiəñ-/, Palaung /hanʔ2/, Wa /ʃi4ʔúiñ2/, Semang /jěkob/, Nicanarese /pai(d)/, Car Nicobarese /péich/, Khasi /bseiñ/, Mundari /bin/	蛇 shé (SV xà, di, VS rắn) | M 蛇 (虵) shé, chí, tuó, yí, yé (trà, xà, đà, di) < MC tʰa, jiə̆, ʑia < OC *l̥ʰaːl, *lal, *ɦljaːl| According to Starostin, 'snake'; also read *laj (MC je, FQ 弋支, Mand. yí) in the compound 委蛇 *?w|aj-laj 'be compliant, gracious'. | ¶ s- ~ r- | Also /yì/ as in 委蛇 wěiyì (VS ngoằnngoèo) 'zigzag'	**Variably some of the listed form are cognates while the Chinese form is only a matter of speculation. 龍 lóng (SV long, VS rồng, 'dragon' is another candidate.
rẫy	hill cultivation	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /gū/, Danaw /ré1/, /hré1/, Riang White and Black /mɑ\ /, Palaung /mɑr2/, Wa /mɑ2/, T'eng /hré/, Biat, Srê /mir/, Khasi /kper/ (field)	壠 lǒng (SV lũng, VS rẫy) | M 壟 (壠) lǒng, lōng < MC luawŋ < OC *roŋʔ | Note: Chin. also has a compound 梯田 tītián (SV thêđiền) that points to another Vietnamese word as 'ruộngbậcthang' M 梯田 tītián, meaning 'terraced field' but that does not look like original indigenous words.	***While VS. 'rẫy' appears to be cognate to some of Mon-Khmer words, the Chin. 梯田 tītián could be the case of contraction if it has anything to do with the VS 'rẫy' at all while the Chin 壠 lǒng (SV lũng) is more in line with  VS 'luống' and 'nương', Ex. 菜壟 ( càillǒng, VS luốngrau.)
răng	tooth	Viet. /răng/, No Old Mon, mod. /ŋek/, Danaw /pəiŋ4/, Rieng White /rɑŋ-/, Black /rɑ:ŋ-/, Palaung /hrɑŋ2/, Wa /rɑn2/, T'eng /hraŋ/	牙 yá (SV ngà, VS răng) | M 牙 yá, yă, yà  < MC ŋa < OC *ŋra: | Wiktionary: Etymologically. STEDT provisionally sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ŋja (“tusk; tooth”), comparing it to Mizo ngho (“tusk; fang”), Manipuri ꯌꯥ (yā, “tooth”), Mru (hngou, “tooth”), Pa'o Karen (tə́ʔ ŋà, “tooth”). | Cf. 齡 líng (SV linh, VS răng < MC leŋ, lɛjŋ < OC *riŋ, *reːŋ (Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *reːŋ): semantic 齒 (“tooth”) + phonetic 令 (OC *ren, *reŋ, *reŋs, *reːŋ, *reːŋs) – tooth being associated with age. Compare English long in the tooth (“old”) and don't look a gift horse in the mouth (“(to check teeth for age)”).	***All forms, including that of Vietnamese, appear to be cognates while the mod. Mon /ŋek/ somewhat look similar to SV /ngà/.The pictogram of a pair of elephant tusks. According to Xu Shen, this pictogram was used to indicate human molars but not front teeth/incisors (齒). Norman and Mei (1976) propose that this was a substrate loan; cf. Proto-Vietic *ŋaː (“ivory”) (Vietnamese ngà), Proto-Tai *ŋaːᴬ (“tusk; ivory”) (Thai งา (ngaa)). Pulleyblank (1983) disagrees with their hypothesis and considers Old Chinese to be the donor of this Wanderwort instead.
rái	otter	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /pheʾ/, Danaw /bUn2/, Rinag White /bUn\ /, Black /bon-/, Palaung /mUn3/, /bUn3/, Wa /pʿɛi1/	獺 tă, tà (SV thát, VS rái, tấy) | M 獺 tǎ, tà < MC tʰat < OC *r̥ʰaːd, *hr̥'aːd | Wiktionary: Possibly from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ram-s (“otter”) (Matisoff, 2010). If so, cognate with Tibetan སྲམ (sram), Burmese ဖျံ (hpyam) (Hill, 2019). See Matisoff (2010) for a possible explanation for the apparent discrepancy in the coda (Chinese -t vs. Tibeto-Burman -m). Baxter and Sagart (2014) posit an optional animal prefix (?) as a way to account for the alternation between /th-/ and /trh-/ in Middle Chinese, citing Proto-Hmong *ntshju̯aᴬ, which shows prenasalization.	***Chin. 獺 (tǎ, tà < MC tʰat < *r̥ʰaːd, *hr̥'aːd) is clearly cognate to VS 'rái' and 'tấy'. where /*srhāt/ ~> /raj5/. Etymologically, in spite of a phonological discrepancy, rái and tấy are both regular reflexes of the Proto-Vietic word in terms of dialectal development, with most Vietnamese dialects spirantized medial *-s- to ‹r› while the North Central dialects kept the *-s- (that later regularly shifted to ‹t›) unaffected by the presyllable *p-. For the ‹ay›-‹ây› (< *eː) correspondence, compare North Central gấy vs. standard written gái, trấy vs. trái, cây vs. gai.
ruồi	house-fly	Viet. /ruồi/, no Old Mon, mod. /ruai/, Danaw /rui4/, /hrui4/, Riang White and Black /ruəɪ\ /, Palaung /rɔ'i2/, Wa /rɔi2/, Khmer /ruy/ Sakai /rūl/, /ruoi/, Besisi /roi/, Nicobarese /yüe/, Car Nicobarese /ɪn-Rúɛ/, Biat /rʾhūai/, Bahnar /rɔi/, T'eng /ròé/, Mundari /roko/	蠅 yíng (SV dăng, VS ruồi, nhặng, lằng) | M QT 蠅 yíng < MC jiŋ < OC *b·lɯŋ | Etymolgy: Mei‑Ling Tsu notes that ruồi reflects Proto‑AA ruwaj ‘fly’, a very old Austroasiatic root. (See Table 1B -  The Case 蠅 yíng ‘fly’)	***All Mon-Khmer etyma are cognates while the Chinese form 蠅 yíng with VS 'nhặng', 'lằng' could evolve into alternative sound "ruồi". The Chu dialect used 維虫 rwəi ‘fly’, attested in the Chuyu 楚語 section of the Guoyu 國語: 亡虫 維虫 之 既 多 “Many gnats and flies.”
rau	vegetables, curry (Luce)	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /swa/, /kʿanew/, Danaw /tu1/, Riang White /sʿɤtuʔ-/, Black /sʿətuʔ-/, Palaung /ɗéu2/, Wa /sɑɯʔ1/, Khasi /jhur/	菜 cài (SV thái, VS rau) | M 菜 cài (thái, thế) < MC tsʰəj < OC *shɯːs | Etymology: From 采 (OC *sʰɯːʔ, “to gather; to pluck”) + nominalizing *-s, literally “what is gathered or plucked” (Sagart, 1999; Schuessler, 2007).	***For the denotation of 'vegetables', only the Chinese form /cài/ seems to be cognate to the VS 'rau' while Luce's cited 'curry' is irrelevant.
quảvả	fig tree (Ficus)	Old Mon /jrey/, Modern Mon /jrai/, Danaw /kăriʔ1/, Riang White /tjɤriʔ\ /, Black /tjəriʔ\ /, Palaung /tăruŋ2/ (F religiosa), Old Khmer /jray/, /jrai/, Sakai /wi/, Semang /sawet/, Malay /jawi-jawi/, Car Nicobarese /chăRi/ (banyan), Biat /rʿwi/, Bahar /jəri/, T'eng /jri/, Khasi /jri/ (=rubbei), Mundari /ãri/, /bari/	無花果 wúhuāguǒ (Ficus carica) ~ VS 'quảvả' \ @ 無花 wúhuā ~> 'vả'	*The only etymon to relate the compound 無花果 wúhuāguǒ is that 無花 wúhuā gives rise to the contracted 'vả' with the clipping of the syllable /huā/ .
ongmật	honey bee	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /sāai/, Danaw /tsɔŋ4hən2/, Riang White /tjɤr\ŋur\ /, Black /tsən\ŋur\ /, Palaung /pʿrər2/, Wa /hiɑ2/, Car Nicobarese /sɛ`k mak/, T'eng /brǔʾŋ/, /prǔʾŋ/	蜜蜂 mìfēng (SV mậtphong, VS mậtong) ~ 蠮螉 *ʔīt-ʔōŋ (SV nghệông, VS ongnghệ | Note: 螉 wēng (SV ông, VS ong) ~ 蜂 fēng (SV phong) | M 螉 wēng < MC ʔəwŋ < OC *qloːŋ | According to Starostin: a k. of small bee (Han). Used only in compounds: 螉 *ʔōŋ-shoŋ, 蠮螉 *ʔīt-ʔōŋ denoting a k. of small bee or gadfly, thus the borrowed nature of Viet. ong is questionable (cf. PAA *hɔ:ŋ / *ʔɔ:ŋ 'bee' = PAN *wani, *qawani id.). The standard Sino-Viet. reading of 螉 is ông. || M 蜂 fēng < MC pʰuawŋ < OC *pʰoŋ, *boŋ	******It is for certainty that the Chin. compound 蜜蜂 mìfēng is cognate to Vietnamese. 'ongmật', but in reverse order, a common phenomenon of Chinese loanwords in Vietnamese. For other languages, see the item 'ong' (bee).
ong	wasp, hornet	Viet. /ong/, no Old Mon, mod. /huiŋ/, Danaw /(mɑʔ3)ôn4/, Riang White /vwɔŋ-vwɔl-/, Black /uaŋ-/, Palaung /ɔn2/, /kă\ʔɔn2/, Wa /ɔŋ2/, Old Khmer /srāŋ/ (?), Sakai /ôkn/ Besisi /hoŋ/, Semang /oŋ/, /ēŋ/, /wuŋ/, Bahnar /ōŋ/, Srê /oŋ/	螉 wēng (SV ông, VS ong) | M 螉 wēng < MC ʔəwŋ < OC *qloːŋ | Example: 黃蜂 huángfēng (SV hoàngphong, VS ongvò, 'wasp'), 胡蜂 húfēng (SV hồphong, VS ongvò, 'wasp') | Wiktionary: Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *qloːŋ): semantic 虫 (“worm”) + phonetic 翁 (OC *qloːŋ). Etymologically, compare Proto-Austroasiatic *ʔɔːŋ (“wasp; hornet”) (whence Proto-Vietic *ʔɔːŋ (“honey bee”) > Vietnamese ong (“bee”). According to Starostin, a k. of small bee (Han). Used only in compounds: 螉䗥 *ʔōŋ-shoŋ, 蠮螉 *ʔīt-ʔōŋ denoting a k. of small bee or gadfly, thus the borrowed nature of Viet. ong is questionable (cf. PAA *hɔ:ŋ / *ʔɔ:ŋ 'bee' = PAN *wani, *qawani id.). The standard Sino-Viet. reading of 螉 is ông.	******Like 蜜蜂 mìfēng, the Chin. 蜂 fēng is plausibly a cognate with the VS         'ong'. For other Mon-Khmer languages, in contrast with the VS 'ongmật' above, which is similar to Danaw /(mɑʔ3)ôn4/ 'honey bee', they all are cognates. In both Chinese and Vietnamese there exist the form 螉 wēng (SV ông) and it is a doublet 蜂 fēng for VS 'ong'.
nội, ngoại, ông	grandfather	Old Mon /lwaʾ/, Modern Mon /la/, Danaw /tɑ1/, Riang White and Black /tɑʔ/, Palaung /tɑ3/, Wa /tɑʔ1/, Old Khmer /atā/ (=old man)	(1) 內 nèi (SV nội), M 內 (内) nèi, nà < MC nuoi < OC *nuːbs | (2) 外 wài (SV ngoại) | M 外 wài < MC ŋwaj < OC *ŋʷaːds || (3) M 公 gōng < MC kəwŋ < OC *klo:ŋ | Note: Viet. 'ông' is cognate to southern dialectal Chin. 阿公 āgōng (SV acông) that encompasses both maternal or paternal grandfathers in a wide range of speeches in terms to address kinship. There exist both the M 外公 wàigōng (SV ngoạicông, VS ôngngoại, 'maternal grandpa') and dialectal 內公 nèigōng (SV nộicông, VS ôngnội) due to dialectal differentiations whereas 'paternal grandfather' in modern Mandarin is 爺爺 yéye or Hainanese and Hokkien 阿公 āgōng (for VS ông)	****There is no distinction from the mother's or father's side for the word 'grandfather' as listed here. Amusingly enough, for all the forms of they seem to be similar to the VS /tía/ that is cognate to 爹 diè (VS 'cha') in Chin. to mean 'daddy' instead. See more in the Sino-Tibetan chapter.
nồi	pot	Old Mon /klas (< Sanskrit), /tumbāy/, /timbāy/, Modern Mon /tʿamāai/, Danaw /lɑ1/, Riang White and Black /kloʔ-/, Palaung /kaloʔ1/, Wa /ɔ2/ (=cooking pot), Sanskrit /kalasa/, Biat /glăh/, Khasi /khew/	豆 dòu (SV đậu, VS nồi) | modern M 豆 dòu = Viet. (hạt)đậu = 'peas' | Viet. 'chậu, thau, nồi, nấu' ~ © M 豆 dòu < MC dəw < OC *do:s | According to Starostin: a dou vessel. A round vessel of clay or wood for serving solid food. Since Late Zhou the character is used for a homonymous word *d(h)o:s 'bean(s)'.	****The V /nồi/ is cognate to the Chinese form 豆 dòu as conveyed with the old meaning of this original basic ideograph.
nỏ	bow, crossbow	Old and Modern Mon /tŋa/, Danaw /ɑk4/, Riang White and Black /ɑk-/, Palaung /kɑŋ3/, /kɑŋ3ɑʔ4/ (=catapult), Wa /ɑʔ1/ (=crossbow), Sakai /āg/, Stieng /ak/, Srê /a3/, Lemet /ak/, Mundari /aʔ/	弩 nú (SV nỗ, VS nỏ, ná) | M 弩 nǔ < MC nuo < OC *naːʔ | According to Starostin: Viet. ná is an archaic loanword; a somewhat later loan from the same source is Viet. nỏ id.; standard Sino-Viet. is nỗ̃. In Chinese the word is witnessed since Late Zhou (Zhouli), but already in Shujing we meet a word 砮 *n(h)āʔ, *n(h)ā, MC nó, no, Mand. nǔ, Viet. nỗ 'flint arrowhead' – which may be historically the same word. For *nh- cf. Xiamen lɔ6, Jianou noŋ8.	******It has long been reckoned that the VS nỏ 'catapult' is derived from the Chin. 弩 nú which in turn originated from the Mon-Khmer languages. In the meanwhile the V /ná/ 'slingshot' is a direct cognate to them. In any cases they are all cognate to each other despite of the fact the initial /N-/ dropped from the /-aK/ forms and the Palaung forms /kɑŋ3/ and /kɑŋ3ɑʔ4/ alternately are cognate to 弓 gōng, SV 'cung' that means 'bow'.
nặng	heavy	Old Mon /sjiŋ/, Modern Mon /sjuiŋ/, Danaw /kătsan2/, Riang White /kɤtjɛ`\ /, Black Riang White /kətjɛ`\ /, Palaung /tjian2/, Wa /ji:n2/, Old Khmer /jyeŋ/ (=weigh), T’eng /kətăm/, /tăm/	重 zhòng (SV trọng, VS nặng) | M 重 zhòng, chóng (SV trọng, trùng) < MC ɖuawŋ < OC *doŋ, *doŋʔ, *doŋs| ¶ /zh- ~ n- /: ex. 這 zhèi (giả) nầy, Hainanese /daŋ6/, TrC: taŋ22	****The Chinese form /zhòng/ is clearly cognate to the VS nặng. Except for the Riang forms, all other Mon-Khmer forms are cognates also. How they are related to each other is another question. Could they be loanwords borrowed via the Vietnamese medium?
nằm	sleep, lie down	Old Mon /stīk/, Modern Mon /stik/, Danaw /ti:n2/, Riang White /yɛ`t-/, Black /yat-/, /yɛ`t-/, Palaung /iʔ1/, Wa /it1/, Khmer /tak/, Srê /jětek/, Nicobarese /teak/, Lemet /lit/, Khasi /thiah/, Mundari /gitiʔ/.	躺 tăng (SV thảng, VS nằm) | M  躺 (儻) tăng < MC tʰaŋ < OC *tʰaːŋʔ | ¶ /t- ~ n-/ | According to Starostin: Proto-Vietmuong: *ŋɨah, *ŋa:h, (lie) on one's back, Viet. 'ngửa' supine, backwards, Proto-Ruc: *ŋah.1, Ruc: C- taŋa:h.1	***The V ‘nằm’ and the Chin. /tăng/, which are cognate but only means ‘to lie down’, show similarity in sound change patterns that correspond to those of the Mon-Khmer forms. Other Vietnamese and Chin. cognate forms such as 臥 wò, SV 'ngoạ' ~ VS ‘ngủ’ (to sleep) but they deviate from other forms under examination.
nầy	this	Old Mon /awoʾ/, /woʾ/, Modern Mon /naʾ/, Danaw /ni2/, Riang White and Black /ni\ /,Palaung /ări ŋ3/, Wa /ti;n2/, T’eng /gəni/, Khasi /kane/, Mundari /ne/, Shan /nai/, Sakai /hɔ/, Semang /öh/, Stieng /ou/, /âu/, Bahnar /ô/.	那 nà (SV na, VS nầy, nọ, nó, nớ, đó, 'that' | M 那 nà, nèi, nuò, nuó, nă (nỏ, nã, ná) < MC na < OC *na:l, *naːlʔ, *na:ls | According to Starostin, (Schuessler: perhaps: be rich.) In oldest texts the character is used only with the meaning 'to be rich' (sometimes within a compound 猗那 *?a:r-na:r id.). The pronominal meaning (at first only interrogative) appears only during Late Zhou - as a synonym for 奈 *n(h)a:ts 'so what?' (q.v.). Later, during Wei, the character is used for a (probably related) interrogative *n(h)a:/ > MC na^/, Mand. nuo^ (colloq. na^) 'how, what'. Finally, since Tang demonstrative usage is witnessed: MC na^\, Mand. nuo\ (colloq. na\) 'that'. The standard Sino-Viet. reading is nã; này may be an old loanword, or else may be just a rather universal pronominal stem (in Viet. cf. also nó 'he', nọ 'other').	***For the exact word that means ‘this’ in C there is the word 這 zhè (SV giả) VS 'đây', or 'nầy', but to have this item in line with other Mon-Khmer forms, the C /nà/, which is cognate to V ‘nớ’ and ‘đó’, fits well into the sound change pattern. Usually demonstrative adjectives originated from the same roots could vary greatly, etymologically.
nấm	mushroom, fungus	Old Mon ptis/, Modern Mon /ptuɪh/, Danaw /tət3,1/, Riang White /tis-/, Black /kətis-/, /tis-/, Palaung /ɗi:h2/, /ɗi:χ3/, Wa /ti:h5/, Old Khmer /phsit/, Sakai /betis/, Besisi /pětīh/, Semang /tēhs/, Srê /bēsīt/, Biat /chêt/, T'eng /tɪh/, Khasi /tɪt/	Chin. 菌 jūn (SV khuẩn, VS nấm) | 菌 (蕈) jùn, jūn, juàn, qùn < MC ɡʷiɐn, ɡʷɯin < OC *ɡrunʔ, *ɡonʔ | According to Starostin: mushroom (L.Zhou). Viet. khuẩn reflects an unattested variant MC *khwi/n (reflected also in Fuzhou khuŋc,3s|). | ¶ jw-, qw- (*khw-) ~ n- / jw - ~> w-	**The Viet. 'nấm' and Chin. 菌 jùn could be cognates given their phonology with the interchange of palatal affricate to that of nasal sound and meanings.
nướcđái	urine	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /knam/, Danaw /tsɛ`2/, Riang White /nɯm\ /, Black /num\ /, Palaung /hnUm2/, Wa /nɯm2/, Khmer /nom/, Sakai /nom/, Semang /kènom/, Srê /ɗum/, Bahnar /nôm/, T'eng /num/, Khasi /jung/	尿液 niàoyè (SV niệudịch, VS nướcđái) | M 尿 (溺) niào, suī (niệu, tuy) < MC nɛw < OC *neːwɢs | ¶ /n- ~ t-, đ-/ for 'đái' and 'tiểu', and 'nước' is associated with M 液 yè, yì, shì < MC jiajk < OC *la:g	****There is little doubt that the Chin. and the Vietnamese forms are cognates except that the syllabic-word order is in reverse as in many cases of other VS etyma. It is plausible that the original form might be monosyllabic that is cognate to 尿 *njew to mean 'đái' and 'tiểu' (urine), hence + 液 yè (VS 'nước' ~> 'nướctiểu'.
nướcmiếng	spittle	Old Mon /ksas/ (=to spit?), Modern Mon /ɗāk kasah/, Danaw /ñɛ`n2/, Riang White and Black /ñɑŋ-/, Palaung /bɑ'iʔ3/ (to spit), Wa /bɑ'iʔ3/, /bɛ'ʔ3/, Old Khmer /samtoh/, Sakai /toh/, /getɔʾ/, Malay /ludah/, Nicobarese /tapaih/, Bahnar /gəsɔʾ/, T'eng /təʔa/ Khasi /biah (to spit), Mundari /beʔ/)	唾沫 tuòmò (SV thoámạt, SV nướcmiếng) ~ 唾液 tuòyè (SV thoádịch, VS nướcdãi) | M  唾 tuò < MC tʰwa < OC tʰoːls || M 沫 mò, mèi < MC mwat < OC *ma:d || M 液 yè, yì, shì < MC jiajk < OC *la:g	**The only similarity appears thereof is between the Vietnamese and Chinese forms above if we posit 唾 tuò for 'nước' and 沫 mò for 'miếng' and 液 yè for VS 'dãi', or even with 口水 kǒushuǐ in reverse order where 水 shuǐ is 'nước' (<~ 'nák' ) and 口 kǒu ~ 'miếng' ( <~ /m-/ <~ /hw-/ <~ Cantonese /how3/).
nước	water	Viet. /nước/, Old Mon /dāk/, /dek/, Modern Mon /ɗāk/, Danaw /u:n4/, Riang White and Black /om-/, Palaung /om2/, /Um2/, /ɤm2/, /ɛm2/, Wa /rɔm2/, Old Khmer /dik/, Sakai /dak/, Nicobarese /dāk/, Biat /ɗak/, Srê /daʔ/, Bahar /ɗak/, Mundari /dāk/, Savara /dā/, /dāŋ/, Gadaba /dẫ/, Kurku /dā/, T'eng /ʔom/, Lemet /hon/, Khasi /om/	水 shuǐ (SV thuỷ, VS nước) | M 水 shuǐ < MC ʂwi < OC *tujʔ | ¶ /sh- ~ th-/, /th- ~ đ-/, /t- ~ n-/ | Wiktionary: Etymologically, Vietnamese 'nước' from Proto-Vietic *ɗaːk (“water”), from Proto-Austroasiatic *ɗaːkʔ (“water”). Cognates with Nghệan/Hàtĩnh dialects nác, Muong đác, Nguôn đác, Khmer ទឹក (tik), Bahnar đak, Eastern Mnong dak, Central Nicobarese râk/dâk, Santali ᱫᱟᱜ (dak’), Sanskrit दक (daka). The sense of "country" is attested already in Phậtthuyết đạibáo phụmẫu ântrọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經), where the term was spelled as 渃.	***In light of most of etyma appearing in the form /dak/, the Chin. 水 shuǐ and Viet. /nước/ are also likely cognate, cf. 踏 tă (SV đạp, 'tread') and 沓 dá (SV đạp, 'full'). Attested as nước in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651). Alternative forms (North Central Vietnam) nác (no diphthongization).
năm	five	Viet. /năm/, Old Khmer /prām/	五 wǔ (SV ngũ, VS năm) | M 五五 wǔ, wu < MC ŋuo < OC *ŋaːʔ | Wiktionary: Etymologically, for Vietnamese 'năm', From Proto-Vietic *ɗam, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *p(ɗ)am. Cognate with Muong đằm, đăm, Khmer ប្រាំ (pram), Bahnar pơđăm, Halang bơdăm.	*Like number 'two', it looks like the only plausible candidate is in the Old Khmer etymon /prām/ while all others in other languages seem to be diverged with variants, that is, in different shapes and sounds.
năm	year	Viet. /năm/, Old Mon and mod /cnām/, Danaw /nan2/, Riang White and Black /vwi:t\ /, Palaung /snam2/, Wa /num2/, Old Khmer /cnam/, Srê /sənam/, /nam/, Bahnar /hānam/, T'eng /num/, Khasi /snem/, Mundari /sirma/	年 nián (SV niên, VS năm) | M 年 (秊) nián < MC nen < OC *niːŋ | Etymology: from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ni(ŋ~k) (“year”).	******V 'năm' is clearly cognate to the Chin. 年 /nián/ while any Mon-Khmer languages with the 'year' cognate to VS 'năm' is probably a Vietnamese loanword.
nó	he, she	Old Mon /dehh/, Modern Mon /ɗeʾ/, Danaw /anʾ4/, Riang /ɤn-/, Black /hnʔ-/, Palaung /an2/, Wa /an2/, Nicobarese /an/, Mundaria /diya/	他 tā (SV tha, VS nó) | M 他 tā, tuō, duò < MC tʰa < OC *l̥ʰaːl  | According to Starostin: other, different, Protoform: *la:j (s-), Meaning: other. Chinese: 他 *sla:j another. Burmese: ta-lij someone. Lushei: hlei (hlei?) compared with the other. | ¶ t-(th-) ~ n-, h-	****The VS 'nó' is plausibly a cognate with that of Chin. 他 tā with the pattern ¶ /t- ~ n-/. Another possibility is 其 qí (SV kỳ), which is possibly associated with 'va', both with the pattern / ¶ q- ~ n-, v- / but the latter could be a later development.
nách	armpit	No Old Mon, mod. .../knak/..., Danaw /kʿăyɛək2/, Riang White /(ɔk-)yɑk\ /, Black /yɑk\ /, Palaung /yɑʔ1/, Wa .../klaiʔ1/, T'eng /ʿɛk/, /kəlʿɛk/	腋 yè (SV diệt, dịch, VS nách) | M 腋 yè, yì < MC jiajk < OC *lag | ¶ /y-(*l-) ~ n-/	***Luce does not provide the Khmer and Vietnamese forms, but the mod. Mon form /knak/ is likely cognate to VS 'nách' /najk5/ while, interestingly enough, some of the other sounds are somewhat similar to the Chin. /yè/ form.)
nhức	be in pain	Old Mon /uñjey/, /ajey/, Modern Mon /yai/, Danaw /kătsu1/, Riang White and Black /sʿuʔ-/, Palaung /séu2/, Wa /sɑ’ɯʔ1/, Khmer /jnun/, /jnī/, Sakai /ŋi/, /nyi/, /ěnji/, Nicobarese /yē/, /tu/, Stieng, Srê /ji/, Bahnar /ji ʔ/, P’u-man /shu/, T’eng /cu/, /shu/, Lemet /so/, Khasi /suh/, Mundari /hasu/	熱 rè (SV nhiệt, VS nhức, rát, 'sore') | M  熱 rè < MC ȵiat < OC *ŋjed	****All forms seem to cognate to the Vietnamese form /nhức/ including the Chinese form with the doublet form in Vietnamese as 'rát' /rat7/. (2)
nhọn	sharp-pointed	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /ke/, Danaw /tɔŋ2pʿyak3,1/, Riang White /pait-/, paic-/, Palaung /pɑ‘i1/, Wa /pɔ’i3/ (to sharpen), T’eng /bat/ (to sharpen to a point), Khasi /beit/ (straight)	尖 jiān (SV kiên, VS nhọn) | M 尖 jiān < MC tsiam < OC *ʔslem |	***The Mon form suggests something that shows the sound change pattern /j-/ ~ /k-/ with the Chinese form which is cognate to the Vietnamese one. In the meanwhile the Riang and others somehow similar to the Chinese 磨 which appears in Vietnamese as 'mài' /maj2/ (sharpen).
nhà	house	Viet. /nhà/, Old Mon /sŋiʾ/, Modern Mon /sŋi/, Danaw /ña1/, Riang White and Black /kɑŋ\ /, Palaung /gɑŋ2/, Wa /ñéʔ3/, Semang /yi/, /eh/, /hēyaʾ/, Nicobarese /ñī/, Stieng, Alak, Kaseng /ñi/, Biat /ñīh/, Mnong Gar /hīh/, Bahnar /hñẽ/, /hnam/, Lemet /ña/ Khasi /ing/, War /sni/, Juang /iya/, Savana /siŋ/, T'eng /gaŋ/	家 jiā (SV gia, VS nhà) | M  家 jiā, gū, jie (gia, cô) < MC kaɨ < OC *kra: | Wiktionary: Etymologically, from Proto-Vietic *ɲaː (“house”), from Proto-Austroasiatic *ɲaːʔ (“house”). Cognate with Muong Bi nhà (“house”), Tho [Cuối Chăm] ɲɐː², Phong-Kniang ɲaː ("house"), Danau ɲɑ¹, Mang ɲua⁶. The prefix sense is a semantic loan from Chinese 家, for example 科學家 (“scientist”) - nhàkhoahọc (“scientist”).	***Except for forms similar to Riang White and Black /kɑŋ\ /, Palaung /gɑŋ2/, this is an interesting case that all etyma in all languages look like being churned out from the same blender.
nhai	grind (teeth)	No Mon forms, Danaw /tjət3/, Riang White /tɤr\kiɛt-/, Black /kriac-/, Palaung /kik2/, Wa /krɯt1/, Shan /kʿuit/.	咬 yǎo (SV tước, VS nhai) | M 咬 (齩) yăo, āo, jiāo, jiáo (ngão, giảo) < MC ŋaw < OC *kreːw, *ŋɡreːwʔ, *qreːw | Wiktionary: Perhaps Sino-Tibetan; compare Chepang ङेव्‍ह्‌सा (ŋewh-, “to nibble”) (Schuessler, 2007). The Min vernacular readings are reminiscent of Proto-Tai *giəwꟲ (“to chew”), whence Thai เคี้ยว (kíao) (ibid.). For VS 'nhai', etymologically, from Proto-Vietic *-ɲaːj. Compare Mon သ္ၚဲာ (hài, “to chew”), Nyah Kur khəɲàaj.	***While the Vietnamese form may be cognate to the Chinese form, all other Mon-Khmer forms in this limited list start with the initial /k-/ which looks like something related to the VS ‘cắn’ (bite).
ngựa	horse	Old Mon /kseh/, Modern Mon /kyeh/, Danaw /θé4/, Riang White /mɤraŋ\ /, Black /məraŋ\ /, Palaung /braŋ2/, Wa /bruŋ2/, Old Khmer /aseh/, Cham /àsaih/, Biat /cheh/, Bahnar /əsɛh/, Aren /kəθe/, /θiri/, /s'e/ etc., Central and S. Chin. /si/, /se, /ksʿɛ/, T'eng /mbraŋ/, Lemet /mraŋ/, Old Burmese /mraŋ/.)	午 wǔ (SV ngọ, VS ngựa) | M 午 wǔ < MC ŋɔ < OC *ŋa:ʔ | Wiktionary: Etymologically, Norman (1985) proposed connection with Austroasiatic; Ferlus (2013) noted a '[g]ood correspondence' between Proto-Vietic *m-ŋəːʔ (whence Vietnamese ngựa) and Old Chinese reconstructions like *m-qʰˁaʔ (Baxter-Sagart) and *ᵀs.ŋaʔ (Ferlus). Also compare Proto-Hlai *hŋaːʔ (“horse”), Proto-Kra *ŋja C (“horse”). Alternatively, Smith (2011) proposed 午 (OC *ŋaːʔ)'s cognacy with 啎 (OC *ŋaːs) 'to meet head on' and 御 (OC *ŋas) 'to meet in (battle)' and suggested that ''the moon at its full phase opposes the sun directly in the sky, meaning *ŋaaʔ 午 is probably to be glossed, given *-ʔ , ‘facing stage’''. Schuessler (2007) regarded 午 (OC ŋâh) 'to go against' as a mere graphic variant of 啎 and thus deemed the sense 'to go against' distinct from the 'earthly branch' sense.	****For VS 'ngựa', 午 wǔ (SV 'ngọ') is much more plausible since it is in line with other forms that is placed as the 7th animal in the list of the 12 animal zodiac table. The other forms appear only in the forms with initial /mbr-/, /mr-/, /br-/ and finals as /-aŋ/ as in Chin. 馬 mǎ (SV mã) < MC ma < OC *mra:ʔ; otherwise, 'ngựa' and 馬 mă are not cognates.
ngáp	yawn	Viet. /ngáp/, no Old Mon, mod. /kʿa-āp/, Raing White /ŋɑp-/, /hɑp-/, Palaung /pʿɛ`m2ñɑ’u2/, Wa /ŋɑp3/, Khmer /sŋāp/, Malay /kuap/, Nicobarese /hiŋ-âp/, Biat /nʾgap/, Bahnar /hā-ap/, /gəŋɑp/,, T’eng /hŋɑp/, Khasi /saham/, Mundari /cahabʔ/, /cābr/.	哈 hā (SV cáp, VS ngáp) | Dialect: Beijing: (contraction of) | M 哈欠 hāqiān (SV cápkhiếm) > VS 'ngáp' <~ M 哈欠 hāqiān | M 哈 (呷) hā, hă, hà, kā, hē, shà < MC ŋop < OC *ŋɡuːb	****All forms are cognate, interestingly, including that of Chinese. (2)
nghệ	turmeric	Curcama) (No Old Mon, mod. /mit/, Danaw /kʿămət2/, Riang White /rɤmit\ /, Black /rəmit\ /, Srê /rəmit/, Mnong Gar /rmut/	艾 ài, yì (SV nghệ, ngải) | M 艾 ài, yì < MC ŋɨaj < OC *ŋads, *ŋaːds	*****There is no doubt that both the Chinese and Vietnamese forms are cognate, but 艾 yì (SV nghệ) might not be native in ancient China.
nai	barking deer	No Old Mon, mod. pah/, Danaw /pɤt3/, Riang White and Black /pos-/...	鹿 lù (SV lộc, VS nai) | M 鹿 lù < MC ləwk < OC *b·roːɡ | Etymology: From Proto-Vietic *k-ɗeː. Cognate with Muong đai and Arem kadeː. Alternative forms: (North Central Vietnam) nây	*Other forms are omitted here since they  do not seem to be related to that of Vietnamese 'nai'. In the meanwhile, 鹿 lù (SV lộc) is possibly a good candidate .
mới	new	Viet. /mới/, Old Mon /tumi/, Modern Mon /tami/, Danaw /kʿɛ`ʔ4/, Riang White /tɤn\méʔ\ /, Black /tən\méʔ\, Palaung /kămɑ’i2/, Wa /kʿrɑuʔ1/, Old Khmer /tmī/, Sakai /bei, /pâi/, Besisi /ʾmpai/, Biat /mʾhe/, Srê /tərɛ/, M’nong, Gar /mhei/, P’u-man /u-hmui/, T’eng /hmé/, Khasi /thymmai/	萌 méng (SV manh, VS mới, mầm, măng) | M 萌 méng, míng < MC məɨjŋ < OC *mre:ŋ | Etymology: Viet. 'mới' < Proto-Austro-Asiatic: pɤj,, Proto-Vietic: *bʔǝ:jʔ, Proto-Aslian: *pa:j, Proto-Vietmuong: *bʔǝ:jʔ, Tum: bǝɨj.212 | Wiktionary: Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *mreːŋ): semantic 艹 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 明 (OC *mraŋ). Etymologically, “to bud; to begin” Compare Lepcha ᰖᰮ (mlam, “shoots that sprout from stump of tree”) (Schuessler, 2007).“moe” Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 萌え (moe).	**The Vietnamese ‘mới’ appears cognate to those of other Mon-Khmer languages; however, 萌 (氓) méng (SV manh) could give rise to 'mới'.  Cf. VS ‘cũ’ which a confirmed cognate with the Chinese 舊 jìu (SV cựu) or ‘old’ served as a parallel to the opposite concept ‘mới’ (new), all written with the semantic 艹 (“grass; plant”).
mộng	dream	Viet. /mộng/, Old Mon /appoʾ/(?), Modern Mon /lapaʾ/, Danaw (ti:n2)pɔ1/, Riang White /(yɛ`t-)rɤmuʔ\ /, Black /(yɛ`t-)rəmuʔ\ /, Palaung /m-bɑu2/, Wa /puʔ1/, Sakai /ěmpoʾ/, Semang /ʾmpāʾ/, Malay /mimpi/, Nicobarese /enfūa/, Stieng /mboi/, Srê /mbao/, Bahar /hapō/, /apō/, T’eng /mʾpo/, Kʿmu /kamu/, Khasi /phohsniew/, Mundari /kumu/.	夢 mèng (SV mộng, VS mơ) | M 夢 mèng < MC muwŋ < OC *mɯŋ, *mɯŋs	*****Both the Vietnamese and Chinese forms are clearly cognate. At the same time, several Mon‑Khmer reflexes display parallel sound‑change patterns that suggest they too may descend from the same source, more plausibly as loanwords from Vietnamese mơ than from Luce’s proposed mộng. The essential point is that this fundamental word recurs across multiple languages and families, with the Vietnamese form mơ (an alternate of mộng) standing as a cognate within that wider network.
mối	white ant	Viet. /mối/, no Old Mon, mod. /samat/, Danaw /tɔŋ4kʿrun2/, Riang White /pruiñ\ /, /priñ\ /, Palaung /brun2/, Wa /mɔ1,3/..) Ols Khmer /samoc/ Malay /sěmut/, T'eng /hmuic/, Mundari /muiʔ/	螞 mă, mà, mā ~ phonetic M 馬 mă < MC ma < OC *mra:ʔ | Ex. 螞蟻 măyǐ ~ VS 'kiếnmối' (white ant)	**All cross-linguistic family etyma are cognate to VS 'mối' as Luce's notation. In that case VS 'kiến' is possibly cognate to either Chin. /yì/ or /xiàn/.)
mắt	eye	Viet. /mắt/, Old Mon /mɑt/, Modern Mon /mɑt/, Danaw /ŋɑi2/, Riang White /ŋɑi\ /, Black /ŋɑi\ /, Palaung /ŋɑ'i2/, /ŋɔi2/, Wa /ŋɑ'i2/, Old Kmer /mat/, Sakai /mat/, Besisi /mōt/, Semang /med/, Malay /mata/, Nicobarese /oal-mât/, T'eng /măt/ Lemei /ŋɑi/, Khasi /khmat/, War /mat/, Mundari /mẽdʔ/, Gadaba /mā/, Kurku /mẽd/	目 mù (SV mục, VS mắt) | M 目 mù < MC muwk < OC *mug | Etymology: From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mjək. Cognate with Tibetan མིག (mig, “eye”), Burmese မျက် (myak, “eye, face”). | Dialects:  Hainanese /mat7/, Ex. (Hai.) 目鏡 /mat7kɜng5/ (VS mắtkiếng) 'eye glasses' (note the word order in both speech are the same, too.)	******All languages have the same etyma for this word! Southeast Asian linguists usually discount this word out of their list owing the close similarity among them, which may make it a mere coincidence. However, the point to be made here is this core item is cognate to the VS /mắt/.
mầy	thou	Viet. /mày/, Old Mon /beh/, Modern Mon /beh/, Danaw /mɤʔ1/, Riang White /mɪʔ\ /, Black /mɪʔ\ /, Palaung /méɪ2/, Wa /mɑɪʔ3/, Semang /pāy/, /meh/, Nicobarese /mẽ/, T'eng /mé/, Khasi /mé/, Mundari /am/, /me/	你 nǐ (SV ni, VS mầy, mi, ngươi) | M 你 (伱) nǐ (ni, nhĩ) < MC ɳɨ < OC *nɯʔ | Note: Actually there are several other forms such as 弥, 彌 mí, 爾 ér, 汝 rú, etc. all point to elevated modern second singular personal pronoun 你 nǐ ~ 'mày, mày, mi...' in Vietnamese.	***Though there is no doubt that there are cognates among listed languages in this item, the cross linguistic family similarity makes one wonder if they are the same cases as those of pa, ma, mat, mom, etc.? Cf. 弥 mí, mǐ, yì (SV mệ, mạ)
mười	ten	(None applicable)	十 shí (SV thập, VS mười, mươi) | M 十 shí < MC dʑip < OC *ɡjub | From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *sV-ɢip. For Viet. 'mười', from Proto-Vietic *maːl, doublet of mươi. Let's associate the lexeme with '一十 yīshí​ (SV nhấtthập, VS mộtchục)' whereas 十 shí ~ 'mươi' {/-wj/ arises from the clipping of the initial /ch-/ (VS 'chục') then adds /m-/ to /-wk/ <~ '一十 yī (SV nhất).' Hence 'mộtchục' 一十 yīshí ​(SV nhấtthập) gives rise to VS 'mười'. For the interchange ¶ /ch- ~ m-/, cf. 吵 chăo, miāo < MC miaw, tʂʰaɨw < OC *sm̥ʰreːwʔ, *mewʔ, 'chùachiềng' ~ 寺廟 sìmiào (SV tựmiếu) whereas廟 miào is posited as a duplicative 'chiềng'.	*It appears that nothing looks alike here in all languages involved. For Chin. 十 shí (SV thập) we have 'chục' in Vietnamese while 'mười' is highly speculative just like the other cases of 'four', 'five', 'seven', and 'eight'.
mưa	rain	Viet. /mưa/, Old Mon /brey/, /gūr/, Modern Mon /brai/, /gū/, Danaw /kălé1/, Riang White /tjuŋ\ /, /klɛ-/, Black /tsuŋ\ /, /klɛ-/, Palaung /klɑ'i2/, /klɔ'i2/, Wa /lɛ`ʔ3préiʔ1/, Sakai /maniʾ/, Semang /mī/, Nicobarese /amīh/, Srê /miu/, Bahnar, Stieng /mi/, T'eng /kəma/, /yur/ (v.)	雨 yǔ (SV vũ, VS mưa) | M 雨 yǔ yǔ, yù (vũ, vù) < MC ɦuə̆ < OC *ɢʷaʔ, *ɢʷaʔs | ¶ /y-(v-) ~ m-/ | § 雲 yún (SV vân, VS mây), 舞 wǔ (SV vũ, VS múa), 無 wú (SV vô, VS mô)	***Even though most of them are cognate to VS /mưa/, the Chinese form 雨 yǔ is still a strong case for its plausible pattern of sound changes /y-/ ~ /m-/.
mũi	nose	Viet. /mũi/, Old Mon /muh/, Modern Mon /muh/, Danaw /kădət3/, Riang White and Black /kədɔʔ-/, Palaung /muh3/, Wa /mɤh5/,Old Khmer /muh/, Sakai /moh/, /mūh/, T'eng /muh/, Khasi /khmut/, Mundari /mũ/, Savara /mu/, Gadaba /muvvu/, Kurku /mū/	鼻 bí (SV tỵ, VS mũi) | M 鼻 bí < MC biɪ < OC *blids | Etymologically, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *bi (“nose”); compare Nuosu ꅳꁖ (hnap bbit, “nose; snot”). In some modern lects, including Mandarin, Gan, Jin, Wu, and Xiang, and even in the literary layer of some Min dialects, the word reflects a form with final *-t. For example, in standard Mandarin, the word is pronounced bí (implying an old entering tone) instead of bì (the expected reflex from the departing tone in Middle Chinese).	*The Vietnamese /muj4/, obviously, except for the Chinese form, are cognate to all other forms. The speculation that 'mũi' and 鼻 bí are cognate is based on the posits of other body parts between the 2 languages as  the interchange of this form is either irregular or distant etymological variants which share only their labial phoneme which of the Vietnamese lexeme is nasalized via /pt-/ demonstrated by the SV /tej6/ 'ty.' < /ptej/ ~ /mej4/ ~ /muj4/.
măng	edible bamboo shoots	Viet. /măng/, Old Mon /tbaŋ/, Modern Mon /tɓaŋ/, Danaw /tu1bôŋ4/, Riang White /kɤtjoʔ\ /, Black /kətsoʔ\ /, Palaung /bɑŋ2/, Wa /sɑɯ1/, Khmer /dambaŋ/, Sakai /rêbôk/, Besisi /lemboŋ/, Samang /abboŋ/, Malay /rêboŋ/, Bahnar /təbaŋ/, Srê /ɓan/	萌 méng (SV manh, VS mới, mầm, măng) | M 萌 méng, míng < MC məɨjŋ < OC *mre:ŋ | Etymology: Viet. 'mới' < Proto-Austro-Asiatic: pɤj,, Proto-Vietic: *bʔǝ:jʔ, Proto-Aslian: *pa:j, Proto-Vietmuong: *bʔǝ:jʔ, Tum: bǝɨj.212 | Wiktionary: Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *mreːŋ): semantic 艹 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 明 (OC *mraŋ). Etymologically, “to bud; to begin” Compare Lepcha ᰖᰮ (mlam, “shoots that sprout from stump of tree”) (Schuessler, 2007).“moe” Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 萌え (moe). According to Starostin, 萌 bud, young shoot, to sprout (Late Zhou). Reconstruction *m(h)rǝ̄ŋ is also possible (hsiehsheng would suggest *m(h)rāŋ, but in this case the MC form would be irregular). Regular Sino-Viet. is manh; another loan from the same source is possibly Viet. mống 'bud, germ'. Meanwhile, M 秧 yāng < MC ʔɨaŋ < OC *qaŋ, *qaŋʔ | According to Starostin, 秧 young shoots, seedlings (Tang) | Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *bʔaŋ, Proto-Katuic: *bʔaŋ, Proto-Bahnaric: *bʔaŋ, Khmer: lǝmbɔŋ, Proto-Vietic: *ʔp-Proto-Viet-Muong: *ʔbaŋ, t-, #, Muong dialect: păŋ.1, Arem: ʔabaŋ ,Proto-Ruc: *baŋ.1, t-, Ruc (Russian field rec.): taʔbaŋ.1, Ruc tabaŋ.1, Thavung-So: baŋ.1	***Except for a few languages, all others appear to be cognate, including both Chinese forms. Meanwhile, the modern Chinese for 'bamboo shoots' is 竹筍 zhúsǔn and 萌 méng 'young shoot' commonly appear in the compound 萌芽 méngyá with SV 'manhnha' (young bud) while 芽 yá, plausibly a basic word, is cognate to V 'giá' meaning 'young sprouts'; also, 萌 méng could be cognate to 'mới' (new).
móng	nails	Old Mon /sinlem/, Modern Mon /sanem/, Danaw /kălɛ`əŋ4/, Riang White /rəm\hi:m-/, Black /kʿiəŋ2/, /pʿyUəŋ2/, Wa /să\ʔ, Shom Peng /rīap/, Khasi /tyrsim/	跰 bèng, bǐng, pián (SV nghiễn, VS vuốt 'claw' ~> móng 'nail' | ¶ /b- ~ m-/ | M 跰 (趼) pián, bèng, bǐng < MC bɛn, paɨjŋ < OC *be:n, *preŋs | According to Starostin, Pek. yàn meaning 'extremity of animals' paw' is also attested since Han; it accounts for g- in Go-on. | ¶ /y-/ ~ /ng-/, /m-/, and /v-/, and ¶ /j-/ ~ /ng-/, i.e., VS 'ngón' (finger, toe)	*Except for the Chinese word and the derived Vietnamese 'ngón', all other         forms look distant and need more elaboration.
mía	sugarcane, molasses	Viet. /mía/, Old Mon /tbow/, /tanglāy/, Modern Mon /taŋglāai/, Danaw /tɔŋ1nɑi2/, Riang White /tɑm-lɑi\ /, Black /tam-lɑi\ /, Palaung /nɑm3mɑ'ì/, /-mɔi2/, Wa /me2/, /ñɔm4ɔ'i2/, Malay /těbu/, Nicobarese /poh/ T'eng /kəlmé/, Khasi /paɪ/	蔗 zhè (SV giá, VS mía) | M 蔗 zhè < MC tjaːɡs < OC *tjaːɡs || Etymologically,  Muong /mỉa/ ~ Proto-Khmuic /*klme₁ʔ/ ~ Proto-Vietic /*k-mɛːʔ/ ~ Proto-Mon-Khmer *klmiəʔ. Cognate with Muong mỉa, Khmu klmeʔ and Eastern Lawa อเมะ, อมา-อิ, อแมะ.	*Sugarcane used to be native in South China and the V /mía/ looks like agreeable to some Mon-Khmer forms in Luce's list. Meanwhile, the sound change patterns in the Chinese form also suggest some correspondences since this may be a loanword in Chinese.
mình	we (exclusive)	Old Mon /poy/, Modern Mon /puiai/	M 咱們 zánměn (SV tamôn, VS chúngmình ~ > VS mình | M 們 mén, men < MC mon < OC *mjə:n	****Other Luce's listed cognates do not sound anything like 'mình' or 'chúngmình' at all.
mè	sesamum, sesame	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /daŋnau/, /laŋau/, Danaw /lɔŋ2ŋɑʔ4/, Riang White /lɤŋɑʔ\ /, /lək\ŋɑʔ\ /, Palaung /răŋɑ2/, Wa /ŋyéʔ3/, /ŋɛ`2/, /ŋɑʔ3/, Old Knhmer /lŋo/, Malay /ləŋa/, Biat /rʾŋa/ Shan /ŋā	麻 má (SV ma) | M 蔴 (麻) mā, má ~ M 麻 má < MC ma < OC * mhra:j | For 麻 má, according to Starostin 'hemp' (Cannabis sativa), standard Sino-Viet. is ma. For *mh- cf. Shaowu mai7.	******Viet and Chinese forms are clearly cognate with no relation to other languages.
máu	blood	Old Mon /chim/, Modern Mon /chim/, Danaw /kănɑ4/, Riang White /nɑ:m-/, Black /nɑm-/, Palaung /nɑm2/, Wa /hnɑm2/, Khmer /jhām/, Sakai /běhīm/,Semang /muhum/, Car Nicarobese /măham/, Bahar /pham/, T'eng /mam/, K'mu /semắm/, Khasi /smam/ Mundari /maěon/	M 衁  huāng (SV hoang, VS máu) | M 衁 huāng, nǜ < MC hwaŋ < OC *hmaːŋ | While the modern Chin. 血 xiě, xuè (SV huyết, VS 'tiết' as in 'tiếtcanh' 血羹 xiěgēng), there exists the word 衁 huāng where it carries the phonetic stem M 亡 wáng (SV vong, vô) < MC mwaŋ < OC *maŋ | Kangxi: 《康熙字典·血部·三》衁：《唐韻》《集韻》《正韻》𠀤呼光切，音荒。《說文》血也。《左傳·僖十五年》士刲羊，亦無衁也。《韓愈詩》衁池波風肉陵屯。| Wiktionary: Etymologically, borrowed from Austroasiatic; compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *ɟhaam ~ *ɟhiim (“blood”), whence Khmer ឈាម (chiəm, “blood”), Mon ဆီ (chim, “blood”), Proto-Bahnaric *bhaːm (“blood”), Proto-Katuic *ʔahaam (“blood”), Proto-Khmuic *maː₁m (“blood”). Chinese has final -ŋ because initial and final m are mutually exclusive (Schuessler, 2003; Schuessler, 2007).	****It appears that the V 'máu' /maw5/ points to other etyma in other languages cross linguistic families, starting with /m-/ and /p-/ while the Chinese form 血 /xuè/ is speculative via @ /hw-/ ~ /m-/ of 衁 huáng 'blood'. The Austroasiatic cognate might have evolved from some common Taic root, so did variants of proto-Chinese and Old Chinese. Etymologically, per Nicholas C. Bodman (1980) 'Proto-Chinese and Sino-Tibetan,' (in Frans Van Coetsem et al. (eds.) Contributions to Historical Linguistics) (p.120) : 'An interesting hapax legomenon for 'blood' appears in the Dzo Zhuan which has an obvious Austroasiatic origin: Proto-Mnong *mham, Proto-North Bahmaric *maham, 衁 hmam > hmang > ɣuáng.'This word's rare occurrence in a traditional saying indicates that it is not part of the active vocabulary of OC, but a survival from a substrate language.
mác	sword, long dah	Old Mon /snāk/, /snek/, Modern Mon /mra/, Danaw /vwiɛ`k4/, /nɛ`k3/ (knife), Riang White and Black /vwɑk\ /, Palaung /bUt1/ (=dah), Wa /vwɑie5/, Old Khmer /pranāk/, Old Burmese /sanlyak/, S. Karen /naʔ/, Khasi /wait (=dah), /waitlam/ (sword)	矛 máo (SV mâu, VS mác) | M 矛 máo < MC miəu < OC *mu |	****Except for the Mon and Danaw lexemes, the labial vocalism of most of these forms can only point to the Viet. /m-/ for 'mác' (spear), which could be speculative.
má, mẹ	mother	Old Mon /ambo/, /aboʾ/, Modern Mon /bo/, Danaw /mɑɪʔ3/, Riang White /marʾ/, Black /maʔ/, Palaung /mɑ2/, Wa /meʔ3/, /maʔ3/	母 mǔ (SV mẫu, mô, VS mẹ, mợ, vú, u) | M 母 mǔ, mú, wǔ, wú (mẫu, mô) < MC məw < OC *mɯʔ || Wiktionary:  Alternative forms (North Central Vietnam) mệ (minced oath) moẹ, moé, mịa Etymologically, from Proto-Vietic *meːʔ ~ *mɛːʔ; from Proto-Austroasiatic *meʔ (“mother”). Cognate with Bahnar mĕ, Khmer ម៉ែ (mae), Mon မိ (mìˀ), Khasi mei. Ultimately a nursery word, compare Old Chinese 母 (*mɯʔ) and Proto-Tai *meːᴮ (whence Thai แม่ (mɛ̂ɛ)). Doublet of mái.	******Like 'bố' being cognate to 父 fù, Chinese 母 mǔ and V 'mẹ' are clearly of the same source.
muốn	want, desire	Old Mon /mic/, Modern Mon /mik (gwaʾ)/, Danaw /tsʿɔŋ4/, Riang White and Black /sʿun-/, Palaung /sɤŋ2/, Wa /yUh5/, Bahnar /mɛt/, /kəmɛt/.	願 yuàn (SV nguyện, VS muốn) | M 願 (愿) yuán < MC ŋuan < OC *ŋʷans | Note: VS 'muốn' is posited here based on its semantic connot ation accompanied with the pattern¶ /y- ~ m-/	**While some other Mon-Khmer forms are cognate to each other and VS /mót/ (<~ 'muốn') as in 'mótđái' (urged to pee), the Chinese form 願 yuàn may or may not be cognate to the VS /muốn/ that appears to be derived from other Chinese sources as well, such as 願望 yuànwàng ~> VS 'mongmuốn' > 望 wàng (VS 'mong') > 'muốn', or modern Mandarin 想 xiăng.
muối	salt	Viet. /muối/, no Old Mon, Modern Mon /ɓuiw/, Danaw /tsʿɑ4/, Riang White and Black /sʿuɑk-/, Palaung /sɛ`1/, Wa /ki:h5/, Old Burmese /cʿɑ/ (salt), /jawak cʿɑ/ (sal ammoniac), Semang /siak/, Selung /selak, Lemet /siak/, Old Khmer /ampel/, Sakai /mʾpoit/, Semang /empoyd/, Stieng /bǒh/, Srê /boh/, Bahnar /bɔh/, Lemet /pelu/, Khasi /mlun/, Mundari /buluŋ/	硭 máng  (SV vong, VS muối) | M 硭 máng < MC mʷiɐŋ < OC *maŋ	****Most of the forms in other language are cognate to the Vietnamese 'muối' of which the Chin. 硭 máng means "unprocessed salt" -- cf. 忙 máng ~ VS 'mắc' (busy), 衁 huáng ~ VS 'máu' (blood) -- while there is another Chinese form 硝 xiāo (saltpeter) is closer to those words start with the nitials /s-/.
mui	ladle (wooden)	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /yăk/, Danaw /lah2/, Riang White and Black /lɑk-/, Palaung /lɑʔ1/, Wa /lɔk4duh5/, Old Khmer /hvek/	舀 yǎo (SV giáo, VS muỗng, muôi, mui, môi | M 舀 yǎo < MC jiaw, juw, juə̆ < OC *lo, *lu, *lowʔ | ¶ /y- ~ m-/.	***It is interesting to see that the Modern Mon form reflects /yăk/ to match closely with the Chin. /yǎo/.
mo	witch, wizard	Mon mod. /bamuai/, Danaw .../pʿriʔ3/, Riang White and Black .../pʿrɛʔ3\ /, Palaung /bréi2/, T'eng /mòhrói/	巫 wū | M  巫 wū, wú < MC muə̆ < OC *ma || Example:  巫師 wūshī (VS 'thầymo', 'phùthuỷ')	******'thầymo' and 'phùthuỷ' are a sure cognate with the Chinese word 巫師 wūshī. Based on their forms we could posit 'phùthuỷ' a later development from early M /wūshī/ or a dialectal form.
me	tamarind	Old Mon /maŋglañ/, /maŋgleñ/, Modern Mon /maŋ glan/, Danaw /maŋ4kléŋ2/, Riang White /maŋ\klɛ`ŋ\/, Black /maŋ\klɛ`əŋ\ /, Palaung /mákaŋ2/, Wa /(pléʔ1)pʿak1/, Old Burmese /maŋklañ/, Shan /makkiŋ/	梅 méi (SV mai, VS muội, me, mơ, mận) | M 梅 (楳) méi < MC moj < OC *mɯː | Etymologically, per Starostin: Japanese apricot (Prunus mume), plum. Viet. me has a narrowed meaning 'tamarind' (cf. Chin. 酸梅 'tamarind', lit. 'sour plum'). An older loanword is probably Viet. mơ 'apricot'. The regular Sino-Viet. reading is mai. For *m- cf. Min forms: Xiamen m2, Chaozhou bue2, Fuzhou muoi2, Jianou mo2. Ex. 酸梅 suānméi (mechua) ~> me (Tamarindus indica), 梅花 (VS hoamai, 'red avadavat'), 鹹梅 xiánméi (VS xímuội, 'salted dried plum')	***Tamarind trees can only found in tropical regions close to the southern hemisphere, but somehow the Vietnamese form me ('tamarind)'seems to be derived from the word 梅 (méi , SV mai) that still used denote other things, and somehow, phonologically and etymologically Vietnamese cognates though, like 'mận' (plum), 'dâu' (berry), 'mai' (Japanese plum blossom), a kind of flower that appear on the Hong Kong's flag and it is used an emblem of the Taiwan's Airlines.
lửa	fire	Old Mon /pumat/, Modern Mon /pumat/, /ñɔn4/, Riang White and Black /ŋal\ /, Palaung /ŋɑ'i2/, /ŋɔ2/, Wa /ŋu2/, Nicobarese /heōe/, Lemet /ŋal/ Mundari /seŋgel/, Gadaba /suōl/, Kurku /siŋgēl/	火 huǒ (SV hoả, VS lửa) | M 火 huǒ, huō < MC hwa < OC *qʰʷaːlʔ | Etymology: per Starostin, Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *lɨǝ, Proto-Pearic: *le:w.N, Proto-Palaungic: Pr laɨh, Proto-Khmu: *(l)ɨa, Thomon: la.4, (Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *lVŋ 'burn', Khmer: bhlaǝŋ, Proto-Monic: M slaoŋ, Proto-Palaungic: Pr lɨiŋ, glɨiŋ.B, Khasi: iŋ burn; Khmer: bhlaǝŋ)	***The Chinese 火 huǒ and VS /lửa/ look like the only cognates here, but don't tell us the Chinese borrow 'fire' from Austroasiatic! Why don't we associate all other listed etyma with VS /ngọn/, meaning 'tongue (of the flames)'.
lụa	silk	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /sut/, Danaw /kătuʔ2/, Riang White /sʿɤtuʔ\ /, Black /sʿətuʔ/, Palaung /ɗéu2/, Wa /tɑ'əʔ1/	綢 chóu (SV trù, thao, VS lụa) ~ 縷 lǚ (SV lũ, lâu, VS lụa) | (1) M 綢 (紬) chóu, tāo, diào < MC tʰaw, ɖuw < OC *tʰuːw, *dɯw || M 縷 lǚ, lóu, lǔ (lâu, lũ) < MC luə̆ < OC *roʔ | According to Starostin: silk thread (L.Zhou). Viet. lụa is a colloquial loan (probably of Late Han time); regular Sino-Viet. is lũ.	****The Mon /sut/ looks like a cognate with the VS 'lụa' and others like VS         'tơlụa'; however, all point to the Chin. 綢 /chóu/ for VS 'lụa' and 絲綢 /sīchóu/ for 'tơlụa'.
lợn	pig	No Old Mon., mod. /lamlen/, Danaw /tɔŋ2kiɛ`t1/, Riang White /rɤn\kɔs-/, Black /rəŋ\kɔs-/, Palaung /ākɤh3/, Wa /ŋ-goh3/, Sakai /kūsh/...)	豘 tún (SV đồn, độn, VS lợn) |  M 豚 (豘) tún, dūn < MC dwən < OC *duːn | Dialects Cant. tyun4, Hakke tun3 | /¶ t- ~ l-/ | Wiktionary, etymologically, 'domestic pig'. Wang (1982) derives 豚 (OC *lˁunʔ) from 腯 (OC *lˁut). Its is probably related to: 彖 (OC *l̥ʰoːns, “running pig”) and 貒 (OC *tʰoːn, “hog badger”), inside Chinese (Schuessler, 2007); and Proto-Mien *duŋᴮ (“pig”) (Sagart, 1999; Schuessler, 2007; Ratliff, 2010). Starostin: Viet. 'lợn' is an archaic loanword; regular Sino-Viet. is đồn. For *Łh- cf. Xiamen thun2, Chaozhou thuŋ2, Fuzhou thoŋ2.	****For those Mon-Khmer forms selectively listed here, they bear resemblance to each other as cognates among themselves. At the same time the Chin. /tún/ cognate is highly plausible with the sound change pattern ¶/t- ~ l-/ for VS /lợn/. At the same time Vietnamese has also the word 'heo' (pig) which is from the same source as that of the Chinese 亥 hài (SV 'hợi') as it appears in the 12 animal zodiac table as also discussed in "heo" (pig), "trâu" (water bufallo", and "ngựa" (horse).
lỗ	hole, aperture	Old Mon /srūŋ/, Modern Mon /sruiŋ/, Danaw /kătu1/, /tu1/, Riang White /lu\ /, Black /lu\ /, /tuʔ-/, Palaung /kăɗéu2/, Wa /n dɑɯʔ3/, T'eng /həntu/	窿 lóng (SV lung, VS lỗ) | M 窿 lóng < MC luwŋ < OC *ɡ·ruːŋ | Wiktionary: Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *ɡ·ruːŋ): semantic 穴 + phonetic 隆 (OC *ɡ·ruːŋ). Etymologically, STEDT derives it from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kru:ŋ (“cage”). For more see 籠 (OC *roːŋ, *roːŋʔ, *roŋ)	**Is the Chinese form /lóng/ is plausibly cognate to the V 'lỗ' along side of some other Austroasiatic forms or could it be a 瀆 dóu?
lặn	to set (with the sun)	Old Mon /plit/, Modern Mon /pluit/, Danaw /kɔt2/, Riang White /kɤt-/, Black White /kət-/, /kut\/ (to enter), T’eng /gut/ (to enter).	落 luò (SV lạc, VS lặn) | M 落 luò, lè, luō, lào, là < MC lak < OC *gra:g | ¶ /-k ~ -n/-ng/, Ex. 腹 fú ~ SV 'phúc' /-k/ ~> VS 'bụng' /-ng/ (belly), 忙 máng /-ng/ ~ VS 'bận' /-n/ ~> 'mắc' /-k/ (busy) | Ex. 日落 rìluò (SV nhậtlạc) ~ VS 'trờilặn' (sunset)	****Only the Mon forms are cognate to the VS /lặn/ while the Chinese form for this item point to /luò/. (2)
lấy	get	Old Mon /goʾ/, Modern Mon /gwaʾ/, Danaw /byɛ`n4/, Riang White and Black /bɔn-/, Palaung /bɤn2/, Wa /bɔn2/, T’eng /buɔ`n/, Khasi /io/.	拿 ná (SV nã, VS lấy) | M QT 拿 (拏) ná < MC ɳɯa < OC *rna: | Dialects: Nanchang lak41, Hakka : na11, Cant. na12, naa4, laa4 (colloquial: /lɔ12/)	****The strange thing is the Mon and Khasi forms do not seem to be cognate to any other etyma in this limited list for the item while the Chin.  /ná/ and the VS /lấy/, which are cognates, do not look like having anything to do with any other Mon-Khmer forms. (1)
lưỡi	tongue	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /lātɑk/, Danaw /tɔŋ2tɑʔ1/, Riang White /tak-/, Black /tɑk-/, Palaung /săɗɑʔ1/, Wa /n-dak3/, Khmer /antāk/, Sakai /ləntāk/, Semang /letic/, Maly /lidah/, Nicobarese /kaletâk/, T'eng /həntak/, Mundari /leʔ/, /alaŋ/	舌 shé (SV thiệt, hoạt, VS lưỡi) | M 舌 shé, guā, jī < MC ʑet, ɦwaɨt < OC *lat, *ɡroːd, *ɦbljed | According to Starostin: Protoform *lăj(H) ( / *lăt;t; m-). Meaning: tongue. Chinese: 舐 *lajʔ, *leʔ to lick; 舌 *lat tongue. Tibetan: ltɕe tongue; blade; flame. Burmese: hlja tongue, LB *s-lja. Kachin: siŋlet2 the tongue, (H) lai id. Lushei: lei tongue, KC *m-lei. Lepcha: li/, a-li/ the tongue.	***As we can see, the Chinese form points to a much more credible etymon which is cognate to those in the Sino-Tibetan camp. See more details in the chapter on Sino-Tibetan etymologies. Besides, Cantonese still retains the ancient form as /lei6/ 脷 lěi (SV lợi), cf. 舐 *lajʔ ~ VS 'liếm'.
lúa	paddy	Old Mon and modern /sroʾ/, Danaw /bɑ1/, Siang White /ŋUʔ-/, Black /ŋoʔ-/, Palaung /hŋɑ'2/, Wa /ŋoʔ3/, Khasi /kba/, Mundari /baba/, Old Burmese /capā/, Old Khmer /srū/	來 lái (SV lai, VS lúa) | M 來 lái, lài, lāi (lai, lãi) < MC ləj < OC *mrɯːɡ | Wiktionary: The character 來, now widely interpreted as 'to come', originated as a pictogram (象形) depicting wheat. Its ancestral forms include 麥 (OC *mrɯːɡ, 'wheat') and 麳 (OC *rɯː, 'wheat').	***While Starostin cited this etymon as 稻 dào for 'lúa', other forms in other Austroasiatic languages do not appear to be close the Chinese and Vietnamese forms, i.e., 來 lái and 'lúa'. The 稻 dào ('lúa') is supposedly a loanword in Chinese.
lãng	deaf	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /sɗuiŋ/, Danaw /klət3,1/, Riang White /lu:t-/, Black /lut-/, Palaung /lUt1/, Wa /lət3/, T'eng /səlut/, Khasi /kyllut/	聾 lóng (SV lung, VS lãng) | M 聾 lóng < MC ləwŋ < OC *ro:ŋ | Ex. 耳聾 ěrlóng ~ VS lãngtai ('hearing-impaired')	****All the forms with the vocalism /l-/ appear loosely cognate to the Vietnamese form 'lãng' derived from the Chin. 聾 lóng except for the Modern Mon as /sɗuiŋ/ which somewhat resembles V 'điếc' <~ VS 'điếctai' 失聰 shīcōng ~ SV 'thấtthông' (deaf).
lâu	long (of time)	Old Mon /loʾ/, Modern Mon /lɑʾ/, Danaw /kʿămɛ` ʔ4/, Riang White /tjɤn\nɔʔ\ /, Black /tsən\nɔʔ\	久 jǐu (SV cửu, VS lâu) | M 久 jǐu < MC kuw < OC *kʷlɯʔ | Dialect: Cant. /gau2/, colloquial /loj2/ or /nɔj2/	***While there is absence of other lexicons in the Mon-Khmer languages, the Mon forms represent what appears to be cognate to VS /lâu/, including that of the Cant. form as /nɔj2/ which can be related to the Chinese form as /jǐu/ in Mandarin.
lá	leaf	Viet. /lá/, Old Mon /sla/, Modern Mon /sla/, Danaw /lɑ1/, Riang White and Black /laʔ-/, Palaung /hlɑ2/, Wa /laʔ3/, Old Khmer /slik/, Sakai /sělâk/, Nicobarese /dai/, /rai/, Biat /nʾha/, Bahnar /hla/, P'u-man /hla/, T'eng /hlaʔ/, Khasi /sla/, Mundari /araʔ/ (edible leaf	葉 yè (SV diệp) | M 葉 yè, dié, shè, xiè < MC jiap, ɕiap < OC *leb, *hljeb  | ¶ /y- ~ l-/ | According to Starostin: Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *la, Proto-Katuic: *la, Proto-Bahnaric: *la, Khmer: sla:, Proto-Pearic: *laʔ.N, Proto-Vietic: *laʔ, s-, Proto-Monic: *la:ʔ, Proto-Palaungic: *laʔ, Proto-Khmu: *laʔ, Khasi: sla-diŋ, Proto-Aslian: *sǝlaʔ, Proto-Viet-Muong: *laʔ, ʔ-, Thomon: la.343ʔ, Tum: la.212 | Tibetan languages: ldeb lá, tờ, Burmese: ɑhlap cánhhoa., Kachin: lap2 lá, Lushei: le:p búp, Lepcha: lop lá, Rawang ʂɑ lap lá (cuốn bánh) ; Trung ljəp1 lá, Bahing lab. Sh. 138; Ben. 70.	****In addition the obvious cognates among those listed Mon-Khmer lexicons, the VS 'lá' also shows etymological similarity with the 葉 yè, especially with its ancient sounds.
liềm	sickle	No Old Mon form, mod. /not/, Danaw /tɔŋ2tsén4/, Riang White /tɤn\tjan\ /kə\tsan\ /, Wa /ʃívwɔk3/	鐮 lián (SV liêm), VS liềm | M 鐮 (鎌) < MC liam < OC *ɡ·rem	*****If this word is actually meant 'sickle' then only the Vietnamese and Chinese words are etymologicially related or cognates, to be exact.
liếm	lick	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /klān/, Danaw /kăliɛ`t3/, Riang White /lia\ /, Black /liɛ`t\ /, Palaung /lɛ`t/, /lɑ’ʔ1/, Wa / liɛ`t3/, Khmer /līt/, Besisi /tělön/, Nicobarese /tulân/, Malay /jilat/, Khasi /jliah/.	舔 tiăn (SV thiêm, VS liếm) | M 舔 tiăn < MC t’iem < OC *slem | According to Starostin, 舔 tiăn, to lick (Tang), Viet. 'liếm' must be an archaic loan (unless it is a chance coincidence); standard Sino-Viet. is thiêm. | Note: Zhou (zyxlj, p.250) MC t’iem < OC *t’ijəm < PC*lijəm, *liem. Dialaect Guangzhou (Cant.): li-m, TB *(s-)lyjəm ‘tongue’	*****It is interesting so see that most of the listed forms are cognate to each other, including the Chinese one. (1)
kiệu	leeks	No Mon forms, Danaw /kʿnuʔ1/, Riang White /..kʿyu-/, Black /cʿu-/, Palaung /(ɗéu2)kau4/	韭 (韮) jǐu (SV cựu, VS kiệu) | M 韭 (韮) jǐu < MC kuw < OC *kruʔ | ¶ /j- ~ k-, h-/ | Ex. 韭菜jǐucài (VS rauhẹ) | Wiktionary: Pictogram (象形) – leek in the ground (一). Unrelated to 非. Etymologically, cognate to Tibetan སྒོག་པ (sgog pa, “garlic, leek”) and Japhug ɕku (“onion”) (Zhang, Jacques & Lai 2019). One can reconstruct Proto-Sino-Tibetan *skuq to cover these words.	****All forms listed here point to Chin. /jǐu/, which shows the same origin. The question is from which language these etyma have originated?
kim	needle	Old Mon /tinliñ/, /tinleñ/, Modern Mon /taniŋ/, Danaw /tăkaʔ3/, Riang White /pɤl\ŋyéʔ/, /pən\lɑic\ /, Palaung /rɤ2/, Wa /rɤ/, Sakai /tenlait/, /penlaig/ (blowpipe dart), Biat /ŋʾlai/, T'eng /səkăm/	箴 zhēn (SV châm,VS kim) ~ 針 zhēn (SV châm,VS kim, 'needle') | (1) M 針 (鍼, 箴) zhēn < MC tɕim < OC *kjum, *kjums || (2) arrow: M 箭 jiàn < MC tsiɛn < OC *ʔslens	****The vocalic /t-/ in some form points to VS /tên/ while only the T'eng /səkăm/ is similar to the V /kim/. In both cases the Vietnamese etyma are derived from those of Chinese.
khóc	mourn, cry	Old Mon /yām/, Modern Mon /yām/, Danaw /ñɑn2/, Riang White and Black /yɑm\ /, Palaung /yɑm2/, /yɪm2/, Old Khmer /yām/, Sakai /yabm/, Besisi /yām/, Semang /jām/, /jim/, Nicobarese /chīm/, Stieng, Srê /ñim/, Biat /ñim/, Bahar /ñem/, /ñum/, Pʿu-man /yaŋ/, T’eng /yam/, Lemet /yām/, K’mu /yâm/, Khasi /tām/, Mundari /iam/, Kurku /yam/.	免 wèn (SV vấn), 哭 kù (SV khốc, VS khóc) | M 免 miăn, wèn (SV miễn, vấn) < MC mian < OC *mronʔ  || M 哭 kū < MC kʰəwk < OC *ŋ̥ʰoːɡ || M QT 泣 qì < MC kʰɯip < OC *kʰrɯb | FQ 去急 (SV 'khấp')	******While the VS ‘khóc’ can be a word to mean both ‘to mourn' and 'cry’ which is cognate to both C 泣 qì (SV khấp) and 哭 kù (SV khốc) respectively, the other Vietnamese form 免 wèn (SV vấn 'mourning headdress') seems to fit well into the Mon-Khmer vocables similar to /yam/. (4)
khuya	midnight	Old Mon /sgāl tney/, Modern Mon /sagā iai/, Danaw /chen4tsən4/, Riang White /kʿi:n-sʿɔm-/, Black /tən\kʿi:n-sʿɔm-/, Palaung /kădéi2hmɤ3/, /hmɤ3kădɑ'i2/, Wa /grəŋ4sɔm2/, Nicobarese /haròm/ (night), T'eng /pəsuòm/ (night)	午夜 wǔyè (SV ngọdạ)  | M 午 wǔ < MC ŋɔ < OC *ŋa:ʔ || M QT 夜 (亱) yè, yì < MC jia < OC *laːɡs | cf. 月 yuè ~ SV 'nguyệt' (moon) || Note: VS 'khuya' possibly derived from the contraction of '午 wǔ ~> /khw-/ + 夜 yè /-ya'/ => 'khuya'	**If solely based on the definition of 'midnight', the Vietnamese form is hardly to be cognate to any of all other forms, except for the possible contracted form of Chin. 午夜 wǔyè or even 夜 yè ~ SV 'khuya'.
keo	lac	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /krek/, /krut/, Danaw /yaŋ4kʿărék3/, Riang White /trɔit-/, Black /trɔic-/, Palaung /krɤɪʔ1/, krɔ'it1/, Mundari /êrê-ko/	蟲膠 chóngjiāo, 蟲脂 chóngzhǐ | M 膠 jiāo, háo, jiăo, jiào, năo, qiāo < MC kaɨw< OC *kʰrɯːw, *krɯːw, *krɯːws	*Semantically VS 'keo', a cognate with the Chinese form 膠 jiāo 'glue', is not exactly 'lac', but it looks like those of other forms listed by Luce for this item.
hỏi	ask	Old Mon /smāñ/, Modern Mon /smān/, Danaw /mɑi2/, Riang White and Black /mɑiñ-/, Palaung /hmɑn2/, /hmɔn2/, Wa /mɑiñ2/, Sakai /səman/, Semang /semañ/, Nocobarese /hamâ/, Bahar /apiñ/, T’eng /mañ/, K’mu /mai/ Lemet /mañ/, Khasi /pan/.	問 wèn (SV vấn, VS hỏi) | M 問 wèn < MC miun < OC *mɯns | ¶ /w- ~ h-/	***All forms are cognate. It is interesting to see that all other Mon-Khmer forms also reflect OC /*m-/ in their etyma, but the question remains whether if the Mon-Khmer forms derived from the that of the Chinese or everything is just merely coincidental.
hôi	to rot, putrid	Viet. /hôi/, no Old Mon, , Modern Mon /sa-uai/, Danaw /sʿɔŋ2ɤn4/, Riang White /kʿɤm/, Black /kʿəm-/, Palaung /am2/, Wa /tjuʔ1/, Old Khmer /sa-uy/, T’eng /həʔu/ (to smell bad), Mundari /soěa/, Srê /pəʔum/, Biat, Mnong Gar /ôm/.	臭 xìu (SV xú, VS hôi, thúi) | M 臭 chòu, xìu < MC ʨjəw < OC *khiws	*****While other Mon-Khmer forms diverge greatly, both of the Chinese and Vietnamese forms are cognate.
hòndái	testicles	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /makruik/, Danaw /tɔŋ2klot4/	M 玉丸 yùhuăn (SV ngọchoàn, VS hòndái) | M 玉 yù < MC ŋuawk < OC *ŋoɡ || QT 丸 wán < MC ɦwan < OC *ɡʷaːn	******Additional listings by Luce do not show anything similar to the VS form as 'hòndái' /hɔn2jaj6/, which is definitely from the Chinese /yùhuăn/ (SV ngọchoàn), as in numerous other lexicons, in reverse order.
há	open mouth	Viet. /há/, No Old Mon, Modern Mon /hā/, Danaw /hɑ1/, Riang White and Black /ɑŋ-/, Palaung /ɑŋ2/, Wa /ɑŋ2/, Khmer /hā/, Srê /hā/, Bahnar /ha/, Besisi /ɑŋ/, T’eng /ɑŋ/, Khasi /ang/.	哈 hā (SV cáp, ha, VS há), 開 kāi (SV khai) | M 哈 (呷) hā, hă, hà, kā, hē, shà < MC ŋop < OC *ŋɡuːb || M 開 kāi < MC kʰəj < OC *kʰɯːl | Dialect Cant. /hoi1/	****Except for the /ang/ form, all other forms are cognate to the VS         /há/, which include those of the Chin. 開 kāi as /hoi1/ appearing in Cant.
heo	pig	Old Mon /klīk/, /kliŋ/, Modern Mon /klik/, Danaw /kălék3,1/, Riang White and Black /lék\ /, Palaung /léʔ1/, Wa /li:k3/, Old Khmer /jrvrak/, Sakai /lu/, Semang /jalin/, Madurese /cheleŋ/ (wild pig), Khasi /sniang/	亥 hài (SV hợi, VS 'heơ') | M 亥 hài < MC ɦəj < OC *ɡɯːʔ | Note: the 12th animal in the zodiac table	****While all Mon-Khmer forms show cognates with V 'lợn', that is, plausibly a cognate with Chin. 豘 (豚) tún (SV đồn, độn). Chin. 亥 hài (SV 'hợi') with VS 'heơ' is another case, similar to the case of 'trâu' (water bufallo) or 'ngựa' (horse), which fits well into the 12 animal zodiac table the proto-Chinese must have borrowed from the Yue people from the China South.
hai	two	Old Mon /bār/, modern /ɓa/, Old Khmer /ver, vyar/, Bahnar /ɓar/, Mundari /bar/	二 èr (SV nhị, VS hai) | M 二  èr < MC ȵiɪ < OC *njis | Note: For VS hai, Consider the possibility of SV 'nhị' /ɲej6/ > /nhej/ > /hej1/ > /haj1/ ? | cf. VS 'hăm' 廿 niàn (SV nhập) 'twenty-', ex. 廿一 niànyī (SV nhậpnhất) or VS 'hămmốt' (twenty-one). In late Zhou 再 zài (SV tái) could be used to indicate the concept of 'hai' as in modern M 再三 zàisān (VS 'haiba') to mean 'two or (times)'.	**Phonetic vocables rendered with this item sounds like 'ba' (three) in Vietnamese, though. But it cannot be "three" because if it is the case, this sound will take place of the actual "ba", then; Vietnamese cognate is not mentioned in this item in any case. It is also interesting to see that number 'one' is not listed in Luce's listings. Luce's list starts with 'two'; no 'one' was cited while V 'một' ~ '一 yī' (SV nhất) as 'one' could be speculatively cognate.
gừng	ginger	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /tagaw/, /lagaw/, Danaw /kătsaŋ4/, Riang White /kɤsʿiaŋ-/, Black /kəsʿɛ`ŋ, Palaung /ʃiaŋ2/, /cʿo:ŋ2/, Wa /ʃi4kiŋ2/, Khasi /sying/	薑 jiāng (SV khương, VS gừng) | M  薑 (𧅁) jiāng < MC kɨaŋ < OC *kaŋ | ¶ /j- ~ g-/	******The Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate to other forms except for the modern Mon forms, even though they are cited by Luce as the Danaw form sub-strata.
gởi	send, conduct	Old Mon /pindoŋ/, Modern Mon /palăŋ/, Danaw /pʿu1/, Riang White and Black /pʿuʔ-/.	寄 jì (SV ký, VS gởi) | M 寄 jì < MC kjiə̆ < OC *krals | ¶ /j- ~ g-/, Ex. 雞 jī (SV kê, VS gà , 'chicken'), 薑 jiāng (SV khương, VS gừng, 'ginger')	****The VS ‘gởi’ and the Chin. 寄 jì are cognate; not sure what Luce meant here in his limited list for this item. (4)
chông/gốc	stump of tree	Mid. Mon /daguiw/, Modern Mon /dʿaguiw/, Danaw /tɔŋ2ŋɔt4/, Riang White /tjɤl\ŋɤl\ /, Black /tsəl\ŋəl\ /, Palaung /ŋói2/, Wa /klUh5/, Old Burmese /ŋut/, Malay /tuŋgul/, Biat /yôkŋǒl/, Srê /təŋgu/, Bahnar /ŋâl/	樁 zhuāng (SV thung, đang, VS chông, chống, đụn) | (1) M 樁 zhuāng, chōng < MC ʈaɨwŋ < OC *ʔr'oːŋ | (2) M 根 gēn < MC kæn < OC *kjə:n	*The author is unsure which Chinese etymon matches Viet. /chông/ or /gốc/ as intended by Luce.
gặt	to reap (with sickle)	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /rat/, Danaw /vwəik4/, Riang White /vwəit\ /, Black /vwəic\ /, Palaung /sUk1/, Malay /kěrat/ (to cut), Srê /ros/, Biat /rek/.	穫 huò (SV hoạch, VS gặt) | M 穫 huò, huà, hù < MC ɦwak < OC *ɢʷaːɡ || Ex. 收穫 shōuhuò (thugặt)='harvest'	****If Vietnamese gặt and Chinese 穫 huò are indeed cognate to those cited in Luce's list, especially given the consistent /v-/ onset across Mon-Khmer forms, the alignment is striking. This raises a deeper question of directionality: who borrowed from whom? Southern China was historically rice-growing territory, while the North cultivated wheat. The semantic domain of ‘reaping’ thus  more likely originated in the South, suggesting that the term may have diffused northward rather than the reverse.
gấu	bear	Old Mon /kmīm/, Modern Mon /kmim/, Danaw /kʿryet3/, Riang White and Black /krɛ`s-/, Palaung /krih3/ /kriχ3/, Wa /krih5/, Khasi /dnghiem/, Srê /grih/	熊 xióng (SV hùng, VS gấu, gụ) | M 熊 xióng < MC ɦuwŋ < OC *ɢʷlɯm | *OC 熊 熊 侵 雄 ɢʷlɯm | Wiktionary: For Viet. 'gấu', 'gụ', etymologically, it inherited from Proto-Vietic *c-guːʔ ~ *c-kuːʔ, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *ɟkaw. Cognate with Bahnar chơgơu and Proto-Katuic *hŋkaw. Alternative forms (North Central Vietnam) gụ (no diphthongization) According to Bernhard Kargren, C ɣịung < AC g'iung < OC * g'ium. The ordinary Chinese word for 'bear' (ursus) is Mandarin hiung, developed from a 6th century ɣịung, which in its turn developed from a still older g'iung < Archaic Chinese g'ium (by dissimilation: a labial final - was impossible after labial main vowel -u- (cf. OC *pịm 'wind' > AC pịung.) That 'bear' really was a g'ium and not a g'iung in pre-Christian times is shown by a form in the Swatow dialect, the most archaic, most peculiar of all Chinese dialects. (Philology and Ancient China, pp. 135, 136). Per Starostin, 熊 xióng is black bear (Ursus torquatus), but he posits it with Viet. hùm that means 'tiger' which should be a doublet of 虎 hǔ (SV hổ, VS cọp) and 甝 hán (SV hàm) that is phonetically very close to OC *whǝm 'bear' and probably borrowed from this source; regular Sino-Viet. is hùng. Cf. also Viet. vâm 'elephant'?	****Given variations of other Mon-Khmer words, the V 'gấu' is plausibly cognate to the Chinese form /xióng/ with /*wh-/ ~ /g-/ and /-wŋ/ ~ /-aw/ sound change patterns.
gạo	husked rice	Viet. /gạo/, Old Mon /sŋoʾ/, Modern Mon /sŋu/, Danaw /ku/, Riang White and Black /koʔ-/, Palaung /răkɑ'u2/, Wa /ŋ-gɑ'u3ʔ/, Old Khmer /raŋko/, Nicobarese /atôe/, T'eng /hŋɔʔ, Khasi /khaw/, Shan /khaw/	稻 dào (SV đạo, VS gạo) | M 稻 dào < MC daw < OC *l'uːʔ || Note: per Schuessler, MC dâu < OC *gləwʔ or *mləwʔ).  || Etymology: According to Starostin, Chin. 稻 dào ~ Viet. 'lúa' (unhusked rice). For Viet. 'gạo', etymologically, from Proto-Vietic *r-koːʔ (“husked rice”), from Proto-Austroasiatic *rŋkoːʔ (“husked rice”). Cognate with Muong cảo, Khmer អង្ករ (ʼɑngkɑɑ, “uncooked, dehusked rice”), Khasi khaw, Chong rəkʰəw and Gata' rekoˀ ('uncooked rice'). According to Sagart (2003), Proto-Tai *C̬.qawꟲ (“rice”), whence Thai ข้าว (kâao), Lao ເຂົ້າ (khao), Lü ᦃᧁᧉ (ẋaw²), was borrowed from Austroasiatic. Alternative forms (North Central Vietnam) cấu (no lenition) (North Central Vietnam) gấu (with lenition)|| Starostin: Viet. lúa is an archaic loanword; regular Sino-Viet. is đạo. Protoform: *ly:wH (~ l^-), Meaning: rice, grain,	****All appear to be cognate to one another, but for the Chinese form it is credibly that it is a loanword from  ancient Yue languages in China South and it should be 'unhusked rice' in both Chinese and Vietnamese.
gót	sole, also Luce 'palm'	Old Mon /kintāl/ (=underpart), Modern Mon /gatā/, Danaw /patk1,3/, Riang White /plɑk-/, Black /plɑk-/, Palaung /kă\bɑ2/..., Wa /kiat1/, T'eng /kēdăk/ (=sole)	跟 gēn (SV căn, VS gót)  | M 跟 gēn < MC kən < OC *kɯːn || Note for 'bàntay', here is 手板 shǒubăn (SV thủbản) ~ VS 'bàntay' (palm) where 'bàn', literally, 'the panel' (of the palm)	****The Chinese forms are plausibly cognate to VS gót and bàn. Cf.  腳板 jiăobăn (bànchân)='sole'
gòn	cotton (plant)	No Old Mon /tow/, Danaw /pʿɑi4/, Riang White and Black /pʿɑi-/, Wa /tɑ2/, Old Khmer /pa-ɪk/ (cotton cloth), Khasi /khynphad/	草棉 căomián (SV thảomiên) ~> 'bônggạo', 'bônggòn' ~> 'gòn' (?) \ @ 棉 mián ~ VS 'bông' via ¶ /m- ~ b-/ | (1) M 草 cǎo, cào, zào < MC tsʰaw < OC *shūʔ || (2) M 棉 (綿) mián ~ 綿 mián < MC mjen < OC *men | FQ 武延 || Note: 棉 mián 'cotton, blanket, soft' (SV miên, VS mền, 'blanket', mềm, mịn, 'soft') | cf. 棉花 miánhuā ~ VS 'bôngvải' (cotton), 棉木 miánmù, 棉布 miánbù ~ VS 'vảibông' (cotton cloth), 木棉 mùmián ~ VS 'câygòn' (cotton plant) | Wiktionary: From Proto-Vietic *-kaːwʔ (“cotton tree”), probably from Proto-Austroasiatic *bka(ː)ʔ (“flower”). In Malay, the word kapok (from Javanese) refers to the same tree and fiber, suggesting possible regional influence.	*With the meaning 'cotton' the V words vary depending on what entity is specifically referred to. For example, for 'cotton' the Vietnamese word is 'bôngvải', 'cotton plant' ~ 'câybônggòn', but for 'cotton cloth' the right compound should be 'áovải' or 'áobông' while 'cotton pad' is 'bônggòn'. | Wiktionary: The word is not Sino-Vietnamese and ⟨g/gh⟩ is also not a possible initial in Sino-Vietnamese proper, therefore the word might be either native, a vernacular Sinitic loan (either from a regional Sinitic language or is an early, pre-Middle Chinese loan), or a loan from another neighboring language. The Nôm character 棍 as with many other cases, is merely a character formed by phono-semantic matching.
gãi	scratch, scrape	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /kʿarak/, Danaw /kʿrɛ` ʔ/, /kʿriət3/, Riang White /kiɪt\ /, Black /kɪt\ /, kʿré-/, Wa /tjéh5/, /tjɪh5/ (of thorns), Khmer /kōs/, Besisi /kawait/, Semang /kaid/, Malay /kais/, Nicobarese /takaic/, Stieng /kuac/, Bahnar /kac/.	抓 zhuà (SV trảo, VS gãi) | M 抓 zhuā, zhāo, zhăo, zhào < MC tʂaɨw < OC *ʔsruː, *ʔsruːʔ, *ʔsruːs	****the Vietnamese form is cognate to that of the Chinese to mean 'scratch'. In the meanwhile other Mon-Khmer forms deviate differently.
gáy	nape (of the neck)'	(No Old Mon, mod. /katak/, Danaw /lɔʔ4Ut2/, Riang White /sʿɤkɔ\ /, Black /tərŋɔk\ /, Palaung /kăŋɔ3/, /kɑŋɑuh3/, Wa /tiaŋ4ŋɔt3/, T'eng /təglók/	頸 jǐng (SV cảnh, cành, VS gáy) | M 頸 jǐng, qìng, gěng < MC kjeŋ < OC *keŋʔ, *ɡeŋ	**No other Khmer and Vietnamese forms are listed. If anything is related to Vietnamese they should be 'càng' as in 'càngcổ' or (trunk of) the neck, which is similar to Chin. 脖頸 bójīng or 脖子 bózi (cáicổ) in reverse. cf. 胡 hú (SV hồ), plausible cognate to VS "cổ" (neck).
gáo, gàu	coconut water-dipper	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /gnā/, Danaw /...bui4/, Riang White and Black /boé-/, Palaung /bwé3/, /mwé2/, Wa /bUk3/	M 槔 gāo < MC kʌw < OC *ku:	****The Vietnamese VS 'gáo' or 'gàu' appears to be cognate to the Chinese槔 gāo than other forms that could mean something else like VS 'múc' (to scoop).
goá	widowed	Old Mon /kamāy/ (Mid. Mon), Modern Mon /kmāai/, Danaw /mɑiʔ3/..., Riang White /kɤmɑi\ /, Black /kəmɑi-/, Palaung /kămɑ'i2/,/kămɑ'i2/ Wa /mɑi2/, Old Khmer /māy/, T'eng /boi/, K'mu /boi/, Old Burmese /kmay/, Shan /mai/, Chin. /hmeɪ/, /meɪ/	寡 guă (SV quả, VS quả) | M 寡 guă, guà < MC kʷɯa < OC *kwra:ʔ | Ex. 寡婦 guăfù (SV quảphụ, VS 'goábụa' > #bàgoá, 'widow'). This dissyllabic word /quảphụ/ also gives rise to 'ởvậy' (widowed) in Vietnamese, literally, 'to live the same old way')	******The /boi/ form is somewhat related to VS /bụa/ and probably the /mai/ to /quả/ or /kamai/ to 'ởvậy'. In the meanwhile 'goá' in Vietnamese was definitely derived from Chinese by way of 寡婦 guăfù as /wa3buə6/, cf. 婦 fù (SV phụ) for both form Middle Vietnamese 'bụa' and 'vợ' (wife).
giở	lift	Old Mon /yok/, /yuk/, mod. Yuik, Danaw /yəik2/, Riang White /yɔŋ\ /, Black /tsɔ\ /, /pʿrɔ-/, Palaung djUk1, Wa /yUk3/, Mnong Gar /yək/, Srê /yō/, K’mu /yôk/, Shan /yuk.	舉 jǔ (SV cử, VS giở) | M 舉QT 舉 (擧) jǔ < MC kiɔ < OC *klaʔ | According to Starostin, 舉 jǔ 'to rise, surge, start'; 'to lift, promote'. Viet. also has giơ 'to show, to raise': is it a colloquial loanword from the same source? Derived with a *k-prefix from *laʔ, see 舁.	****The Vietnamese forms 'giở' and 'giơ' appear to be cognate to all forms from cross-linguistic families. (1)
giết	kill	Viet. /giết/, Old Mon /kucit/, Modern Mon /gacun/, Danaw /pyi:n4/, Riang White /pyam-/, Black /pɪɛ`m-/, Palaung /ŋɑʔ3/, / ŋɔʔ3/, Wa /ñah5/, /ñéh5/, Srê /gəsət/, Hanar /kəchǐt/, T’eng /gut/, /pəhan, /pʿān/, Lemet /piam/, Khasi /pyniap/, /pynjot/ (to destroy/, Mundari /goěʔ/.	殺 shā (SV sát, VS giết) | M 殺 shā, shài, sà, shài, shì, xuē (sát, sái, tát) < MC ʃɯæi, ʂəɨj < OC *sreːd, *sreːds	****While there is no doubt that both Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate to each other, but the similarities in the sound change patterns of a few other Mon-Khmer forms appear notable.
giậtmình	be startled	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /takuit/, Danaw /kʿrôn2/, Riang White and Black /kʿran-/.	吃驚 chījīng (SV ngậtkinh, VS giậtmình) / @ 吃 chī (SV ngật, VS 'giật') ~ 'giật' 失 shì (SV thất) {<~ '失驚 shījīng (SV thấtkinh)'} | M 吃 (喫) chī, jī, jí (ngật, cật) < MC kjit < OC *kɯd || M 驚 jīng < MC kaijŋ < OC *kreŋ | ¶ /j- ~ m-/	***The VS ‘giậtmình’ and the Chin. 吃驚 chījīng are definitely cognate while other forms in Luce's limited list for this item does not look like it. Could it be ''失驚 shījīng (SV thấtkinh)' ~ Modern Mon /takuit/' (4)
gió	wind	Old Mon /kyāl/, Modern Mon /kyā/, Danaw /kɔŋ4/, Riang White and Black /kur-/, Palaung /kʾu2/, Wa /m bɑ'ɯŋ2/, Old Khmer /khsal/, Biat /chial/, Srê /cal/, Bahnar /khnal/, Kʿmu /khur/ (storm), Mundari /hoẽo/, /hur-hur/	風 fēng (SV phong, VS giông, gió) | M 風 (凬、飌、檒) fēng, fěng, fèng < MC puwŋ < OC *plum, *plums | Note: with its doublet 颺 yáng (SV dương > VS giông, 'windstorm')	****Unless to be proved otherwise, the VS 'giông'> 'gió' and Chin. 風 fēng (SV phong) should be postulated as cognates.
giáo	spear	Old Mon /bnas/, Modern Mon /bnuh/, Danaw /plyɛ`h2/, Riang White and Black /plɛs\ /, Palaung /liəh3/, /lɛ`ɑu3/, Wa /pliah5/, Old Khmer /noc (ʔ)/, Sakai /bulus/, Selung /bulɔ/, Javanese /bulus/ T'eng /blya/, K'mu /plek/	槊 shuò (SV sóc, sáo, VS giáo) | (1) M 槊 shuò (sóc, sáo) < MC ʂaɨwŋk < OC *sraːwɢ  | ¶ /sh- ~ gi-/, Ex. 時  shí > VS giờ ('time') | (2) 鐮 (鎌, 磏) lián < MC liam < OC *ɡ·rem	***In Vietnamese there is the word 'giáo' that points to Chin. 槊 shuō and it seems that there is other word that sounds like any of other languages. Could their comparanda be 'sickle' for VS 'lưỡiliềm' (=鎌利 liánlì)?
giá	price	Old Mon /ŋūs/, Modern Mon /ŋuh/, Danaw /ŋɔt4/, Riang White and Black /laŋ-/, etc.	價 jià (SV giá) | M 價 jià, jiè, jie < MC kaɨ < OC *kra:s	*****The Vietnamese and Chinese forms are clearly cognate, having nothing to do with any other comparanda.
già	old (of person)	Old Mon /pjuʾ/, Modern Mon /byu/, Danaw /tʿɑo2/, Riang White /tʿɑu\ /, /tjaʔ-/, Black /tʿau-/, /tsɑ ʔ-/, Palaung /gat1/, Old Khmer /pju/, /pjuh/	耆 qí (SV kỳ, chỉ, VS già) | M 耆 (嗜) qí (kỳ, kì, chỉ, thị) < MC gi < OC *gri, *grij | Cf. Modern M 老 lǎo < MC law < OC ruːʔ | According to Starostin: Protoform *gri. Meaning: old. 耆 *grij old; 祁 *grij great, large. Tibetan: bgre (p. bgres) to grow old. Burmese: krih be old. Comments: Sh. 50; Luce 10.| Sino-Tibetan old, aged. For *g- cf. Xiamen, Fuzhou ki2.	****The same problem as the previous item, in this list only the Riang Black /tjaʔ-/ suggest something close to the VS ‘già’ while Danaw /tʿɑo2/ and Riang White /tʿɑu\ / suggest the Chinese form 老 lăo (SV lão).
giacầm	fowl	Old Mon /tyāŋ/, /tyeŋ/, Modern Mon /cāŋ/, Danaw /yén4/, Riang White /yɛr-/, Black /yɛ`r-/, Palaung /i:r2/, íər2/, Wa /iɑ2/, Bahnar /ir/, T'eng /ʿier/, Khasi /syiar/, Mundari /jiaŋ-jiaŋ/ (=chicken	家禽 jiāqín (SV giacầm)	*****The Vietnamese compound hereof simply a Middle Chinese variant of the Chinese form.
gai	thorn	Old Mon /jirla/, Modern Mon /jala/, Danaw /kălaʔ2/, Riang White /sʿɤr\kɤt-/, Black /sʿərkət-/ , Palaung /pă\ʔɛʔ1/, Wa /kat1/, Sakai /jěrlâkn/, Semang /jliʾ/ Bahnar /jělaʔ/, T'eng /cərlaʔ/, Khasi /shah/, Nicobarese /hēt/	棘 jí (SV cức, VS gai) | M 棘 jí, jì < MC kɨk < OC *krɯɡ | ¶ /j- ~ g-/	**Phonologically, the V 'gai' could possibly be cognate to Chin. 棘 jí. Ex. 荊棘 jīngjí: VS 'chônggai' (thistles and thorns)
dệt	plait, weave	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /tān/, /tut/, Danaw /tɑi4/, /tan2/, Riang White /taiñ-/, Balck /tiɑñ-/, Palaung /ɗak1/ (to weave), Wa /tiɑñ2/, Old Khmer /tāñ/, Malay /dědan/, Nicobarese /tain/, Stieng, Biat , Srê, Mnong Gar, Bahar, T’eng /tañ/, Khasi /thaiñ/, Mundari /teŋ/.	織 zhí (SV chức, VS dệt) | M 織 zhī, zhí, zhì, chì (chức, chí, xí, thức) < MC tɕɨk, tɕɨ < OC *tjɯɡ, *tjɯɡs | ¶ /zh- ~ j-(d-)/ | Cf. 紙 zhǐ (SV chỉ, VS giấy, 'paper')	****All those forms with the phonemic initials /t-/, /th-/, and /ɗ-/ seem to point to the VS 'dệt' /jet8/ including that of the Chinese form.
dơi	bat	Old Mon /kilwa/, Modern Mon /kawa/, Danaw /lUk3lat2/, Riang White /tɤr\lɑk/, Black /rəlɑk\ /, Palaung /gădɑʔ1/, Wa /blak3/, Malay /kělawar/	鼯 wú (SV ngô, VS dơi) | M 鼯 wú < MC ŋuo < OC *ŋaː | ¶ /w- ~ j-(d-)/ Cf. 蝠 biānfú (SV biênbưc, VS dơi, < sound clipping) | M 蝙 biān, pián < MC pɛn < OC *pe:n || M 蝠 fú < MC pük < OC pǝk | ¶ /f- ~ j-(d-)/	**The VS dơi appears to fit well to the Chin. 鼯 wú etymon. Besides, the Vietnamese form is also plausibly cognate to 蝠 fú where /f-/ ~> /j-/ for 'dơi' /jǝj1/; otherwise, if there are any cognates at all posited for all other comparanda  it must be a falling-out form of Mon /-wa/ (cf. 鼯 wú),  which in turn possibly points to the Chin /fú/, a sound clipping from the dissyllabic form /biānfú/, cf. VS 'giàu' 富 fù (SV phú), 'dadẻ' 皮膚 pifū (SV bìphu), 'bưởi' 柚 yóu (SV du), 'giông' /jowŋm1/ 風 fēng (SV phong> VS gió), etc.
dê	goat	Old Mon /babeʔ/, Modern Mon /baɓeʔ/, Danaw /bo4bɛ`1/, Riang White /pɛʔ\ /, Black /pɛʔ-/, Palaung /pɛ`2/, Wa /bɛ`ʔ3/, Old Khmer /vave/, Sukai /kambikn/, Jakun /bêbek/, Cham /pabaiy/, Malay /kambiŋ/, Nicobarese /me/, Bahnar /bəbɛ`/, Pu-man /pir/, T'eng /bɛ`/, Savara /kimme/	羊 yáng (SV dương, VS dê) | M 羊 (祥) yáng, xiáng (dương, tường) < MC jaŋ < OC *laŋ | According to Starostin, Protoform: *jă(k) / *jăŋ. Meaning: goat, yak. Chinese: 羊 *laŋ sheep, goat. Tibetan: g-jag the yak. Kachin: ja3 a wild goat. Lepcha: jo/k a yak, Bos grunniens. Comments: Trung ja? mongrel; Yamphu ja' :-suba 'goat'.| Dialects : Tn : iã1, Hk : iaŋ12, Tx : iaŋ12, Dc : iaŋ12, Tc : iaŋ12, Ôc : ɦi12, Ts : ian12, Sp : iaŋ12, Nx : iɔŋ31, Hẹ : jɔŋ12, Qđ : jöŋ12, Hm : iɔŋ12 (lit.), iũ12, Trc : iẽ12, Th : iã 32	******There is no doubt that the Chin. 羊 yáng is cognate to VS 'dê' while other Mon-Khmer forms look similar to VS 'bê' (calf). Interestingly, another cognate is the Chin. 未 wèi (SV 'mùi', 'vị'), the 8th animal in the 12 animal zodiac table. The significant thing to note here is that the latter 未 wèi must stand for 'goat', not 'sheep', as northern Chinese scholars have tried hard to convince the world every time the Year of the Goat returns (2003, 2015, 2027, etc.).
dâyleo	creeper	Old Mon /juk/, Modern Mon /juk/, Danaw /tseŋ2/, Riang White /tji:ŋ\ /, Black /tsi:ŋ\ /, Palaung /kăsaŋ2/, Wa /mɑ3/ (rope)	攀緣 fànyuán (SV phanduyên, VS dâyleo) | M 緣 yuán, yuàn (duyên, duyến) < MC jwian < OC *lon, *lons | According to Starostin, hem (of robe) (L.Zhou) Cf. also a colloquial loan in Viet.: viền 'to hem, to border'. Also used for homonymous *L^on (-r) 'to go along, follow; reason, destination' and *L^on (-r) 'to climb a tree'.	*We can tentatively posit 攀 fàn for 'dây' while 緣 yuán could be cognate to 'leo' following the pattern /y- ~ l-/'.
diều	bird of prey, kite	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /hawkluiŋ/ (large hornbill) (?), Danaw /kăyɑŋ4kyɑŋ2/, Riang White and Black /klɑŋ-/, Palaung /klɑŋ2/, Dnaw /klɑŋ2/, Khmer /khlaŋ/ (fish eagle), Sakai /kělâtn/, Semang /kělă/ Malay /hělɑŋ/, Srê, Bahnar /klaŋ/, T'eng /klaŋ/, Khasi /khlɪeŋ/	鳶 yuān (SV diên, VS diều) | M 鳶 yuān < MC jwian < OC *ɢʷen | Ex.黑耳鳶 hēiryuān (diềuhâu) | Etymology: from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *dzwan (“kite”). Cognate with Burmese စွန် (cwan, “kite”) (STEDT).	***Unlike other comparanda, for 'kite' the Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognates.
da	skin	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /snɑm/, Danaw /kădət3/, Riang White /hu:r-/, Black /hur-/, Palaung /hu2/, Wa /hɑʔ1/, T'eng /pūr/, K'mu /kpur/, Mundari /ūr/, Khasi /snep/	皮 pí (SV bì, VS da), 膚 fū (SV phu, VS da) | (1) M 皮 pí < MC bjiə̆ < OC *bral | (2) M 膚 fū, lú < MC pio < OC *pla	***The Chinese /pí/ is more like VS 'da' /ja1/ but the form /fū/ is closer to other forms.
cựa	burr	No Mon, Danaw /tăbyɪt3/, Riang White /sʿɤvwɔit\ /, Black /sʿəvwɔic\ /, Palaung /kābiʔ1/, Wa /pi:t1/	棘 jí (SV cức, VS cựa, gai) | M 棘 jí, jì < MC kɨk < OC *krɯɡ	*Again, the Chin. 棘 jí could possibly give rise to both 'gai' and 'cựa'.
cứt	dung	No Old Monn, mod. /ʿik/, Danaw /yaŋ4/, Riang White and Black /yaŋ-/, Palaung /íəŋ2/, /íɛŋ2/, Wa /iɑŋ2/, Khmer /āc/, Sakai /êt/, /êg/, Semang /ɪ/, /aɪh/, Nicobarese /āɪch/, /āɪk/, Bahnar /ɪc/, /ɪk/, T'eng /ʔɪak/, Khasi /eɪk/, Mundari /ɪʔ/	屎 shǐ (SV thỉ, VS cức) | M 屎 shǐ, xī < MC ɕɯi, hi  < OC *hliʔ, *hri  | According to Zhou Fagao (Zhongyuan Yinyun, p.251), TB: *kip, Burmese: khjijh excrement, Kachin: khji3 excrement, Dimasa: khi, Garo: khi, Bodo: kí, Kham kī; , Kanauri khoa, Bahing khl, Digaro: klai. Simon 19; Sh. 44; Ben. 39; Mat. 191.	***Note that in Zhou Fagao (zyxlj p.251) M 屎 shǐ also cognate to another form of ancient Tibetan: *kəp In other cases, it is unlikely that this is a case of the initial **k- having evolved into zero (Ø) in most languages cited in Luce's wordlist above. If that is the case, they are cognate to them then, otherwise, the cited forms could be postulated to be cognate to VS 'ỉa' (to poop, to shit), which, in turn, is a similar form of Cant. /o5/ 屙 M. /è/.
củ	taro, tubers	Old Mon /krow/ (ʔ), Modern Mon /krau/, Danaw /kărō1/, Riang White /sʿɤroʔ-/, Black /sʿəroʔ-/, Wa /krɑuʔ1/, Khasi /shriew/, Mundari /aru/, /saru/	薯 shǔ (SV thự, VS củ) | M 薯 (藷) shǔ < MC dʑɨə̆ < OC *djas | Etymology: Per Starostin, Proto-Austroasiatic *wa:j, Muong dialect /khwaj/	***All the Vietnamese forms 'khoaisắn', 'củ', 'khoai', and 'sắn' seem to have cognates in all languages involved, which could be a falling-out of 塊莖 kuàijīng (SV khốicanh, VS 'khoaisắn' ~ 'củ', 'khoai', 'sắn'.
cỡi	ride, mount	Old Mon /duk/, /dok/, Modern Mon /ɗuik/ , Danaw /tən4/, Riang White and Black /tutum/, Bahnar /tōk/.	騎 qí (SV kỵ, VS cỡi, cưỡi) | M 騎 qí, jì < MC gjiə̆ < OC *gral, *grals	*****The Vietnamese form is certainly cognate to that of the Chinese one while others in the Mon-Khmer languages seem to deviate a great deal if they are cognates at all. (4)
cột, trụ	house post	Old Mon /jiñjuŋ/, Modern Mon /dayuŋ/, Danaw /kʿăraŋ2/, Riang White /kɤn\raŋ\ /, Black /kən\raŋ\ /	棟 dòng (SV đống, VS 'đà')?, 柱 zhú (SV trụ, VS cột)?	*The author is not sure what all these comparanda are related to Vietnamese.
cột	tie, fasten	Old Mon /dak/, Modern Mon /dak/, Danaw /tôk1/, Riang White and Black /tuk-/, Palaung /ɗɤk1/, Wa /pyɔk1/, T’eng /tǔk/, Khasi /the.	結 jié (SV kết, VS cột, thắt) | M 結 jié, jié, jiē < MC ket < OC *ki:d | ¶ /j- ~ k-, th-/	****VS /cột/ is clearly cognate to the Chin. 結 jié which may or may not be related to other Mon-Khmer forms, which could relate to VS /thắt/, a deviation of 結 jié, though, rather than紥  zhā (SV trát).
cổ	neck	Viet. /cổ/, Old Mon /koʾ/, Modern Mon /kaʾ/, Danaw /kɔŋ2/, Riang White /kok/, Black /kok/, Palaung /kʿāmɛ`ŋ2/, Wa /nɔʔ3/, Khmer /kah/, Sakai /kuaʾ/, Semang /sěŋkoʾ (=larynx), Srê /ŋkɔ/, Bahnar /hako/, /ako/, T'eng /ŋɔk/, Shan /kɔ/, Lao /go/, S Karen /kʿUʔ/, /koʔ/ (etc.), Mundari /hotoʔ/	胡 hú  (SV hồ, VS cổ) | M 胡 hú < MC ɦɔ < OC *ga:  | Cf. 喉 hóu (SV hầu, VS cổ)  | M 喉 hóu < MC ɠʊw < OC *ghro: | Etymology: Comparative Mon–Khmer evidence: Khmer: kâl ‘neck, nape’, Mon: kuiʔ ‘neck’. Proto-Vietic reconstructions also yield forms like \koʔ, \kuʔ for ‘neck’. → This strongly suggests cổ is inherited, not borrowed. According to Starostin: for OC *gh- cf. Xiamen, Chaozhou au2, Protoform: *khrjə:w (~gh-,qh-,Gh-), Meaning: throat, Chinese: *gh(r)o: throat, Tibetan: kru-kru windpipe (cf. also mgur, mgul throat, neck, ko-ko throat, chin), Kachin: z^|jəkhro1 the throat, gullet.	****It looks like all forms are cognates cross several linguistic families. However, the Chinese etymon 喉 hóu is exactly 'throat'.  Per An Chi 胡 hú (SV hồ) = VS cổ. Ex. 《詩經 · 狼 跋》: 狼 跋 其 胡, 載 疐 其 尾. 'Shījīng -- Láng Bá': Láng bá qí hú, zài zhì qí wěi. (Thikinh -- Lang Bạt': Đạpphải cổ mình, lại vướng đằngđuôi.)= 'The wolf stumbles at its throat/neck.' whereas 胡 here = 'throat', 'dewlap'; hence, 'neck'.
cối	mortar (for rice)	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /ɓuik/, Danaw /tɑŋ2pôn4/, Riang White and Black /pal-/, Palaung /bar2/, Wa /po2/, Old Khmer /thpal, Biat /mʾpal/, Srê /mpal/, Bahnar /təpăl/	臼 jìu (SV cữu, VS cối) | M 臼 jìu < MC guw < OC *guʔ | Example: 杵臼 chǔjìu (VS cốichày.)	****While all other Mon-Khmer forms do not look like having to do with the V /cối/, the Chin. /jìu/ definitely is.
cọp	tiger	Old Mon /klaʾ/, Modern Mon /kla/, Danaw /tăwɑi2/, Riang White /rɤvwɑ'i\ /, Black /rəwɑ'i\ /, Palaung /răvwɑ'i2/, /rāwɑ'i2/, Wa /ʃi4vwɑi2/, Old Khmer /klā/, Sakai /klaʾ/, Bahnar /kla/, Srê /kliu/, Khasi /khla/, Mundari /kula/, Kurku /kūlā/, T'eng /təvai/	虎 hǔ (SV hổ, VS cọp) | M  虎 hǔ < MC huo < OC *qʰlaːʔ | Wiktionary: From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-la (“tiger”), from Proto-Austroasiatic *kla(ː)ʔ (“tiger”). Cognate with 菟 (OC *daː) in 於菟 (OC *qa daː, “tiger”). Compare Vietnamese khái ('tiger'). Hill (2019) compares it to Tibetan སྟག (stag, “tiger”); however, Zheng Zining deems that comparison 'probably spurious'.	***All forms of cognates with initial /k-/ and /kl-/ above certainly must have originated from the same root, probably of a form diverged from proto-Tai. The Chinese word 寅 yǐn (SV dần) for the 3rd animal in the 12 animal zodiac table appears to cognate with 'hùm' 虎 hǔ or 甝 hán (SV hàm), i.e.,  per An Chi, 寅 yǐn >  甝 hán  > 虎 hǔ!
cặc	penis	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /bow/, Danaw /lé1/, Riang White and Black /klɛ`ʔ-/, Palaung /béu3/, Wa /klɪʔ1/, Car Nicobarese /ku-lɔɪch/, Mundari /loeʔ/	㞗 qíu (SV cầu, VS cặt) | M 㞗 (毬, 球) qíu < MC guw < OC *gu	***If there is any similarity to draw here is the forms that appear in Riang as /klɛ`ʔ-/ and Wa /klɪʔ1/ while in others thk- has been dropped. The same can be said with the Chinese dialectal form which, if related at all, has been contracted to 'cặc' ¶ /j- ~ k-/, /-t ~ -k/ ]
cắt	cut, cut down	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /bāk/, /kut/, Danaw /mɔk2/, Riang White /mak\ /, Black /mɔk\ /, Wa /mUk3/, T’eng /bok/	割 gē (SV cát, VS cắt) | M 割 gē < MC kat < OC *ka:t	****The Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognates for sure; however, in Luce's limited list for this item, except for the Modern Mon form /kut/, all other forms seem to suggest the word 'phạt' (via /b-/ and /m-/) in Vietnamese which is also certainly cognate to 伐 fá in Chinese.
cầuvồng	rainbow	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /kʿamaŋ suŋ ɗāk/ (crossbeam drinks water), Danaw /pāyɔŋ2/, Riang White /tɑi-pɤr\ñuɑŋ\ /, Black /tɑi-pər\ñuɔŋ\ /, Palaung /plɑŋ3(kădu2)/, Wa /ʃi4yɔŋ2/, T'eng /dur-prʿyoŋ/ (rainbow dragon), Khasi /simpyllieng/	彩虹 căihóng (SV tháihồng, VS cầuvòng, mốngchuồng | M 虹 hóng < MC ɣuŋ < OC *gōŋ, *ghoŋs, *krōŋs || Example: 彩虹 想 總裁.  Cǎihóng xiǎngzǒng​cái. (Mốngchuồng đang muốnchồng.)	***While V 'mốngchuồng' may not be the cognate but 'cầuvồng' could be with 彩虹 căihóng. Other forms in Mon-Khmer are not.
cạp	bite	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /kit/, Danaw /kiət3/, Riang White and Black /kak\ /, Palaung /gɑʔ3/, /gɑk3/, Wa /ki:t/, /kʿléat1/, Malay /gigit/.	嗑 kè (SV hạp, VS cạp) | M  嗑 kè, kē < MC kap, ɦap < OC *ka:b, *ga:b	****All etyma appear to point to V 'cạp' or 'gặm'.
cạn	shallow, low	Old Mon /sar/, Modern Mon /kɗā/, Danaw /saw/, Riang White and Black /dɛ`l-/	淺 qián (SV thiển, VS cạn) | M 淺 qiăn, qiān, jiăn, jiàn, cán, zàn (thiển, thê, tiên) < MC tsʰian, tsen < OC *shlenʔ, *ʔslen	****The only cognate forms that appear here are those of Vietnamese and Chinese etyma.
cười	laugh	Old and Modern Mon /gruŋ/, Danaw /kălit3/ Riang White / kăñɑʔ1/, Riang White /kɤñɑ s\ /, Black /ŋot\ /, Palaung /kăñ ɑ3/, Wa /ñah5/, /ñéh5/.	笑 xiào (SV tiếu, VS tếu, cười) | M 笑 xiào < MC siaw < OC *sqʰows | ¶ /x- ~ k-(c-)/	****All Mon-Khmer forms look like cognates while the Vietnamese and Chinese. forms need some enumeration in order to equate the two etyma.
cũ	old (of things)	Old Mon /tinrem/, Modern Mon /tarem/, Danaw /ătəik3,1/, Riang White /tri:m-/, Black /trim-/, Palaung /ăprim2/, Wa /pă4pri:m2/, /Srê /rām/, Lemet /prim/, Khasi /rim/, /larim/.	舊 jìu (SV cựu, VS cũ) | M 舊 jìu, xīu < MC gjəw < OC *ɡʷɯs | According to Starostin, 舊 jìu 'be old, ancient' (not of people). Regular Sino-Viet. is cựu. Cf. also Viet. khú, khụ. 'very old'. The original meaning of the graph was probably 'owl', but this usage is actually attested only since Han.	****In contrast to VS ‘mới’, the ‘cũ’ is certainly cognate to the Chin. 舊 jìu, which appears to have nothing connected with other Mon-Khmer forms.
cây	tree, wood	Viet. /cây/, /thân/, Old Mon /cʿuʾ/, /tam/, Modern Mon /tnam/, Danaw /tsok4θé1/, Riang White /tɤŋ-kʿɛʔ-/, Black /təŋ-kʿɛʔ-/, Palaung /héi2/, /hɑ'i2/, /hɔ'i2/, /taŋ2/, /tiŋ2/, teŋ2/, Wa /kʿɪʔ/, kʿɑuʔ1/ (firewwood), Old Khmer /jhe/, /tem/, tnem/, Sakai /jěhu/, Semang /tum/, Old Malay /kāyu/, /bataŋ/ Nicobarese /chīa/, Srê /chɪ/, /təm/, T'eng /həʔɛ`ʔ/ (firewood), P'uman /zɪe/, K'mu /che/, Khasi /ba-eh (wooden), /dieng/ (tree), Mundari /sɪŋ/	株 zhū (SV châu, VS cây, 'tree') | (1) M 株 zhū < MC ʈuə̆ < OC *to | (2) 樹 shù (SV thụ, VS cây 'tree' | M 樹 shù < MC dʑuə̆ < OC *djoʔ, *djos || (3) 木 mù (SV mộc, VS gỗ 'wood' ) | M 木 mù (mộc, mục) < MC məwk < OC *moːɡ | (4)  材 cái (SV tài, VS gỗ, 'wood') | M 材 cái < MC dzəj < OC *zlɯː | (5) 柴 chái (SV sải, VS cũi, 'firewood') | M 柴 chái, chá, zhài, cī, zì < MC dʐaɨj < OC *zreː	***Looking at the lexical patterns for the Viet. /cây/, /thân/ given by Luce's comparanda in different languages, we can similarly associate several Chinese words that could be good candidates for the cognates with Vietnamese forms, such as 'cây' 樹 shù (tree), 材 cái 'gỗ' (wood), 柴 căi 'cũi' (firewood), 本 běn 'thân' ('trunk' vs. 'root' 根 gēn 'gốc'), each which differentiates better every distinctive etymon, phonologically and lexically.
cánh	wing	Old Mon /sumneŋ/ (=winged), Modern Mon /sneŋ/, Danaw /pʿan2/, Riang White /pɪaŋ-/, Black /pɪɛŋ-/, Palaung /pʿiəŋ2/, /pʿyUŋ2/, Wa /pʿrɤɪt1/, Semang /bieg/, Car Nicobarese /sănéōk/, Khasi /thapɪniang/	胳 gē (SV cách, các, ca, VS cánh)| M  胳 (肐 gē) gē, gé, gā  < MC kak < OC *kla:g | Cf. Modern M 翅膀 chìbăng (SV chibàng, VS cánh <  sound clipping) | M 翅 (翄) chì, shī, jì, qí < MC ɕiə̆ < OC *qʰjes | M 膀 bǎng, bàng, pāng, páng, pǎng (bàng, bang) < MC baŋ < OC *ba:ŋ	***Besides 胳 gē as a possible match for VS cánh, the disyllabic form 翅膀 chìbǎng, or even the monosyllabic 膀 bǎng, may be considered to share the same root. As the etymological evidence presented in the cited sources suggests, the Vietnamese cánh could be cognate with a contracted form of these Sinitic items. Cf. 胳臂 gēbèi ~ VS cánhtay, 'arm'.
cám	thusk of rice	Viet. /cám/, Old Khmer /aŋkām/, Malay /sěkam/, Biat /nʾkʿop/, T'eng /kam/, Lemet /nkām/, Khasi /skap/	糠 kāng (SV khang, VS cám) | M 糠 kāng < MC kʌŋ < OC *ka:ŋ |  Ex. 糝糠 sănkāng (SV tầmkhang, VS tấmcám, 'broken rice husk and bran residue left from ground rice grains'; hence, figuratively, 'impoverished')	****Besides other forms, it is doubtless that the C /kāng/ is cognate to the V /cám/ with the interchage of their intitial /kh- ~ k-/ and syllable /-ang/ ~ /-am/. It is likely that both Vietnamese and Chinese forms originated from the same root, including that of compound 'tấmcám' (rice husk residue).
cá	fish	Viet. /cá/, Old Mon /kɑʾ/, Modern Mon /kɑ/, Danaw /ʔyaŋ4/, Riang White and Black /kaʔ-/, Palaung /kɑ2/, Wa /kaʔ1/, Sakai /kaʾ/, Semang /kah/, Malay /ikan/ Nicobarese /kâa/, Stieng, Srê, Bahnar /ka/, P'uman /kʿa/, T'eng /kaʔ/, Mundari /hai/, /haku/, Kurku /kaku/	魚 yú (SV ngư, VS cá) | M 魚 yú < MC ŋɨə̆ < OC *ŋa | According to Starostin: fish. For *ŋh- cf. Xiamen hi2, Chaozhou hy2. | Protoform: *ŋ(j)a. Meaning: fish. Chinese: 魚 *ŋha fish. Tibetan: ɳa fish. Burmese: ŋah fish, LB *ŋhax. Kachin: ŋa3 fish. Lushei: ŋha fish, KC *ŋha\. Kiranti: *ŋ@\ . Comments: PG *ta\rŋa; BG: Garo na-tk, Bodo ŋa ~ na, Dimasa na; Chepang ŋa ~ nya; Tsangla ŋa; Moshang ŋa'; Namsangia ŋa; Kham ŋa:\L; Kaike ŋa:; Trung ŋa1-pla?1. Simon 13; Sh. 36, 123, 407, 429; Ben. 47; Mat. 192; Luce 2. | Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *ka, Thai: ka:.A, Proto-Katuic: *ka, Proto-Bahnaric: *ka, Khmer: ka:-, Proto-Vietic: *kaʔ, ʔǝ-, Proto-Monic: *ka:ʔ, Proto-Palaungic: *kaʔ, Proto-Khmu: *kaʔ, Khasi: doh=kha, Proto-Aslian: *kaʔ, Proto-Viet-Muong: *kaʔ, ʔ-, Thomon: ka.343ʔ, Tum: ka.212 (Kh 714; VHL 64; S-27) | Note: OC *ŋh- ~> k- (ca-)	****All languages for this item in Luce's list are cognate while the Chinese form 魚 yú (SV ngư) is possibly cognate as well where OC *ŋha ~> /ka/. (See APPENDIX M for the case of 'ketchup', 'catsup' 魚汁 yúzhí)
cày	hoe, spade-blade	Old Mon /kwir/ (n.), /jik/ (v.), Modern Mon /kʿɑɓɑk/, Danaw /kɔplɑ1/, Riang White and Black /plɑ-/, Palaung /plɑ3/, Wa /kɔk4pyɑk1/ (=hoe-Blade)	耜 sì (SV tỷ, tỉ, cử, VS cày) | M 耜 (梩) sì  < MC zɨ < OC *ljɯʔ	***It appears that the Vietnamese forms /cày/ is much more cognate to the Chin. 耜 sì than to other forms in the Mon-Khmer languages.
cà	aubergine	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /kʿaɗoŋ/, Danaw /(plé1)lôn2/, Riang White /tɤr\luŋ\ /, Black /tər\luŋ\ /	茄 qié (SV già, VS cà | M 茄 qié < MC ga < OC *ghiaj | QÐ: khe12, Hm: khe11 $; kio12; khe12, TrC: kie12, Pk: kia11, Th: ka32 | từ vaymượn trong tiếngHán | Starostin: The oldest attested meaning and reading is OC *kra:j, MC ka. (FQ 求迦), Mand. jia: 'lotus stalk' (Han); the meaning 'egg-fruit' is attested since Tsin. The MC reading ga is exceptional (-a normally does not occur after velars) and may be dialectal; thus the OC form for 'egg-fruit' could have been *ghaj. Viet. cà is colloquial; regular Sino-Viet. is già. For *gh- cf. Xiamen khe2. | ex. 茄子 qiézi (SV giàtử) ~ VS càtím 'eggplant' (Solanum melongena) ~ VS 'cà' (a bushy perennial plant belonging to the potato family)	*****All other forms are absent from Luce's list even though aubergine, brinjal, or eggplant are known native in southern regions while 茄 qié is a generic term which is cognate to V /cà/.
cuncút	quail	(Corturnix), Viet. /cuncút/, Old Mon tgit/, /tget/, /tgat/, Modern Mon /daguit/, /thagut/, Danaw /taʔ3kot2/, Riang White /rɤku:t\ /, Black /rəkut\ /, Palaung /ăguʔ1,3, Wa /kɯt1/, Khmer /grwac/, Biat /gôi/, Srê /rəgut/, T'eng /təgut/, Khasi /tyut/, Mundari /gagar/	鶉 chún (SV thuần, VS cút, cuncút)  reduplicative '鶉 chún (cun)' + '鶉 chún (cút) | M 鶉 chún < MC dʒwin < OC *dhwǝn	***Most of the forms are cognates, including the Chinese reduplicative compound.
tôm	crab (?)	Viet. /tôm/ (prawn), No Old Mon, mod. /gatā/, Danaw /kătam2/, Riang White /kɤtɑm-/, Black /kətɑm-/, Palaung /tākrɛk3/, Wa /tɑm2/, Semang /kěntem/, Srê /tām/, T'eng /kətam/, Khasi /thəm/ Mundari /katəkom/, /karakom/	蝦 xiā (SV hà, VS tép,  tôm,  || M 蝦 (虾) há, xiā < MC ɦaɨ < OC *gra:, *qʰraː  || M 蟹 (蠏) xiè, xiě, xié < MC ɦaɨj < OC *gre:ʔ  | Chin. 蟹 xié (SV giải ~> VS ghẹ > cáy > cua , 'crab') | According to Starostin: crab (Han). Normal Sino-Viet. is giải: it is interesting that both this form and the colloquial cáy reflect a voiceless initial (possibly pointing to a variant *kre:?). | Protoform: *q(r)e:(j)H. Lushei: ai, KC *t?-g|ai. Lepcha: ta<-hi. Kiranti: *ghra\	****All the Mon‑Khmer languages point toward VS tôm, and they appear also to be cognate with VS contôm. Yet, as illustrated in Luce’s comparanda, these items are consistently mis‑labeled as ‘crab’. In contrast, the Vietnamese forms cua and tôm, together with their variants, align more plausibly with the Chinese equivalents /xià/ and /xié/, the latter corresponding to 蟹 xié.
con	child	Viet. /kon/, Old Mon kon/, Modern Mon /kon/, Danaw /kon4/, Riang White and Black /kuan/, Palaung /kɔn2/, Wa /kɔn2/, Old Khmer /kon/, /kun/, Sakai /kěnon/, Semang /kodn/, Nicobaese /kōan/, Shom Peng /köat/, Pʿman /kʿuan/, Bahnar /kon/, T'eng /kon/, Khasi /khún/, War /hūn/, Mundari /hon/, /hɔn/, Sav /on/, Gad /ōdu-ōn, Kurku /kōn/	子 zǐ (SV tử, VS con) | M 子 zī, zǐ, zì, zí, zi, cí (tử, tý) < MC tsɨ < OC *ʔslɯʔ. | Etymology: For Chin. 子 zǐ (SV tử), cf. Fukienese (Fuzhou) 囝 Fukien /kiaŋ/, /kiã/, /kẽ/ ‘son, child’. According to Starostin, 子 zǐ 'child, son, daughter, young person; prince'; a polite substitute for 'you' Also read *c@?-s, MC cjy\, Mand. zì 'to treat as a son'. Related is 字 *z|@?-s 'to breed' q. v. The character is also used for an homonymous word *c@? 'the first of the Earthly Branches' (in Sino-Viet.: tý). Interestingly, 子 zǐ also means 'girl',. Ex. 處子 chūzǐ # 'gáitơ' (= 處女 chǔnǚ, SV xửnữ, 'virgin'), 《詩經 · 周南 · 桃夭  》： 之 子 於歸，宜其 室家. Shījīng -- Zhōunán -- Táoyāo': Zhī zǐ yúguī, yí qì shìjiā. ('Thikinh -- Châunam -- Đàoyêu': Congái vuquy, để thành giathất.), 子婿 zǐxù (chàngrể), 子民 zǐmín (condân), 長子 zhǎng​zǐ​ (contrưởng), 孩子 háizi (concái), 戲子 xìzi (conhát).	****Except for those variants of Chinese M 子 zǐ (SV tử) and Fukienese /kẽ/, there is no doubt that all the forms are the same in this item.
chổi	broom (to sweep)	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /tamah/, /twah/, Danaw /tɔn2pʿyé4/, /tăpʿyé4/, Riang White /tɤn\pi:s-/, /pi:s/, Black /tən\pi:s-/, /pi:s/, Palaung /kăɓih3/, /ɓih3/, /ɓiχ3/, Wa /bi:h5/, Khmer /ampos/, /os/, Sakai /sapu/, Besisi /tampoys/, Malay /sapu/, Mundari /jonoʔ/, /joʔ/, etc.	箒 zhǒu (SV chửu, VS chổi) | M 箒 (帚) zhǒu (trửu, chửu) < MC tʂǝw < OC *tuʔ	***Except for the Danaw form that sound like VS 'tạpdề' (mop?, apron?) and the Mundari forms with /jonoʔ/, /joʔ/ ('chổi' ?), all other forms do not seem to relate to VS 'chổi' which is cognate to Chinese 帚 zhǒu.
chết	to die	Viet. /chết/, Old Mon /kcit/, Modern Mon /kʿyuit/, Danaw /pyi:n2/, Riang White and Black /yam-/, Palaung /yam2/, Wa /yUm2/, Khmer /khūc/, Stieng /chot/, Biat /khöt/, Srê /chət/, Mnong Gar /khət/, Bahnar /kəcǐt/, Khasi /jot/ (to perish), Mundari /gojoʔ/, Juang /goju/, Santali /gujuk/, T’eng /han/, K’mu /yăm/, Lemet /yam/, Khasi /iap/.	死 sǐ (SV tử, VS chết) | M 死 sǐ < MC sji < OC *sijʔ	**Even though most of the forms in Luce’s list for this item show correspondences to the Vietnamese articulation of ‘chết’, besides C 死 sǐ there are several other Chinese words cognate to V 'chết' in different contexts, e.g., 逝 shì (SV thệ), 折 zhé (SV chiết), 卒 zú (SV tốt, cf. VS 'chốt'), 陟 zhì (SV trắc), etc. Also, the Sino-Tibetan etyma are worth speculating. (See the next section on the
chật	tight, taut	Old Mon /tinteŋ/ (?), Modern Mon /teŋ/, Danaw /kʿreŋ2/, Riang White /kʿre’ŋ\ /, Black /kre’ŋ\ /, Palaung /kʿyɛ3/, Wa / ʃi4ñɛ`3/, Khasi /pyrkhiŋ/, Shan /khiŋ/.	窄 zhăi (SV trách, trạch, VS chật) | M 窄 zhăi, zé < MC tʂaik < OC *ɕra:k	****The Vietnamese and Chinese forms are obviously cognate with the frequent pattern of /tr-/ ~ /ch-/, hence, SV 'trạch' /trajk6/ ~> VS 'chật' /ʨəʔt6/ (Northern) ~ /ʨək6/ (Southern), while Mon-Khmer others appear to be dubious.
chấy	louse in the hair	Viet. /chấy/, no Old Mon. mod. /cai/, Danaw /tsɪ1/, Riang White and Black /sʿɪʔ/, Palaung /sɑ'ɪ2/, /sɔ2/, Wa /ʃɪʔ1/, Khmer /caɪ/, Sakai /cha/ Semang /chiʾ/, Nicobarese /shēɪ/, Stieng /sɪh/, Srê /săi/, T'eng /séʔ/, Khasi /ksi/, Mundari /siku/	虱 shī (SV siết, sắt, VS chí, chấy) | M 虱 (蝨) shī < MC ʂit < OC *sriɡ	****Interestingly enough, the Chin. form /shī/ appears to be cognate to other Austroasiatic forms, too, and that could likely be coincidental.
chải	comb (wet) hair	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /grah/, Danaw /kiɛ`t3/, Riang White and Black /kɑs\/, Nicobarese el-kōat/ (comb), Mundari /nakiʔ/	梳 shǔ (SV sơ, VS chải) | M 梳 shū, shù, shǔ < MC ʂɨə̆ < OC *sŋra  | ¶ /sh- ~ ch-/	***No correspondences in Luce’s comparanda for this item. The Vietnamese and Chinese forms could possibly be cognate.
chúng	they	Old Mon /deh t-eh/, Modern Mon /ɗeʾ taʾ/, Danaw /kʿɤʔ1,3/, Riang White /kɤʔ\ /, Black /kəʔ\ /, Palaung /kɛ`2/, Wa /kʿɛʔ/, Old Khmer /ke/	他們 tāmén > 'chúngnó' > 'chúng' | M 他 (佗) tā, tuō, duò < MC tʰa < OC *l̥ʰaːl || M 們 mén, men ~ ht. M 門 mén < MC muən < OC *mu:n | Note: (1) Suffix indicating plural for pronouns, some animated nouns and personifications: 我們 wǒmen (VS mình, 'we'), 孩子們 háizimen (VS nhữngtrẻcon, 'children". (2) Suffix attached to the name of the representative of a group to refer to that whole group. General suffix indicating plural.: (dialectal Mandarin, Jin): 花兒們 huārmen (những bônghoa, 'flowers').	**For other forms,  it could be also a cognate of 'kẻ' as in 'kẻkhác' (其他 qítā , SV kỳtha, VS khác <~ sound clipping).The Vietnamese form 'kẻ' is similar to /ke/ but the Mon forms, /deh t-eh/, Modern Mon /ɗeʾ taʾ/, look like VS 'tụinó'. In any case, 'chúng' could be postulated as a contraction of early M 'tamen' where /t-/ ~ /ch-/ and /-men/ ~ /-owng/.
chôn	to bury	Old Mon /tip/, Modern Mon /tuip/, Danaw /plu4/, Riang White and Black /plu-/, Old Khmer /kap/, Sakai /tapn/, Semang /tam/, Malay /taman/, Bahar /tâp/, Biat /tǒp/, Srê /təp/, Khasi /tep/, Mundari /topa/, Nicobarese /olō/.	葬 zàng (SV táng, VS tang, chôn) | M 葬 zàng < MC tsaŋ < OC *tsaŋ, *ʔsaːŋs	****While the V 'chôn' and the C 葬 zàng are cognate, all other forms also appear to show similar sound change patterns being cognates.
chó	dog	Viet. /chó/, Old Mon /clew/, /cluiw/, Modern Mon /kluiw/, Danaw /tso1/, Riang White and Black /sʿɔʔ-/, Palaung /ă\ʔoʔ1/, Wa /soʔ1/, Old Khmer cke, Sakai /cho/, Semang /āsūʔ/, Malay /asu/, Srê /sɔ/, P'uman /shaw/, T'eng /soʔ/, Khasi /ksew/, War /ksiā/, Mundari /seta/, Savara /sōr/, /kinsor/ Gadaba /kussō/, Kurku tsītā/	狗 gǒu (SV cẩu, VS chó, cầy) | M QT 狗 gǒu < MC kjəw < OC *ko:ʔ | Wiktionary: Etymology: From some language ancestral to modern Hmong-Mien languages, from Proto-Hmong-Mien *qluwˣ (“dog”), perhaps from Proto-Austronesian *(u-)(ŋ)kuɣkuɣ (“dog”) (Norman, 1988; Benedict, 1996).  Alternatively, STEDT derives this from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-kʷəj-n (“dog”), whence also 犬 (OC *kʰʷeːnʔ). <br /><br />Note:  Việtcổ /kro/, Proto-Austro-Asiatic: *cɔ ̃ *cǝ(ʔ)ɔ, Thai: ʔcɔ:.A year of dog, Proto-Katuic: *cɔ, Proto-Bahnaric: *cɔ, Khmer: OK co < Viet. For Proto-Viet **kro, see elaboration on the etymology in the above section.	****There is no doubt that all the forms above are cognates, including the Chin. 狗 gǒu, cf. 'cầy' as in 'cầytơ' 小狗 xiăogǒu (SV tiểucẩu).
chín	nine	Old Mon /dincit/, Modern Mon /dacit/, Danaw /tsən4/, Riang White /tɪ:m/, Black /tɪm/, Palaung /tɪ:m2/, Wa /dɪ:m2/	九 jǐu (SV cửu, VS chín) || M 九 jǐu, jīu, qíu (cửu, cưu) < MC kuw < OC *kuʔ || Wiktionary: Wiktionary: Pictogram (象形) – a stylized hand, with bent wrist/forearm (hence the hook stroke at lower right). Earlier forms resemble 手 (shǒu), 寸 (cùn). The original meaning of the glyph was “elbow”, which is now written 肘 (OC *tkuʔ). After the meaning “elbow” was forgotten, 九 was taken to symbolize a fist tightening to bump up against something; thus, there is a metaphorical bumping up of nine against ten, which is the last number when counting on one's fingers. Etymologically, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d/s-kəw. Compare Tibetan དགུ (dgu).	***If all other Vietnamese numbers are not cognate to those of Chin. etyma, then this is only another speculation along with 'six' 六 lìu and probably 'two' 二 èr and 'three' 三 sān.
chín	ripe, cooked	Viet. /chín/ cin- Aorist prefix?, modern Mon. /ɗu/, /cin/, Danaw /ătsɛ`n4/, Riang White /sʿɪ:n/, Black /sʿɪn/, Palaung /si:n2/, Wa /ʃi:n2/ (=cooked); /tɤm2/ (=ripe), Khmer /cʿăʔin/, Sakai /chêtn/, Besisi /machin/, Semang /inchen/, Nicobarese /ishɪan/, Srê /sǐn/, Mnong Gar /sɯm/, Bahnar /ʃim/, T'eng /sin/, Mundari /isin/.	熟 shú (SV thuộc, VS chín, rục, 'well cooked') | M 熟 shú, shóu (thục, thuộc) < MC dʑuwk < OC *djɯwɢ	**The VS 'chín' is clearly cognate to other Mon-Khmer forms while the Chinese lexeme shows a parallel in the initial phoneme only, which may point to something else similar in the Sino-Tibetan languages as in many cases such as 'rắn' (snake), 'lòng' (heart), 'năm' (number 5), etc.,  since in VS there is the antonym 'sống' (live, raw) which is affirmatively cognate to the C 生 shēng (SV 'sanh') and 'tái' (Hainanese /te1/, 'uncooked, raw').
chè	tea	No Old Mon, mod. lak(pʿak), Danaw /mi:n2/, Riang White /myɛ`m\ /, Blak /mɛ`m\ /, Palaung /myɛ`m2/, Wa /lɑ2/, Burmese /lak/, /-phak/	茶 chá (SV trà, VS chè) | M 茶 chá < MC ɖaɨ < OC *rlaː | Note: per Starostin: 'tea' (Han). See notes to 荼. Viet. chè is colloquial; the regular Sino-Viet. form is trà | FQ 宅加	******The Vietnamese and Chinese forms are clearly cognate and sound similarly while others diverge greatly. This etymon might have an Yue origin since tea was a product of China South with its homebase had been in today's Fujian Province.
chân	foot, leg	Viet. /chân/, Old and Modern Mon /juŋ/, Danaw /kɔʔ\ /, Riang White /tjɔ:ŋ\ /, /tsɔŋ\ /, Palaung /djɑn2/, /djén2/ Wa /tjɑuŋ2/, Old Khmer /jeŋ/, Sakai /jukn, Besisi /joŋ/, Semang /chān/, Old Javanese /joŋ/, Shom Peng /chuk/, Bahnar /jəŋ/, P'u-man /chin/, T'eng /yươŋ/, Khsi /kiat/, Mundari /jaŋga/, Savara /talljeŋ/, Gadaba /susuŋ/, Kurkur /nāŋgā/	足 zú (SV túc, VS giò, 'leg') and 腳 jiăo (SV cước, VS chân , 'foot') | M  足 zú, jù < MC tsuawk < OC *soɡ, *ʔsoɡs || M 腳 jiăo, jué < MC kɨak < OC *kaɡ	***While it appears that the VS /chân/ is cognate to those in other languages – cross different linguistic families – the Chinese forms are also cognate to VS /chân/ 'leg' and /giò/, respectively.
cháu	grandchild	Viet. /cháu/, Old Mon /cow/, mod. /cau/, Ranaw /tapli4/, Riang Black White /pli-/, Palaung /hlan3/, Wa /kɔn4 sɑ'əʔ/, Old Khmer /cau/, Sakai /chěn-oʔ/, Besisi /kin-chu/, Semang /kanchɔʔ/, Malay /chuchu/, Bahnar /sâu/, T'eng /jeʔ/, Khasi /khsiw/, Old Burmese /mliy/	姪 zhí (SV điệt, VS cháy) | M 姪 (侄) zhí < MC trɦit < OC *drit | Wiktionary: Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *diːɡ, *diɡ): semantic 女 (“woman”) + phonetic 至 (OC *tjiɡs). Etymologically, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b/m-ləj (“grandchild; nephew”) + [Term?] (“nominalizing final”). Cognate with Burmese မြေး (mre:, “grandchild”).	***The modern Chinese M /zhí/ appears to be similar to the Vietnamese form. With other forms cited can also be postulated to be cognate to V 'cháu', we could wonder if it is the same case as /pa/, /ma/, /mat/, /miao/, etc., in the world's languages. For Chinese 姪 zhí (of the same surname), nephew, brother's son,  (originally only of a woman, but also of a man after the Jìn Dynasty), grandson, granddaughter, niece,
chày	pestle	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /ri/, Danaw /tsʿɔŋ1réʔ3/, Riang White /tɤn\rɛ'ʔ-/, Black /rɛ'ʔ-/, Palaung /ŋ2gɑ'i2/, /ŋ2géi2/, Wa /ŋrgriʔ3/, Khmer /aŋrai/, Sakai /rentik/, Biat /rʾnai/, Mnong Gar /rnɛ'/, Bahnar /adrih/, /adrey/, T'eng /kəndré/, /cəndré/, /ndre/, Khasi synrei/	杵 chǔ (SV xử, VS chày) | M 杵 chǔ < MC tɕʰiɔ < OC *ŋ̥ʰjaʔ | ¶ /ch- ~ j-(d-)/ | Ex. 杵臼 chǔjìu (VS cốichày.)	***The V 'chày' and the C 杵 chǔ make a much more close a cognate than the rest.
chuột	rat	Old and Modern Mon /kni/, Danaw /kăné1,2/, Riang White /kʿrɔm-/, Black /kəbu-/, /kʿrɔm-/, Palaung /hnɔ'i2/, Wa /kiaŋ2/, Sakai /kaněh/, Semang /kaneʾ/, Srê /ɗɛ`/, Bahnar /kənɛ`/, T'eng /kənéʔ/, Khasi /khnai/, Mundari /huni/	鼠 shǔ (SV thử, VS chuột) | M 鼠 shǔ < MC ɕɨə̆ < OC *hljaʔ | Etymology: According to Starostin, OC *l^h (normally yielding t.h, but here having given a dialectal reflex *s/h- > s/-) is reconstructed on the basis of Min forms: Xiamen chu3, Chaozhou chy3, Fuzhou, Jianou chu3. STEDT, on the other hand, compares 鼠 (OC *hljaʔ) to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-jəw-n (“rat; rabbit; hare”). Cf. 子 zī, zǐ, zì, zí, zi, cí (SV tử, tý, VS chuột) < MC tsɨ < OC *ʔslɯʔ	******While there is no cognate with the Mon-Khmer forms, there is no doubt that the Chin. /shǔ/ and VS 'chuột' are cognate, including that of the doublet of Chin. 子 zǐ in the 12 animal zodiac table. See also elaboration on 'sóc' (squirrel).
chimcông	peafowl	Old Mon /mrek/, /mrā/, Danaw (<Burmese), Riang White and Black /prāk\ /, Palaung /brɑʔ3/, Wa /kɑ'ɯŋ2/, Malay /měrak/, Cham /amrak/, Biat /brak/, T'eng /kuóŋ/...)	孔雀 kǒngquè (SV khổngtước, VS chimcông | M 孔 kǒng < MC khúŋ < OC *kʰloːŋʔ | M 雀 què, qiăo, qiāo (SV tước, VS sóc, chimsóc, chim) < MC tsɨak < OC *ʔsewɢ	***Obviously the VS 'chimcông' is the Chinese form in reverse order. Some more forms in other languages listed for this item are omitted for their being unrelated to Vietnamese.
chim	bird	Viet. /chɪm/, Old Mon /kiñcem/, mod. gacem, Danaw /tsən4/, Riang White /si:m/, Black /sim/, Palaung /sim2/, Wa /ʃi:m2/, Sakai /chēp/, /chēm/, Biat /chɪum/, Srê /sɪm/, Bahnar /sɛm, T'eng /sim/, Khasi /sim/ War /ksem/, Mundari /sīm/ (=fowl), Kurku /ʃɪm(fowl), Sav /kansɪm/ (fowl)	禽 qín  (SV cầm, VS chim) | M 禽 (擒) qín < MC gim < OC *ɡrɯm (modern M niăo 鳥), dialects: Hainanese /jiăo/ is the sound for 'chim', Chaozhou: ʑin12, Wenzhou: ʑiaŋ12, Shuangfeng: ʑin12 | According to Starostin: the character 禽 qín is more frequently used since L.Zhou with the meaning 'wild bird(s)' ('something caught'), whereas for the meaning 'to catch, capture', SV 'cầm', VS 'giam' one uses the character 擒	***It looks like all forms are cognates, including that of Chinese.
bụng	heart, mind, feelings	Old Mon /pumas/, Modern Mon /tma3/, Danaw /ruɔt2/, Riang White /kɪ:ŋ-kɤnuas\, Black/kɪ:ŋ-kənuas\ /, Palaung /nɔh3/, /nɑuh3/, Wa /rɔm2/, T'eng /ʿñươm/, Khasi /jingmut/	腹 fù (SV phúc, VS bụng) | M 腹 fù < MC puwk < OC *pug | Wiktionary: from Proto-Vietic *buːŋʔ, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *buŋ() ~ *buuŋʔ. Cognate with Khmer ពុង (pung), Mon ဗုၚ် (pɜ̀ŋ), Thai พุง (pung).	****The Danaw form /ruɔt2/ is exactly what appears as VS 'ruột' while Old Mon form /pumas/ points to VS 'bụng' which, in turn, is cognate to Chin. 腹 fù.
bốn	four	Viet. /bốn/, Old Mon /pan/ mod. /pan/, Danaw /pən/, Palaung /p'Un/, Wa /pɔl2, pɔn2/, Old Khmer /pon/, Mundari /upun/, Bhnar /pūən/	四 sì (SV tứ, VS tư, bốn) || M 四 (亖) sì < MC sɨ < OC *hljids | Etymology: Sino-Tibetan : Protoform: *lij, *pij. Meaning: four. Chinese: 四 *slhij-s. Tibetan: bz/i four. Burmese: lijh four, LB *(b)lijx. Kachin: m@li1 four. Lushei: li four, KC *b-n-d'-li\. Kiranti: *bhli/ ( / *bha/li). Comments: PG *pli\L; BG: Garo bri, Dimasa biri; Kanauri po; Moshang ba<>-li; Namsangia be< -li; Thulung bli; Digaro k@prei; Miri phli; Trung bli2. Simon 19; Sh. 125, 134, 407, 434; Ben. 94; Mat. 184. | According to Starostin, for early OC a reconstruction *slhits is also possible. Vietnamese has a peculiar tone opposition: tứ 'four' - tư 'fourth' (cf. analogically for 二 'two'). ||	***As 一 yī', 二 èr, and 三 sān could be associated with VS 'một', hai', and 'ba', respectively, if there is no general consensus in the linguist circle about the Vietnamese numbers one to five to be cognate to those in Mon-Khmer, Chin. 四 sì still could be included for investigation then.
bọt	foam	Viet. /bọt/, No Old Mon, mod. /tʿaɓuih/, Danaw /lɑk4pUət5(u:n4)/, Riang White and Black /bus-?, Palaung /buh2/, Wa /m bɑi2/, Khmer /babuh/, Semang /cheʾbug/, /baʾbug/, Makay /bueh/, Biat /mʾbūh/, Mundari /moto/	泡 pào (SV pháo, VS bọt) | M 泡 pào, pāo (bào, bàu, pháo) < MC baɨw, pʰaɨw < OC *phru:s, *m̥ʰruːs, *bruː	****Beside those cognates in other languages, the Chinese and Vietnamese forms are lookalikes, too.
bế	to carry on back	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /bā/, Danaw /bɔʔ4,2/, Riang White /pɑʔ\ /, Black /bɔʔ\ /, Palaung /bɑ‘u2/, Wa /puʔ1/, Mnong Gar /bɑʔ/, Khasi /bah/.	抱 bāo (SV bão, VS bế, bồng, 'carry with one’s arm') | M 抱 bào, bāo, fóu, páo, póu < MC baw < OC *bu:ʔ  | cf. Hainanese /bong2/ 捧 pēng (SV phụng, VS bưng, 'carry with both hands')	****All the Mon-Khmer forms point to the V ‘bồng’ which is in turn cognate also to the Chin. 抱 bāo. To mean ‘to carry on back’, the Vietnamese has the word ‘vác’ (for objects) which is cognate to the C 背 bèi (SV bối) and 負 fù (SV phụ).
bắn	shoot (with bow)	Viet /bắn/, Old Mon /pañ/, Modern Mon /pan/, Danaw /pəiŋ4/, Riang White and Black /pəiñ-/, Palaung /pɑiŋ2/, Wa /púiñ2/, Old Khmer /pañ/, Malay /panah/ (bow), Nicobarese /fɑiŋ/ (crossbow), Biat /pañ/, Mnong Gar /pɛñ/, Bahnar /pɛŋ/, T’eng /piñ/, Lemet /piŋ/.	放 fàng (SV phóng, VS bắn) | M 放 fàng < MC pwoŋ < OC *paŋʔ, *paŋs || Example: 放槍 fàngqiāng (bắnsúng, 'shoot a gun')	****All forms are cognate including that of the Chinese. (2)
bảy	seven	Old Mon /dumpoh/, Modern Mon /t'apah/, Danaw /pat4/, Palaung /pu2/, Sakai /tempo/, Bahnar /təpət/, Srê /pɔh/, Piat /pôh/, P'aman /p'ua/, Lemet /pul/	七 qī (SV thất), VS bảy | M 七 (柒) qī < MC tsʰit < OC *sn̥ʰid	*Like 四 sì, 七 qī is another highly speculative case for SV 'thất' ~ VS 'bảy'. In Khmer, like six, there is no seven, neither eight, nine, nor ten.
bạc	silver	Viet. /tiền/, Old Mon /srañ/, Modern Mon /sran/, Danaw /rɤn2/, /hrɤn2/, Riang White /ron\ /, Black /ron\ /,/rUn\ /, Palaung /rɤŋ2/, Wa /mɑɯ2/, T'eng /srǐl/, (gold, silver), Kʿmu /srǐl/, /sěrin/ (gold), Darang /rǒn/, Katurr /ron/	白銀 báiyín (SV bạchngân), 錢 qián (SV tiền) | M 白 bái, bó, bà, băi, zì < MC bɐk < OC *brak | M 錢 qián < MC tsjen < OC *ʑan | Note: Viet. 'bạc' could be from 鉑 bó or a clipping of M 白銀 báiyín.	***Luce’s comparanda were intended to represent basic vocabulary, yet all of the cited Vietnamese etyma in this set ultimately derive from Chinese forms. If ‘gold’ is to be included, the Vietnamese form vàng appears as a clipping of 黃金 huángjīn, corresponding to VS /vàng/ and the character 鋆 yún (SV quân) ‘gold’. By the same pattern, VS bạc may be understood as a parallel clipping, either from 白金 báijīn or from 鉑 bó (SV bạc).
bươmbướm	butterfly	No Old Mon, Modern Mon /puŋkamū/ (butterfly soul), Danaw /pɔŋ2pɑʔ3/, Riang White and Black /puŋ-pɑʔ-/, Palaung /kɑʔ1la1/, Wa /pɑi4pyaŋ2/, T'eng /pam/	蝴蝶 húdié (SV hồđiệp) ~ 粉蝶  fěndié (SV phấnđiệp, VS bươmbướm) | Wiktionary: Etymologically, from Proto-Vietic *paːmʔ. Cognates including Proto-Pong *paːm³, Thổ pəmpɨam³, Hoàbình Muong pɨəm¹ pɨəm³, Sơnla Muong pɨəm³, Thanhhoá Muong bɨəm³, Muong Bi pươmpưởm. Compare also Khmu (Cuang) tlaːmpaːm. Per G.H. Luce's comparanda: Mon: puŋ kamū (butterfly soul), Danaw /t'ănɔʔ/: pɔŋ2paʔ5, Riang /rəyaŋ/ : pɔŋ_paʔ_, Palaung: pɔŋ_paʔ_, Wa (Tungva) pɑĩpyaŋ2 ; Ilya Peiros: Proto-Zhuang-Tai: *ʔbɨa.C, Siamese: LAO -bɨa.3, Lungchow: NUNG bua.3 ~> Viet. 'bướm'	*The Vietnamese bướm is plausibly cognate with T’eng /pam/ and with the initial syllable /puŋ/ in Mon, while the reduplicated form bươmbướm aligns with other parallels. By contrast, the Chinese form /húdié/ shows no apparent relation, unless one were to posit a hypothetical proto‑form such as /bombjem/. Interestingly, several Austronesian languages exhibit strikingly similar etyma to bươmbướm: Proto‑Eastern‑Oceanic /mpe(e)mpe(e)/, Fijian /beebee/, Samoan /pepe/, New Zealand Māori /pê/, /pepe/, and Rotuman /pêpa/. The evidence is difficult to interpret with certainty, but the most plausible inference is that the Vietnamese forms may ultimately reflect an Austronesian origin.
bôngsợi	cotton yarn, thread	Old Mon /tol/ (< Samskrit), Modern Mon /tow/, Danaw /lu1/, Riang White and Black /luʔ-/, Palaung /sɑŋ2/, /sen2/, Khasi /ksai/, Sanskrit /tūla/	棉線 miánxiàn (SV miêntuyến, VS sợibông) | M 棉 (綿) mián < MC mjen < OC *men | M 線 (綫) xiàn < MC sian < OC *sqʰeːns	*While there is no correlation in other languages and the Vietnamese form 'bông' once reduced from Chin. 棉 mián, then the compound 棉線 miánxiàn can give rise to VS 'bôngsợi' and 'sợibông' in reverse order.
bông	flower	Old Mon /pkāw/,/pluh/, Modern Mon /pkaw/, /raŋ/, Danaw /puɑŋ1po4/, /po4/, Riang White /pɤdɑk-/, /pɔ-/, Black /dɑk-/, /pɔ-/, Palaung /dɑk-/, /ɓɔh3/, Wa /tɑi2/, /pruh5tɑi2/, Old Khmer /pkā/, Sakai /běkáu/, Srê, Bahnar /bɔkao/, T'eng /raŋ/ Lemet /raŋ/, Khasi /phuh/ (=blossom)	葩 pā (SV ba, VS bông) | (1) M 葩 (苩) pā < MC pʰaɨ < OC *pʰraː | (2) M 花 huā (SV hoa, Cant. 花 (蘤) /fa1/ < 花 huā < MC hwaɨ < OC *hʷra	****The variant forms in different languages show that they are cognate to each other while at the same time the Vietnamese /bông/ also points to the Chin. 葩 pā and 花 huā forms as its cognates.
bóng	shadow of living creature	Old Mon /sumdiŋ/, Modern Mon /samniŋ/, Danaw /tɔŋ2bui4/, Riang White and Black /poé-/, Palaung /rUm3/ (=shade), Wa /(kɔn)pɤi2/, Old Khmer /sramol/, Mundari /umbul/	影 yǐng (SV ảnh, VS bóng) | M  影 yǐng < MC ʔiajŋ < OC *qraŋʔ | For ¶ /y- ~ b-/, cf. 照影 zhàoyǐng VS 'soibóng' (cast a shadow), 郵 yóu SV 'bưu' (postal), 由 yóu 'bởi' (by), 柚 yóu 'bưởi' (pomelo), 游 yóu 'bơi' (swim), 案 àn 'bàn' (table), 按 àn 'bấm' (press), etc.	***The Chinese form is clearly cognate to the VS 'bóng' along side of some other Luce's comparanda.
bà	grandma	Old Mon /abow/ (?), Modern Mon /bau/, Danaw /yaʔ1/, Riang White and Black /yaʔ\ /, Palaung /yā2/, Wa /yeʔ3/, /yaʔ3/, Old Khmer /aji/, Mundari /jia/	婆 pó (SV bà) | M 婆 pó < MC bwa < OC *ba:l | Note: In Chinese, 婆 pó corresponds to Vietnamese bà, which broadly denotes ‘woman, old woman’. More specifically, bà functions as the kinship term ‘grandmother’. In Vietnamese, bàngoại (外婆 wàipó, SV ngoạibà) designates the maternal grandmother, while bà alone can serve as a shortened form for both maternal and paternal grandmothers. By contrast, Chinese has a well‑established form 外婆 wàipó for the maternal grandmother, but only dialectal 內婆 nèipó (VS bànội) for the paternal grandmother. In modern Mandarin, the usual term for paternal grandmother is 奶奶 nǎinai, which has no direct Vietnamese cognate. This asymmetry parallels the case of ôngngoại discussed above, where the maternal line shows a stronger lexical correspondence between Chinese and Vietnamese than the paternal line.	*****'bà', 'bànội', 'bàngoại' are doubtless from Chinese with the VS 'bà' cognate to Chin. 婆 pó. Meanwhile, the /ye/ and /ya/ forms somehow look like '爺爺 yéye 'paternal grandpa'. In all probabilities they may not be related at all for the form /yeye/ that is common in many languages.
bay	ye	No listings for modern and Old Mon, Danaw /pɤ1/, Riang White /péʔ-/, Blak /péʔ-/, Palaung /pɛ`2/, Wa /pɛ'1/, T'eng bò, Khasi phʾ, Maundari /pe/. See 'mày'	你們 nǐmén (SV nimôn, VS bọnmày, bọnbay > bay)	**'bay' is a variant of 'mày' as in Vietnamese 'tụibay' ~ 'tụimày', 'bọnbay' ~ 'bọnmày', that could be possibly cognate to '你們 nǐmén (SV nimôn) where 們 mén ~ 'bọn' and 你 nǐ ~ 'mầy', hence ~> 'bay', etc.
bay	to fly	Old Mon /par/, Modern Mon /paw/, Danaw /pan4/, Riang White /pɤr-/, Black /pər-/, Palaung /kăpɛ`h3/, Wa /pu2/, Khmer /hör/, Semang /kěpuih/, Nicobarese /hēh/, Stieng /par/, Biat /mʾpăr/, Srê /par/, /gēpăr/, Bahnar /păr/, /təpăr/, P’uman /pʿwa/, T’eng /tɯr/, K’mu /tar/, Khasi /her/, Mundari /apit/.	飛 fēi (SV phi, VS bay) | M QT 飛 fēi < MC pwyj < OC *pjəj, *pɯl	****Except for a few exceptions, all forms are cognate to each other, including that of Chinese. (1)
ba, bố	father	Old Mon /amba/, /abaʾ/, Modern Mon /ma/, Danaw /pɑ4/, Old Khmer /vāpa/, Old Javanese and Malayan /bapa/, Khasi /kpa/, Mundar /aba'/	父 fù (SV phụ, VS bố) | M QT 父 fù, fǔ (phụ, phủ) < MC pio < OC *paʔ, *baʔ | Note: Both Chinese and Vietnamese 'ba' is 爸 bā (SV ba) and 父 fù (SV phụ) for  'bố'	******While /pa/ and /ma/ are similar to almost all languages on earth, all other forms in Luce's lists are cognates while the Chin. 父 fù and VS 'bố' forms stand out by themselves.
ba	three	Old Mon /piʔ/ mod. /pi/, Old Khmer /pɪ/, Bhanar /pɛŋ/), Mundari /apɪ/	三 sān, sàn (SV tam, VS ba) || M 三 sān, sàn < MC sɑm < *OC sjə:m | cf. 仨 sā (SV ta, VS ba), 卅 sà (SV tạp, VS băm , 'thirty-', 卅二 sā'èr (SV tạpnhị), VS bămhai, 'thirty-two').	**Like "một" ('one' 一 yī SV nhất), this Chinese etymon could have been a plausible candidate with or without the cognate number 'bốn' ('four' where it does not appear to be related to C 四 sì but Bhanar /pɛŋ/) if what follows it does not break up the pattern as compared with the others. the Vietnamese cognate, hence, is not included in this item. In historical linguistic, loanwords or words of the same root might deviate the meaning of the related etyma as in several languages, numeral cognates could be limited to two numbers. Similarly, the same postulation could be applied to the form 'two'.
ai	I	Old Mon /ey/, Modern Mon /ʾai/, Danaw /oʔ1/, Riang White /oʔ-/, Black /oʔ-/, Palaung /ɑ2/, Wa /ɑəʔ1/, Old Khmer /añ/, Bahnar /iñ/, Khasi /nga/, War /ñia/, Mundari /aiŋ, iŋ, iñ/, Kurku /iŋ/	咱 zá (SV tá, VS ta) | Cf. 'tao', 'tôi' M 我 wǒ < MC ŋa < OC *ŋa:lʔ | Note: cf. Vietnamese tao, tôi. Compare also 我 wǒ < MC ŋa < OC ŋaːlʔ. Notably, Chinese preserves several additional characters for the first‑person pronoun that may be related to Vietnamese forms. One such item is 俺 ǎn, án, which in older and colloquial usage (> VS ai) functioned as a self‑referential pronoun. This form remains especially common in the northeast dialects of China and is frequently attested in the great vernacular novels such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義) and Water Margin (水滸傳). In these contexts, 俺 is used by a speaker to refer to themselves when addressing an elder or superior. In Vietnamese, this usage resonates with em – literally ‘younger sibling,’ but also a humble self‑addressing pronoun meaning ‘I’ in deferential contexts.	***'Ai' is a Proto-Vietic form which is cognate to those variants in all Mon-Khmer languages. In the meanwhile the Chin. 我 wǒ, SV 'ngã', seems to be recent development. However, if V 'qua' /wa/ is taken into consideration, the Vietnamese form then is cognate to the Chin. 我 wǒ.
Xiêm	Shan	Viet. /xiêm/, Mon mod. /sem/, Riang White and Black /sʿɛm-/, Palaung /sɪm2/, Wa /ʃiɛ`m2/, Old Khmer /syām/, Malay /sɪam/, Biat /chiăm/, P'u-man sien/, Old Burmese /syam/	暹 Xián (SV Xiêm, 'Siam') <~ '暹羅 Xiánluó (SV Tiêmla, VS Xiêmla)	****VS 'Xiêm' is clearly derived from the Chinese form. In English it is also transcribed as 'Siam' but it does not denote the same nominal 'Shan' as of people.
Miến	Burmese	Old Mon /mirmār/, Modern Mon /bamā/, Danaw /mlan2/, Riang White /mɤrɑn/, Black /məran/, Palaung /brɑn/, /brɔn/, Old Burmese /mranmā/, Chinese /mien/, Shan man	緬 Miàn (SV Miến) <~ 緬甸 Miăndiàn (SV Miếnđiện)	*****Like 'Xiêm' or ''Miên' (Khmer), V 'Miến' is such called after that of the same word in Chinese.
Hẹ	Chinese	Mon mod. /kruk/, Danaw /ché4/, Riang White and Black /kʿɛ`-/, Palaung /kɛ`3/, Wa /hɔʔ1/, Old Burmese /taruk/	客 Kè < 客家 Kèjiā (SV kháchgia, VS cácchú, 'Hakka' | M 客 kè < MC kʰaɨjk < OC *kʰraːɡ | M 家 jiā, gū, jie (gia, cô) < MC kaɨ < OC *kra:	****Another term 'Chệt', derogatory, though, is another possibility. VS 'cácchú' from Hakka is another word for 客家 Kèjiā.

Footnotes:

1. The central question, as with other etyma of similar nature, is whether these forms ultimately derive from a common root or whether their resemblance is merely coincidental.

2. Specialists, when confronted with recurring patterns, often privilege phonetic proximity. As a result, Chinese dialectal forms are sometimes overlooked, even though their cognacy presents a strong case for inclusion. Such instances, like other comparable etyma, plausibly point to a shared origin.

3. Cases in which Mon‑Khmer forms are cognate with a Chinese form but remain distant from the Vietnamese equivalent are rare. Is this rarity itself coincidental, or does it suggest a deeper historical alignment?

4. Conversely, when Vietnamese and Chinese forms are cognate with each other but not with Mon‑Khmer parallels, the likelihood is that no genuine Vietnamese cognate exists for the latter.

Table 3 - The case of 蠅 yíng 'fly'

1) Structure and formation 蠅 is a phono‑semantic compound (形聲): semantic element 虫 ‘insect’ + phonetic 黽 (OC *mlenʔ, *mliŋʔ, *mreːŋʔ). The Old Chinese value is often reconstructed as *b·lɯŋ. Etymology and Cognates The word ultimately derives from Proto‑Sino‑Tibetan *mrəŋ ‘fly; bee’. Cognate comparisons include: 虻 (OC mˁraŋ) ‘horsefly’ Tibetan སྦྲང་བུ sbrang bu ‘bee’ Japhug ɣʑo ‘bee’ (STEDT; Coblin 1986; Benedict 1972; Zhang, Jacques & Lai 2019). 2) Reconstruction debates Schuessler (2007) proposes “minimal” OC *ləŋ or *jəŋ. ləŋ can be derived from the sound law *l‑ < *ml‑ < *m‑r‑ (Baxter & Sagart 2014), consistent with the 黽 phonetic series and Min reflexes. jəŋ would align with Burmese ယင် yang ‘fly’ and Chepang याङ् yāṅ ‘fly’, but this conflicts with internal Chinese evidence and is less sustainable. Starostin glosses 蠅 simply as ‘fly’. 3) Vietnamese Reflexes lằng ‘bluebottle’ is archaic, reflecting a form like WH *l@ŋ. nhặng ‘bluebottle’ is a later loan from the same source, with nh‑ reflecting MC j‑ through nasal assimilation. Regular Sino‑Vietnamese is dăng. Mei‑Ling Tsu notes that ruồi reflects Proto‑AA ruwaj ‘fly’, a very old Austroasiatic root. 4) Mon‑Khmer Parallels Forms are widely distributed: Khmer rouy Lawa rue Mon rùy Chaobon rùuy Kuy ʔaruəy Souei ʔɑrɔɔy Brur rùay Ngeʔ, Alak, Tampuon rɔɔy Loven, Brao, Stieng ruay Chong rɔʔy Pear roy Comparable forms also appear in the Munda branch (Pinnow, p. 268, item 356). 5) Chu Dialect Evidence The Chu dialect used 維虫 rwəi ‘fly’, attested in the Chuyu 楚語 section of the Guoyu 國語: 亡虫 維虫 之 既 多 “Many gnats and flies.” The phonetic 維 provides a clue to the OC value. In Middle Chinese, 維 has the 喻四 (yü IV) initial. Li Fang‑kuei argued this reflects a flapped r‑ or l‑, still preserved in Proto‑Tai and some modern dialects. Finals: reconstructed as –d (Dong Tong‑he, Li Fang‑kuei) or –r (Karlgren). By the Guoyu period, this had likely shifted to –i. In Li’s system, hekou/kaikou distinctions (with or without –u‑/‑w‑) are non‑phonemic. He reconstructs 維 as rəd. 6) Implications Two scenarios emerge: OC lacked a phonemic –w‑. The best approximation of the Austroasiatic rounded vowel was *rəi < rəd. OC had a non‑phonemic –w‑, yielding rwəi. Either way, the Chu dialect form 維虫 shows how Chinese adapted an Austroasiatic word for ‘fly’, aligning with the widespread AA root *ruwaj.

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Table 4 - The Case of bươmbướm

The Vietnamese lexeme bướm / bươmbướm presents a particularly rich case of cross‑family convergence. On the one hand, its Proto‑Vietic ancestry (paːmʔ) is well supported by Muong and Khmuic reflexes; on the other, its reduplicated form resonates strongly with Austronesian expressive patterns (pepe, beebee, pêpa). Meanwhile, Chinese 蝴蝶 (húdié) and its Old Chinese variants (蝶, 蜨, 蛺蝶) derive from a distinct Sino‑Tibetan root lep/ljap ‘flat, thin’ or *s‑ljap ‘flash, glitter’, which also underlies Tibetan leb and Burmese hlap/hlyap.

To keep the discussion accessible, Table 1C below distills the key correspondences into a concise comparative snapshot. For readers seeking the full etymological dossier – including Proto‑Vietic reconstructions, Muong dialectal forms, Khmuic, Monic, Palaungic, Waic, Zhuang‑Tai, and the detailed Sino‑Tibetan and Austronesian parallels – see Table 1C‑Appendix, which preserves the extended comparanda as recorded in Wiktionary and related sources.

Language / Family	Form(s)	Gloss	Notes
Vietnamese (VS)	bướm, bươmbướm	butterfly	Core VS lexeme; reduplicated form parallels Austronesian expressive reduplication.
Mon‑Khmer	T’eng /pam/; Mon /puŋ/	butterfly	Suggests cognacy with VS bướm; reduplicated bươmbướm aligns with Austroasiatic expressive forms.
Chinese (Sinitic)	蝴蝶 /húdié/; 蝶 (OC l’eːb), 蜨 (OC seːb)	butterfly	No direct relation to VS bướm unless positing proto‑form /bombjem/; Sino‑Tibetan root lep/ljap ‘flat, thin’ or *s‑ljap ‘flash, glitter’.
Tibetan	ཕྱེ་མ་ལེབ (phye ma leb)	butterfly	leb ‘flat, thin’; parallels PST ljap.
Burmese	လိပ်ပြာ (lippra)	butterfly	Related to hlap ‘thin’ and hlyap ‘flash’; ties to PST ljap / s‑ljap.
Austronesian	Proto‑Eastern‑Oceanic /mpe(e)mpe(e)/; Fijian beebee; Samoan pepe; Māori pē, pepe; Rotuman pêpa	butterfly	Strong reduplicative parallels to VS bươmbướm; suggests Austronesian expressive origin.

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Table 5 ‑ Appendix - Extended Comparative Data (after Wiktionary)

Stratum	Form(s)	Gloss	Notes
Proto‑Vietic	paːmʔ	butterfly	Source of VS bướm.
Muong dialects	Thổ pəmpɨam³; Hoàbình pɨəm¹ pɨəm³; Sơnla pɨəm³; Thanhhoá bɨəm³; Muong Bi pươmpưởm	butterfly	Show reduplicative and phonological variation.
Khmuic	Khmu (Cuang) tlaːmpaːm	butterfly	Cognate with Proto‑Vietic paːmʔ.
Monic / Palaungic / Waic	Mon puŋ kamū ‘butterfly soul’; Danaw */t'ănɔʔ/ pɔŋ2paʔ5; Riang pɔŋ_paʔ; Palaung pɔŋ_paʔ; Wa (Tungva) pɑĩpyaŋ2	butterfly	Luce’s comparanda; semantic link to soul/psyche.
Tai (Zhuang‑Tai)	Proto‑Zhuang‑Tai ʔbɨa.C; Lao ‑bɨa.3; Nung bua.3	butterfly	Pathway to VS bướm.
Chinese (OC/MC)	蝴蝶 MC ɦuodep < OC ɡaːl’eːb; variants 蝶 (OC l’eːb), 蜨 (OC seːb), 蛺蝶 (OC keːb l’eːb)	butterfly	Derived from proto‑form *kʰleːp ~ ɦleːp, prefixed from root lep.
Proto‑Sino‑Tibetan roots	ljap ‘thin, flat’; s‑ljap ‘flash, glitter’	–	Basis for Chinese 蝶, Tibetan leb, Burmese hlap/hlyap.
Tibetan	ཕྱེ་མ་ལེབ (phye ma leb)	butterfly	leb ‘flat, thin’.
Burmese	လိပ်ပြာ (lippra)	butterfly	Related to hlap ‘thin’, hlyap ‘flash’.
Austronesian	Proto‑Austronesian kali‑, qali‑ (spirit prefix); Proto‑Eastern‑Oceanic /mpe(e)mpe(e)/; Fijian beebee; Samoan pepe; Māori pē, pepe; Rotuman pêpa	butterfly	Reduplicative forms parallel VS bươmbướm.

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The extensive comparanda compiled by Luce illustrate the Mon-Khmer substratum underlying 245 basic words in Danaw, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by a hill tribe in Burma. Many of these items are mixed lexicons, incorporating loanwords from multiple linguistic families. What matters most for our discussion are those Mon-Khmer substratum forms that resemble Danaw vocabulary and, at the same time, appear to be plausible Vietnamese cognates. These reflect the outcome of centuries of linguistic intermingling, as neighboring groups lived in close proximity while still maintaining their own identities.

Although Luce provided Vietnamese etyma (marked as Viet. /…/) only in selected entries, a significant portion of them clearly correspond to forms across different linguistic families, including Austroasiatic Mon-Khmer, Austronesian Malay, and Tibeto-Burman Danaw. At the same time, many Vietnamese basic words align more prominently with Chinese elements than with Mon-Khmer parallels. This pattern mirrors the scenarios found in the basic wordlists of Wilson (1966) and Thomas (1966, p. 194), which will be examined later in the following section.

The list above, though framed as "basic vocabulary", is not confined to the cited items alone. When combined with data from other linguistic families in the region, these etymologies provide a broad and valuable corpus for comparison. Additional lists compiled by Thomas, Wilson, and Baker complement one another and allow for further cross-examination within Mon-Khmer languages. At the same time, cognates from other Sino-Tibetan languages invite the inclusion of further Chinese etyma. For example, Chinese 水 shuǐ (VS sông, "river") is cognate with Tibetan tchu, in contrast to 川 chuān (VS suối, "stream") and the indigenous 河 hé (SV hà, Mongol ghol) and 江 jiāng (SV giang, VS sông, formerly kang, kung, kong), all meaning "river". Historically, 川 was associated with regions north of the Yangtze, while 江 was used south of it (Terrien de Lacouperie. The Languages of China Before the Chinese: Researches on the Languages Spoken by the Pre‑Chinese Races of China Proper Previously to the Chinese Occupation. London: D. Nutt, 1887; Taiwan reprint, 1966, p. 103).

Conclusion

Vietnamese basic vocabulary cannot be neatly contained within a single lineage. While Austroasiatic Mon‑Khmer inventories capture substratal echoes, the evidence from anatomical, kinship, household, and utensil terms demonstrates that Sino‑Vietnamese cognacy is equally decisive. Each cluster reveals a different type of intersection: anatomy shows clear Sinitic dominance, kinship reflects hybrid layering, household terms illustrate dual inheritance, and utensils embody shared material culture.

Taken together, these domains confirm that Vietnamese stands at a crossroads of classification. Root‑based word lists alone obscure the cultural embedding and polysyllabic structures that define the language. A more nuanced approach – one that honors both substratum and superstratum, cultural specificity and structural complexity – is essential for understanding Vietnamese origins.

References

• Alves, Mark J. An Updated Overview of the Austroasiatic Components of Vietnamese. Languages 9(12), 377 (2024). MDPI.

• Alves, Mark J. Historical Ethnolinguistic Notes on Proto‑Austroasiatic and Proto‑Vietic Vocabulary in Vietnamese. Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 13.2 (2020): xiii–xlv. University of Hawaiʻi Press.

• Alves, Mark J. A Brief Report on Proto‑Austroasiatic and Proto‑Vietic Vocabulary in Vietnamese. Paper presented at the Fourth International Conference on the Linguistics of Vietnam (2020).

• Thomas, David D. Basic Vocabulary in Some Mon‑Khmer Languages. Mon‑Khmer Studies (1960). JSTOR.

• Sidwell, Paul. Austroasiatic Dataset for Phylogenetic Analysis: 2015 Version. Mon‑Khmer Studies 44. Mahidol University / SIL International.

• Appendix: Austroasiatic Swadesh Lists. Wiktionary. Comparative lists for Khmer, Mon, Vietnamese, Sedang, Bahnar, Pacoh, Khmu, Blang, Khasi, Santali.

• Austroasiatic Languages. Wikipedia. Overview of the family and Vietic branch.

• Vietnamese Language. Wikipedia. Classification, Austroasiatic roots, and Sino‑Vietnamese layering.

• Alves, Mark J. Sino‑Vietnamese Grammatical Vocabulary and Sociolinguistic Conditions for Borrowing. SEALS 17 Proceedings.

• Sino‑Vietnamese Vocabulary. Wikipedia. Overview of Sino‑Vietnamese morphemes and their role in Middle Chinese reconstruction.

• Sa, Quoc Hoang. Study on the Understanding and Use of Sino‑Vietnamese Words: Perspectives from Secondary School Students in Ho Chi Minh City. Spring Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences 4(5), 2025.

• Terrien de Lacouperie. The Languages of China Before the Chinese. London: D. Nutt, 1887; Taiwan reprint, 1966.

• Ha, Le Thanh. Code Mixing and Loan Words in the Vietnamese Vocabulary. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 8(1), 2022.

• Alves, Mark J. Linguistic Research on the Origins of the Vietnamese Language: An Overview. Journal of Vietnamese Studies 1(1–2), 2006. JSTOR.