nghèo nàn

Vietnamese

Etymology

nghèo +‎ nàn, the second syllable is non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 難 (SV: nan), also seen in phàn nàn.

Aside from these two compounds, nàn seems to be obsolete. The Dictionarium Anamitico-Latinum (1838) lists further compounds gặp nàn and phải nàn, both obsolete.

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ŋɛw˨˩ naːn˨˩]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ŋɛw˦˩ naːŋ˦˩]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ŋɛw˨˩ naːŋ˨˩]

Adjective

nghèo nàn

poor; needy; poverty-stricken (generally speaking)

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