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* Nôm ideograms:

Trẻ con làm rồng rắn
Children play Dragon and Snake game.

VOCABULARY
OF THE
COCHINCHINESE LANGUAGE,
WITH MARGINAL NOTES
SHOWING ITS RELATION TO THE CHINESE
___________________________

from A Dissertation on the Nature and Character of the Chinese System of Writing, by Peter Stephen Du Ponceau, in a letter to John Vaughan, Esq., American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 1838. Pp. 139-184 & 5 plates of Cochinchinese ideogram illustration.

Reformatted by Ngô Thanh Nhàn (US), Mai Bá Triều (Belgium) & Lương Thị Hạnh (Nôm Na Group, Việt Nam): (a) the second column Chars. is inserted to reflect the corresponding ideograms in the plates, and (b) the fourth line in column Cochinchinese in square brackets to reflect the current spelling with accents for the entry heading on line 1.


IV.—Of Mankind.

93.

婵 翁

Don ong.
Un seigneur.
A lord.
[đờn ông]

A,*
B. Ong, a name of honour given to old men. G. 8231. [Senior, Signor, Seigneur, &6.]

94.

婵 妑

Don ba.
Une dame.
A lady.
[đờn bà]

A.*
B. The second character only is found as a group with the pronounciation pa. [See above, No. 6.]

95

㝵 些

nguoi ta.
L’homme.
A man.
[người ta]

A. Gai, some impediment. M. 2793.
B. Sie, a little, not much. G. 74.

96.

𩔗 㝵 些

Loai nguoi ta.
Le genre humain.
Mankind.
[loài người ta]

A. Luy, a class, species, sort, kind. M. 743.
B. C. See No. 95.
[The honourable class or species.]

97.

Cha.
Le père.
Father.
[cha]

Tcha, to be angry, to scold. G. 1147.
[No resemblance to the chines foo, father.]

98.

Me.
La mère.
Mother.
[mẹ]

Mai, a woman of an elegant figure and pleasing countenance. M. 1. 665.

99.

Con.
Les enfants.
Child.
[con]

Kouen, the elder child (natu major.) G. 3883.

100.

昆 𤳆

Con trai.
Un garcon.
A male child, a boy.
[con trai]

[A. See 99.]
B.* The group on the right is pronounced lai.

101.

昆 𡛔

Con gai.
Une fille.
A female child, a girl.
[con gái]

[A. See 99.]
B. Hoo, good and beautiful. M. 1. 607.

102.

昆 乙

Con it.
Un enfant.
A child.
[con ít]

[A. See 99.]
B. This looks like the 5th radical, y [or yih] one, unity.

103.

昆 乳

Con nho.
Un mourrission.
A nursling, a child at the breast.
[con nhỏ]

A. See 99.
B. Iu, milk, woman’s breast. G. 56.

104.

昆 𥘷

Con tre.
Un jeune homme.
A youth.
[con trẻ]

*

105.

񣃹

Gia.
Un viellard.
An old man.
[già]

*

106.

񣗏

Chong.
Le mari.
Husband.
[chồng]

The character on the right hand is the same as the Chinese Changfoo, husband. [M. verbo husband.] That on the left hand is probably to indicate the pronounciation.

107.

𡟱  

Vo.
La femme.
Wife.
[vợ 𡢼]

*   Character unknown. The pronunciation does not much differ from the Chinese foo or fou [or foo] above cited.

108.

童 貞

Dong trinh.
Une Vierge.
A virgin.
[đồng trinh]

A. Tong, childhood. G. 7372.
B. Itching, upright and firm (morally speaking.) G. 10410. Thoung tching, a virgin.
[Thus a virgin in chinese is called thoung-tching, as who should say a virtuous child, and the same in Cochinchinese. This reminds us of the Delaware word pilape, a chaste or innocent man, meaning a youth under fifteen.]

109.

妑 过

Ba hoa.
Une veuve.
A widow.
[bà hoá]

A. See No. 94.
B.*

110.

Chau.
Le neveu.
Nephew.
[cháu 𡥙]

Tchao, to call somebody by making a sign with the hand. G. 3316.

111.

妑 昆

Ba con.
La famille.
The family.
[bà con]

[Woman-child, or lady and child. See No. 94 and 102.

112.

户  行

Ho hang.
Les parents.
The kindred.
[họ hàng]

A. is the 63d radical, hou, a door.
B. is the 144th radical, hing, to advance (progride.)

113.

Dian.
Le peuple.
The people.
[dân]

Min, the people, the subjects. G. 4822.

114.

𤤰

Vuo.
Le roi.
The king.
[vua]

*

115.

皇 后

Hoang hau.
La reine.
The queen.
[hoàng hậu]

(G. 6491.) Hoang Heou, the empress.  G. 1143.
[A. Hwang, a title of high dignity. M. 4378.
B. Heou, prince, king, queen. G. 1143.]

116.

Quan.
Les ministres.
The ministers.
[quan]

Kouan, a common appellation for magistrates. G. 2116.

117.

先 另

Ten linh.
Les soldats.
The soldiers.
[tên lính]

A. Sien, before. G. 580.
B. Ling, another. G. 1112.

Preliminary Observations by M. de la Palun
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