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Place names in Vietnamese are similar to place names in Chinese languages as a result of the millenium-long domination of Viet Nam by the Chinese Empire.
The first step in decoding Vietnamese place names is to learn the four
directions.
These are, expressed without some diacritical marks,:
| DIRECTIONS | ||
|---|---|---|
| north bac |
||
| west t�y |
east | |
| south nam |
||
The names of geographic features are:
| GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES | |
|---|---|
| ha | river |
| xuijin | channel, link |
| cao, nui | mountain(s), height |
| hai | ocean, sea |
| giang | expanse(s), spreadout |
| vung | hole |
| vinh | bay, valley |
| forest | |
The names of colors and numbers are:
| COLORS | |
|---|---|
| trang | white |
| white | |
| sac hong cam cam-churong |
pink |
| black | |
| vang | yellow |
| nhur chu | gray |
| sac xanh sac lam |
blue |
| tim | violet |
| purple | |
| purple red | |
| mau nau | brown |
| xanh | green |
| NUMBERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| one | mot | |
| two | hai | |
| three | ba | |
| four | bon | |
| five | nam | |
| six | sau | |
| seven | bay | |
| eight | tam | |
| nine | chin | |
| ten | muroi | |
Some names for administrative entities and for attributes are:
| ADMINISTRATIVE ENTITIES | |
|---|---|
| quoc | nation |
| thu do | provincial capital |
Some city names:
| CITY NAMES | |
|---|---|
| Ha Noi | "mother water" or "inside (the bend) in the river" |
| Cam Ranh | "orange border" |
| Tanh Hoa | "proud flower" |
| Haiphong | "up to the ocean" |
| Nha Trang | "easy thing" |
| Ninh Binh | "curfew peace" |
| Ha Tinh | "clear water" |
| Bien Hoa | "peaceful border" |
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