sơn

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [səːn˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂəːŋ˧˧] ~ [səːŋ˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʂəːŋ˧˧] ~ [səːŋ˧˧]

• Audio (Hồ Chí Minh City)

  (file)

From Proto-Vietic *k-rəːn (“black varnish tree”). Cognate with Tho [Cuối Chăm] kʰrəːn¹.

(classifier cây (“the tree”)) sơn • (杣)

1. paint

   Tốt gỗ hơn tốt nước sơn.
   Xấu người đẹp nết còn hơn đẹp người.

   Good wood is better than good gloss.
   Ugliness with good character is better than beauty.

2. Toxicodendron succedaneum

Sino-Vietnamese word from 山.

• san

sơn

1. mountain

• The reading san occurs only in a few compounds, most prominently giang san (“rivers and mountains”).