Colour words in Vietnamese (màu sắc)

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đen (𪓇) [ʔɗɛn˧˧ / ʔɗɛŋ˧˧]; màu đen (牟𪓇) - black, dark (skin); unlucky, unfortunate

Black is associated with dark, evil and filth.

• đen kịt = jet-black
• đen tối = pitch-dark, dark, perverted, in the gutter (thoughts)
• đen đủi = dark and ugly; unlucky, unfortunate, inauspicious
• bảng đen = blackboard
• bôi đen = to smear black on, contaminate, delete or redact text, highlight text
• đậu đen = black bean
• hố đen, lỗ đen = black hole
• xã hội đen = gangsters, thugs (“black society”)

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trắng [t͡ɕaŋ˧˦] (𤽸); màu trắng (牟𤽸) - white, pale (skin)

White is associated with purity, death, and the end.

• gấu trắng = polar bear, white bear
• lòng trắng = egg white, albumen
• trắng bệch = sickly, chalky, pale white (complexion)
• trắng tay = empty-handed
• trong trắng = pure, clean, unblemished, immaculate

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đỏ [ʔɗɔ˧˩] (𧹼, 𧺃, 𣠶, 𧹥, 𧹦, 𧹻) - red, burning, flaring up, lucky, fortunate, Communist
thắm (𧺀, 𧺁, 審, 𣠒, 嘇, 𧹱) [tʰam˧˦] dark, carmine, gorgeous (colour, esp. red)

Red is associated with happiness, love, luck and celebration.

• đỏ choé [ʔɗɔ˧˩ t͡ɕwɛ˧˦] = bright red
• lòng đỏ [lawŋ͡m˨˩ ʔɗɔ˧˩] = egg yolk
• thảm đỏ [tʰaːm˧˩ ʔɗɔ˧˩] = red carpet

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màu vàng (牟黄) - yellow (colour), yellowy, aureate vàng (黄) [vaːŋ˨˩] - yellow, gold (colour / metal);

Yellow is associated with wealth, prosperity, royalty, happiness and change

• vàng chanh [vaːŋ˨˩ t͡ɕajŋ̟˧˧] = lime (colour)
• cá vàng [kaː˧˦ vaːŋ˨˩] = gold fish

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xanh (青) [sajŋ̟˧˧ / sɛɲ˧˧ / san˧˧] - blue/green, grue, green (unripe)
lam (藍) [laːm˧˧] - blue (rarely used)

The naturalized pronunciation of 青 which is ‘thanh’ in standard Sino-Vietnamese. Green is associated with jealousy and lust, and blue is associated with calmness, hope and growth.

• xanh da trời [sajŋ̟˧˧ zaː˧˧ t͡ɕəːj˨˩] - (sky) blue
• xanh lá cây [sajŋ̟˧˧ laː˧˦ kəj˧˧] - (tree) green
• xanh lam [sajŋ̟˧˧ laːm˧˧] = blue (not green)
• xanh nước biển [sajŋ̟˧˧ nɨək̚˧˦ ʔɓiən˧˩] = blue ("seawater grue”)
• xanh dương [sajŋ̟˧˧ zɨəŋ˧˧] = blue ("ocean grue”)
• xanh lơ [sajŋ̟˧˧ ləː˧˧] = cyan
• xanh da trời [sajŋ̟˧˧ zaː˧˧ t͡ɕəːj˨˩] = azure, sky blue, celeste
• hồ thuỷ [ho˨˩ tʰwi˧˩] = pale blue ("lake water”)

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nâu (𩹩) [nəw˧˧] - brown.

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hồng (紅) - pink

• Can also mean red in a literary context (reverts to its original Chinese meaning), then it has the same cultural associations as Đỏ.
• Modern association with femininity (French)

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màu cam (牟柑) [maw˨˩ kaːm˧˧] - orange (colour); cam (柑) - orange (fruit)

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xám (監, 藍) [saːm˧˦] - grey, ash-coloured, blurry, unclear

• chất xám [t͡ɕət̚˧˦ saːm˧˦] = grey matter

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tím (𧹿 - 僭, 僣, 紺) - purple, violet, black and blue (bruise)
chàm (𣞎, 𣠩, 𣡓) [t͡ɕaːm˨˩] = indigo

Purple is associated with nostalgia, sadness, fragility and tenderness. It is the colour of bruising from being hit or from being in the cold.

• tím mặt = to turn purple
• thâm tím = bruised

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xám bạc - silver (colour); bạc [ʔɓaːk̚˧˨ʔ] - silver (白, 鉑, 礴), money, grey (hair)

• đầu bạc răng long = old age (“grey hair, weak teeth”)

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