{"id":181,"date":"2021-03-29T08:30:02","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T08:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/?p=181"},"modified":"2021-03-29T04:49:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T04:49:38","slug":"words-of-colors-in-vietnamese-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/words-of-colors-in-vietnamese-language\/","title":{"rendered":"Words of Colors in Vietnamese Language"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Image by Miguel \u00c1. Padri\u00f1\u00e1n from Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

I don\u2019t know about you, but when I think of the word \u201ccolors\u201d or m\u00e0u<\/em> in Vietnamese, the first thing that comes to my mind is the image of a c\u1ea7u v\u00f2ng<\/em> (rainbow), along with the popular classic song Somewhere Over the Rainbow<\/em>. Just like the saying \u201cbeauty is in the eye of the beholder\u201d, not all colors are treated equally. Some colors may be your favorites, but not mine. Some colors are considered more \u201csuperior\u201d than others and are reserved to be used by royalty in the past. Some colors are used on specific occasions, some are associated with certain genders, and some are used to convey special messages. In other words, colors have their own language and status in Vietnamese culture.<\/p>\n

BASIC COLOR WORDS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with Vietnamese words for ten common colors and their general associated meanings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
VIETNAMESE<\/td>\nENGLISH<\/td>\nMEANING<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tr\u1eafng<\/td>\nWhite<\/td>\nPurity, death<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u0110en<\/td>\nBlack<\/td>\nEvil, filth, mystic, unlucky<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
X\u00e1m<\/td>\nGrey<\/td>\nsolitude, loneliness, misery, quietness<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
V\u00e0ng<\/td>\nYellow<\/td>\nRoyalty, wealth, prosperity, success, honor, envy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u0110\u1ecf<\/td>\nRed<\/td>\nHappiness, luck, love, power, passion, energy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Xanh<\/td>\nBlue<\/td>\nCalmness, peace<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Xanh l\u00e1 c\u00e2y<\/td>\nGreen<\/td>\nHope, progress<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
N\u00e2u<\/td>\nBrown<\/td>\nSincerity, peasantry, Buddhist outfit color<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
H\u1ed3ng<\/td>\nPink<\/td>\nFemininity<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
T\u00edm<\/td>\nPurple<\/td>\nNostalgia, romance, sadness, loyalty, royalty<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

COLOR WORD CHOICE<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are complications when it comes to use the right word for certain colors in different contexts in advanced Vietnamese. Let me introduce you to the classic example of the application of m\u00e0u<\/em> \u0111en<\/em> (black color). In English, whether it is a dog, a cat, or a horse, if its fur color is black, then the term for them is black dog, black cat, black horse, and so forth. In Vietnamese, you should simply use the word \u0111en<\/em> for the color black but, to be more literal, you should use the correct \u201cblack\u201d word as follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Simple Word<\/strong><\/td>\nLiteral Word<\/strong><\/td>\nEnglish<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ch\u00f3 \u0111en<\/td>\nCh\u00f3 m\u1ef1c<\/td>\nBlack dog<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
M\u00e8o \u0111en<\/td>\nM\u00e8o mun<\/td>\nBlack cat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ng\u1ef1a \u0111en<\/td>\nNg\u1ef1a \u00f4<\/td>\nBlack horse<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Be careful when using the word m\u00e0u<\/em><\/strong> xanh<\/em><\/strong>. This could mean different<\/strong> shades<\/strong> of blue or green color.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You have to add another word to m\u00e0u<\/em><\/strong> xanh<\/em><\/strong> to avoid the confusion. See examples below.<\/p>\n

Xanh + [d\u01b0\u01a1ng] = Navy blue<\/p>\n

Xanh + [ch\u00e0m] = Indigo blue<\/p>\n

Xanh + [l\u01a1, lam, da tr\u1eddi] = Sky blue<\/p>\n

Xanh + [l\u00e1 c\u00e2y, l\u1ee5c] = Green<\/p>\n

Xanh + [r\u00eau] = Moss green<\/p>\n

Xanh + [b\u1ea1c h\u00e0] = Mint green<\/p>\n

COLORS IN FENGSHUI<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Vietnamese do pay attention to Fengshui elements to enhance their luck and harmony. Thus, they would pick an appropriate color, or avoid certain ones, to wear in clothing, for interior design, vehicles, etc. according to their birth element. See the table below for the harmony or conflict colors with your element. Tables can be found online to identify your birth element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Birth Element<\/strong><\/td>\nBirth Element Colors<\/strong><\/td>\nHarmony Colors<\/strong><\/td>\nColors to Avoid<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kim<\/em> (Metal)<\/td>\nYellow, white, silver<\/td>\nEarth element colors like yellow, brown<\/td>\nFire element colors like red, pink, purple<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
M\u1ed9c <\/em>(Wood)<\/td>\nGreen<\/td>\nWater element colors like navy blue, black<\/td>\nMetal element colors like white, silver<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Th\u1ee7y<\/em> (Water)<\/td>\nBlue, black, jade green<\/td>\nMetal and Wood element colors like blue, white, silver, black<\/td>\nEarth and Fire element colors like red, pink, purple, orange, yellow, brown<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
H\u1ecfa <\/em>(Fire)<\/td>\nRed, pink, purple, orange<\/td>\nWood element colors like green<\/td>\nWater element colors like white, silver, black, blue<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Th\u1ed5 <\/em>(Earth)<\/td>\nBrown, yellow earth tone, orange earth tone<\/td>\nFire element colors like brown, red, pink, purple, orange<\/td>\nWood element colors like green, black, blue<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

RAINBOW<\/strong>? COLORS<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u0110\u1ecf (red)<\/li>\n
  2. Cam (orange)<\/li>\n
  3. V\u00e0ng (yellow)<\/li>\n
  4. L\u1ee5c (green)<\/li>\n
  5. Lam (blue)<\/li>\n
  6. Ch\u00e0m (indigo)<\/li>\n
  7. T\u00edm (Violet)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Do you know what are the trending colors for 2021? Mr. Google told me they are m\u00e0u x\u00e1m<\/em> (grey) and m\u00e0u v\u00e0ng<\/em> (yellow). Yikes! Sorry, they are not my favorite colors. It made me think of the new dull grey McDonald\u2019s exterior building color scheme in the Midwest.<\/p>\n

    What are your favorite colors? M\u00e0u<\/em> n\u00f3ng<\/em> (warm tone colors) or m\u00e0u l\u1ea1nh<\/em> (cool tone colors)?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

    I don\u2019t know about you, but when I think of the word \u201ccolors\u201d or m\u00e0u in Vietnamese, the first thing that comes to my mind is the image of a c\u1ea7u v\u00f2ng (rainbow), along with the popular classic song Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Just like the saying \u201cbeauty is in the eye of the beholder\u201d…<\/p>\n

    Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":174,"featured_media":183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[21,3,13],"tags":[550882,2887,550884,456,550883],"class_list":["post-181","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-culture","category-vocabulary","tag-color-element","tag-colors","tag-fengshui","tag-horoscope","tag-meaning-of-colors"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/174"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":191,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181\/revisions\/191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}