What are words like "con" and "cái" or "đôi" in Vietnamese? Thread poster: heritagepres
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Some background: I run a children's book publishing company, and we are printing our first book in Vietnamese! It's a simple vocab book for toddlers, and we're working with a team of translators.
I noticed that many nouns come attached with words like "con" and "cái" or "đôi", and I am curious what they are. The translators said they are "collective nouns" like "the" or "a/an" and said the words sound awkward if we remove them.
My questions:
1) Can someo... See more Some background: I run a children's book publishing company, and we are printing our first book in Vietnamese! It's a simple vocab book for toddlers, and we're working with a team of translators.
I noticed that many nouns come attached with words like "con" and "cái" or "đôi", and I am curious what they are. The translators said they are "collective nouns" like "the" or "a/an" and said the words sound awkward if we remove them.
My questions:
1) Can someone briefly explain these collective nouns? Are they similar to "la" or "el" in Spanish?
2) Are the collective nouns necessary in a children's picture book? Can we just write "mèo" for cat, or is "con mèo" the most accurate translation?
3) Currently, the collective nouns are written in parentheses beside the main word. (Ex: (con) mèo -> cat) Are the parentheses necessary or can we just write "con mèo"?
Thank you to anyone who can offer any insight! ▲ Collapse
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Hung Mai
Vietnam
Local time: 18:37
English to Vietnamese
| They are classifiers | Jan 12 |
1) As far as I know, these words are classifiers that go with nouns to classify their types: "con" refers to animals, "cái" and "đôi" refers to things, with one condition when using "đôi": the thing must comprises of two separate pieces, for example: "đôi đũa" (a pair of chopsticks). There are a few things that are identified as a pair in English but as a one-piece object in Vietnamese: pants ("cái quần"), scissors ("cái kéo), pliers ("cái kìm"). "đôi" is also a measure/counter... See more 1) As far as I know, these words are classifiers that go with nouns to classify their types: "con" refers to animals, "cái" and "đôi" refers to things, with one condition when using "đôi": the thing must comprises of two separate pieces, for example: "đôi đũa" (a pair of chopsticks). There are a few things that are identified as a pair in English but as a one-piece object in Vietnamese: pants ("cái quần"), scissors ("cái kéo), pliers ("cái kìm"). "đôi" is also a measure/counter word that identifies pairs. Not sure if these classifiers are similar to "la/el" in Spanish.
2) Without these classifiers, nouns are just common nouns which indicate concepts: "cat" as a species of animal, "table" as a type of thing, etc. Classifier + noun refer to a specific animal/thing. There's one exception I can think of: "con người" refers to "humankind/human beings", while "người" refers to a person.
3) For the purpose of a children's book, I think parentheses aren't necessary.
[Edited at 2024-01-12 03:39 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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What are words like "con" and "cái" or "đôi" in Vietnamese?
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