Where does “បាវ” come from?
បាវ (Khmer) comes from Vietnamese báo, from Chinese 豹, from Chinese 駁, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *prawk — to be speckled, variegated, spotted.
បាវ (Khmer): servant
Ancestry of “បាវ”, step by step
បាវ traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Vietnamese báo
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Vietnamese | báo | a leopard; a spotted panther; a jaguar or a snow... |
| 2 | Chinese | 豹 | — |
| 3 | Chinese | 駁 | — |
| 4 | Proto-Sino-Tibetan | *prawk | to be speckled, variegated, spotted |
via Thai บ่าว
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Thai | บ่าว | male; young man; servant or slave, regardless of... |
| 2 | Proto-Tai | ɓaːwᴮ | unmarried man |