Where does “ông ấy” come from?

ông ấy (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese ông, from Proto-Vietic ʔɔːŋ, from Proto-Mon-Khmer ʔuŋ — wasp; hornet.

ông ấy (Vietnamese): he older or respected man

Definitions

  1. he older or respected man

Ancestry of “ông ấy”, step by step

ông ấy traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Vietnamese ông

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnameseônggrandfather; grandpa; Sir; Mr; you, my...
2Proto-Vieticʔɔːŋhoney bee
3Proto-Mon-Khmerʔuŋwasp; hornet

via Vietnamese ấy

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnameseấythat; those; "sentence-ending intensifying...
Every word from Proto-Mon-Khmer ʔuŋ →Every word from Proto-Vietic ʔɔːŋ →Every word from Vietnamese ông →