Where does “mềm mỏng” come from?

mềm mỏng (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese móng, from Vietnamese 孟, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan maŋ, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(s/r)-ma(ŋ/k).

mềm mỏng (Vietnamese): flexible; pliant; malleable

Definitions

  1. flexible; pliant; malleable

Ancestry of “mềm mỏng”, step by step

mềm mỏng traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Vietnamese móng

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesemóngnail
2Vietnamese孟—
3Proto-Sino-Tibetanmaŋbig; old; elder
4Proto-Sino-Tibetan*(s/r)-ma(ŋ/k)—

via Vietnamese mềm

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesemềmsoft
Every word from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(s/r)-ma(ŋ/k) →Every word from Proto-Sino-Tibetan maŋ →Every word from Vietnamese 孟 →