Where does “tàu hoả” come from?
tàu hoả (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese Tàu, from Vietnamese Ba Tàu, from Vietnamese ba, from Proto-Vietic paː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer piʔ.
tàu hoả (Vietnamese): a steam train
Ancestry of “tàu hoả”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Vietnamese | Tàu | Chinese; Chink |
| 2 | Vietnamese | Ba Tàu | Of or pertaining to ethnic Chinese people in... |
| 3 | Vietnamese | ba | father; three; secondborn |
| 4 | Proto-Vietic | paː | three |
| 5 | Proto-Mon-Khmer | piʔ | — |