Colour words in Vietnamese

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đens (𪓇) - black

• Dark, evil, filth

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trắng (𤽸) - white

• Traditionally associated with funerals (Chinese)
• Modern association with purity, weddings, etc (French)

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đỏ (𣠶) - red

• Traditionally associated with luck and fortune (Chinese)
• Modern association with danger (French)

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vàng (黄) - yellow (from gold)

• Imperial color, wealth and fortune

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xanh (青) - blue/green

• Naturalized pronunciation of 青 which is ‘thanh’ in standard Sino-Vietnamese
• Used to indicate blue/green distinction when translating other languages (e.g. English)

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nâu – - brown race.

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hồng (紅) - pink

• Can also mean red in a literary context (reverts to its original Chinese meaning), then it has the same cultural associations as Đỏ.
• Modern association with femininity (French)

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cam - orange

• chảy máu cam = nosebleed (lit. "to flow orange blood")

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xám - grey, blurry, unclear

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tím - purple

• Colour of bruising from being hit or from being in the cold

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bạc - silver (from silver 鉑)

• Grey hair is referred to as silver hair in Vietnamese

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chàm (藍) - indigo (from the plant indigo)

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