én

noun

Hanoi [ʔɛn˧˦]Huế [ʔɛŋ˦˧˥]Saigon [ʔɛŋ˦˥] browser voice

Syllables · tones

énrisingsắc

Each syllable carries one of six tones; the mark on the vowel tells you which. How the six tones sound →

én means a swallow; synonym of yến.

Classifier: con — e.g. một con én (one swallow)

Meanings of én in English

Noun

a swallow (bird) ≈ nhạn
synonym of yến (“swift”) (bird) ≈ yến

Historical script (chữ Nôm / Hán)

Before the Latin alphabet (chữ Quốc ngữ) became standard, én could be written as 燕. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *ʔɛːnʔ, non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 燕 (SV: yến). Doublet of yến.

Frequently asked questions

What does én mean in English?

én (noun) means "a swallow; synonym of yến".

How do you pronounce én?

IPA: Hanoi [ʔɛn˧˦]; Saigon [ʔɛŋ˦˥]. Tones: én — rising tone (sắc).

What classifier is used with én?

Common classifiers: con — for example "một con én" (one a swallow).

Meanings, pronunciation and etymology from English Wiktionary (wiktionary.org, via kaikki.org; CC BY-SA 4.0), reviewed and edited. IPA shown for three accents: Hanoi (Northern), Huế (Central) and Saigon (Southern). The Listen button uses your browser's Vietnamese voice, for reference only. Spotted a mistake? Let NgonNgu know.