câm

Level ≈B1 (approx.) adjectiveverb Top 3,000 most common

Hanoi [kəm˧˧]Huế [kəm˧˧]Saigon [kəm˧˧] browser voice

Syllables · tones

câmlevelngang

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

câm means mute; silent.

Meanings of câm in English

Adjective

mute (not having the power of speech)
silent; mute
- Mặc dù trong tiếng Pháp ta có từ "h aspiré" (tức "âm h bật hơi"), chữ "h" của tiếng Pháp luôn luôn câm.Even though there's this thing called the "aspirated h" in French, the French letter "h" is always silent.
silent
- kịch câma silent play

Verb

offensive to shut up; to keep one's mouth shut
- câm như hếnto shut your mouth as tight as a clam [shutting its shell]
- Có câm mồm không thì bảo?Would you keep your trap shut!?

Words with câm

phim câm câm họng

Example sentences with câm

Câm mồm! Shut the hell up!

Bilingual example sentences from Tatoeba (tatoeba.org, CC BY 2.0 FR).

Historical script (chữ Nôm / Hán)

Before the Latin alphabet (chữ Quốc ngữ) became standard, câm could be written as 唫, 吟, 噤, 𡅢. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

For the sense of "orthographically silent", a semantic loan from French muet.

Frequently asked questions

What does câm mean in English?

câm (adjective) means "mute; silent".

How do you pronounce câm?

IPA: Hanoi [kəm˧˧]; Saigon [kəm˧˧]. Tones: câm — level tone (ngang).

Meanings, pronunciation and etymology from English Wiktionary (wiktionary.org, via kaikki.org; CC BY-SA 4.0), reviewed and edited; example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). IPA shown for three accents: Hanoi (Northern), Huế (Central) and Saigon (Southern). The Listen button uses your browser's Vietnamese voice, for reference only. Levels are approximate, estimated from word frequency. Spotted a mistake? Let NgonNgu know.