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chữ Hán

Level ≈B2 (approx.) noun Top 5,000 most common
Hanoi [t͡ɕɨ˦ˀ˥ haːn˧˦]Huế [t͡ɕɨ˧˨ haːŋ˦˧˥]Saigon [cɨ˨˩˦ haːŋ˦˥] browser voice
Syllables · tones
chữcreaky risingngãhánrisingsắc

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

chữ Hán means a Chinese character.

Meanings of chữ Hán in English

Noun

  1. a Chinese character ≈ chữ Nhochữ Tàu

Example sentences with chữ Hán

  • Anh ấy viết chữ Hán rất giỏi. He writes Chinese characters very well.
  • Tôi chỉ biết khoảng 100 chữ Hán. I only know about 100 Chinese characters.
  • Hãy dạy cho tôi một vài chữ Hán. Teach me some kanji, please.
  • Khi viết chữ Hán nên cẩn thận mấy cái chấm và nét quét, viết nhanh và cẩn thận nhất có thể. When drawing kanji be careful of dots and sweeps, write as carefully and quickly as possible.

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, chữ Hán could be written as 𡨸漢. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

From chữ (“character”) + Hán (“Han”), calque of Chinese 漢字 /汉字 (Hán tự).

Frequently asked questions

What does chữ Hán mean in English?

chữ Hán (noun) means "a Chinese character".

How do you pronounce chữ Hán?

IPA: Hanoi [t͡ɕɨ˦ˀ˥ haːn˧˦]; Saigon [cɨ˨˩˦ haːŋ˦˥]. Tones: chữ — creaky rising tone (ngã), hán — rising tone (sắc).

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.