non

Level ≈B2 (approx.) adjectivenoun Top 5,000 most common

Hanoi [nɔn˧˧]Huế [nɔŋ˧˧]Saigon [nɔŋ˧˧] browser voice

Syllables · tones

nonlevelngang

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

non means young; tender; green.

Meanings of non in English

Adjective

young, tender, green
premature
new
mild
not up to the mark

Noun

mountain

Words with non

mầm non non nớt hòn non bộ non nước non sông núi non nước non non choẹt

Historical script (chữ Nôm / Hán)

Before the Latin alphabet (chữ Quốc ngữ) became standard, non could be written as 嫩, 𧀒, 𡽫, 𱛩. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *k-nɔːn, from *k-rn-ɔːn, which Ferlus considered an infixed derivation of Proto-Vietic *kɔːn (“child”). Cognate with Chut [Rục] kunɔːn¹, Semai kenon (“child”), Juang kɔnɔn ("child, son, the young one; young"), Khmu [Cuang] krnɔːn ("uterus"). Likely received some semantic influence from 嫩 (MC nwonH) (SV: nộn) as well.

Frequently asked questions

What does non mean in English?

non (adjective) means "young; tender; green".

How do you pronounce non?

IPA: Hanoi [nɔn˧˧]; Saigon [nɔŋ˧˧]. Tones: non — level tone (ngang).

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. Levels are approximate, estimated from word frequency. Spotted a mistake? Let NgonNgu know.