cá bông lau

Vietnamese

Etymology

cá (“fish”) +‎ bông lau.

The Đại Nam quấc âm tự vị (1895) defined bông lau as "Vẻ xen lộn có đen có trắng; bông cây lau" ("the appearance is a mix of black and white; reed flowers"). The intended sense is likely the first one, thus probably "black-and-white fish".

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kaː˧˦ ʔɓəwŋ͡m˧˧ law˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kaː˨˩˦ ʔɓəwŋ͡m˧˧ law˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [kaː˦˥ ʔɓəwŋ͡m˧˧ la(ː)w˧˧]

Noun

(classifier con) cá bông lau

1. a type of shark catfish, Pangasius krempfi