không

• IPA^(key): /kʰoŋ¹/

Borrowed from Vietnamese không.

không

1. zero

From Proto-Vietic *k-roːŋ (“river”), from Proto-Mon-Khmer *ruŋ ~ ruuŋ ~ ruəŋ (“river”); cognate with Vietnamese sông.

không

1. (Mường Bi) river

• (Southern Vietnam) hông; hôn (hôông); hổng
• (abbreviations) k, ko; kg; k°; khĝ
• (Internet slang, text messaging) khum

Sino-Vietnamese word from 空 (“empty, nothing, none”). This is now the main negator in Vietnamese and, in formal writing, virtually the only negator; however, see the list of other negators at the end of the entry.

The development from "empty, vacant" into the numeral "zero" can also been seen in many Min Nan varieties, as well as Korean 공 (gong).

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [xəwŋ͡m˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kʰəwŋ͡m˧˧] ~ [xəwŋ͡m˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [kʰəwŋ͡m˧˧] ~ [xəwŋ͡m˧˧]

không

1. not (negates meaning of verb)

   Tôi không phải là người Việt Nam.

   I am not Vietnamese.

2. idly, without doing anything
   • 1936, Vũ Trọng Phụng, chapter 1, in Số đỏ, Hà Nội báo:

     – Một hào đấy! Bói rẻ còn hơn ngồi không.

     "Here you have a dime! A cheap fortune-teller is still better than sitting without anything to do."

không

1. not have; to lack

không

1. without anything added

   cơm không ― only rice

không

1. (to an affirmative question) no
2. (to a negative question) yes

không

1. at or near the end of a question, makes it a yes-no question

   Có ai ở nhà không (ạ) ?

   Anybody home?

   Đúng không ?

   Is that true?

   Mày chưa làm phải không ?

   You haven't done anything, have you?

• có; à; hả; ư

không

1. (cardinal number) zero

   hai nghìn không trăm lẻ một ― two thousand and one (literally, “two thousand zero hundred zero one”)

• This morpheme is often reduced to a tone-bearing syllabic nasal [ŋ̍] in quick colloquial speech, especially in expressions such as không sao (“no problem”).

• chả; chẳng; đừng; đâu; nào; đếch (vulgar); đách (vulgar); đéo (vulgar); cóc; ứ; chớ; chứ; nỏ