Colour words in Vietnamese (màu sắc)

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đen (𪓇); màu đen - black

• Black is associated with dark, evil and filth

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trắng (𤽸); màu trắng - white

• White is associated with purity, death and the end

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đỏ (𣠶) - red

• Red is associated with happiness, love, luck and celebration

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màu vàng - yellow (colour) vàng (黄) - gold (colour / metal);

• Yellow is associated with wealth, prosperity, royalty, happiness and change

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xanh (青) - blue/green; xanh da trời - (sky) blue; xanh lá cây - (tree) green

• Naturalized pronunciation of 青 which is ‘thanh’ in standard Sino-Vietnamese
• Used to indicate blue/green distinction when translating other languages (e.g. English)
• Green is associated with jealousy and lust
• Blue is associated with calmness, hope and growth

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nâu – - brown; race.

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hồng (紅) - pink

• Can also mean red in a literary context (reverts to its original Chinese meaning), then it has the same cultural associations as Đỏ.
• Modern association with femininity (French)

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màu cam - orange (colour); cam - orange (fruit)

• chảy máu cam = nosebleed (lit. "to flow orange blood")

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xám - grey, blurry, unclear

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tím - purple

• Colour of bruising from being hit or from being in the cold
• Purple is associated with nostalgia, sadness, fragility and tenderness

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xám bạc - silver (colour); bạc - silver (metal - from silver 鉑)

• Grey hair is referred to as silver hair in Vietnamese

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chàm (藍) - indigo (from the plant indigo)

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