bèo

Norman & Mei (1976) proposes a native Austroasiatic origin and compares it to Mon ဗေဝ် (“to ride low in the water”) (< Proto-Mon-Khmer *ber (“to float”)); they also consider Chinese 薸 (OC *bew) to be a loanword from Austroasiatic.

However, Liu (1999) proposes a possible relation of 薸 (OC *bew) to 漂 (OC *pʰew, “to float; to drift”), and Sagart (2008) counts 薸 (OC *bew) among "either East Asian areal words if not Chinese words in disguise"; so the loan direction might have been in reverse, i.e. from Old Chinese.

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɛw˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɛw˦˩]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɛw˨˩]

(classifier cây, lá, miếng) bèo

1. duckweed

bèo

1. (slang) cheap, low quality