望眉

Chinese

		phonetic
trad. (望眉)		望	眉
simp. #(望眉)		望	眉
alternative forms		𠻾𠷯

Etymology

Probably from English Bombay or Portuguese Bombaim through Hokkien.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mong⁶ mei⁴
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): Bōng-bâi

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: mong⁶ mei⁴
    • Yale: mohng mèih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mong⁶ mei⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: mong⁶ méi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɔːŋ²² mei̯²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Singapore, Penang)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bōng-bâi
    • Tâi-lô: Bōng-bâi
    • Phofsit Daibuun: boxngbaai
    • IPA (Singapore): /bɔŋ²²⁻²¹ bai²⁴/
    • IPA (Penang): /bɔŋ²¹ bai²³/

Proper noun

望眉

1. (obsolete) Bombay, Mumbai
   • 1838, 梁廷枏, editor, 粵海關志, volume 24, page 22:

     風俗同𠻾𠷯，物產惟血蝎為𠻾𠷯所無。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     风俗同𠻾𠷯，物产惟血蝎为𠻾𠷯所无。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: translated in 2019 April 2, After Diu: The Forgotten Islamic Trade in Early Nineteenth Century Cantonese Confucian Historiography, by Hung Tak Wai (孔德維), Journal of Islam in Asia, International Islamic University Malaysia, pg. 121-122

     Fēngsú tóng Wàngméi, wùchǎn wéi xuè xiē wéi Wàngméi suǒ wú. [Pinyin]

     The culture of Sula-guo is similar to that of Bombay, and the products of the two places are similar too except Bombay does not have the dragons blood (Sanguis Draconis) Sula-guo produces.

   • 1915 March 15, 國民日報 [Kok Min Yit Poh/Chinese Morning Post], Singapore, page 11:

     火車標望眉牛油總發行 [MSC, trad.]
     火车标望眉牛油总发行 [MSC, simp.]

     huǒchē biāo wàngméi niúyóu zǒng fāxíng [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

• 孟買／孟买 (Mèngmǎi), (obsolete) 孟美 (Mèngměi)

References

• H. W. Firmstone (1905) “Chinese Names of Streets and Places in Singapore and the Malay Peninsula”, in Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society‎^[1], volume 42, page 197
• Barclay, Thomas (1923) “bōng”, in Supplement to Dictionary of the Amoy Colloquial Language (overall work in Hokkien and English), Shanghai: The Commercial Press, Limited, page 12