Tonkinese

English

Etymology

From Tonkin +‎ -ese.

Adjective

Tonkinese (not comparable)

Of or relating to Tonkin, the northern part of Vietnam.

Noun

Tonkinese (plural Tonkinese or Tonkineses)

(chiefly in the plural) A person from Tonkin.
- 1925, Cl Chivas-Baron, Three Women of Annam, page 124:
  The Occidental who lives in that splendid house on the Phù-Cam is married to a Tonkinese. It's more than ten years ago he brought her here. He has never had any second wives. He gave his father-in-law a teakwood coffin.
- 1962, Anuruddha, The Protecting Hand:
  A great number of Legionaires had married Tonkineses and had children by them. According to French law, a child born on French soil is a citizen of France, whether the father and mother are French or not, so also in Indo-China […]
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Tonkinese.
(countable) A domestic cat of a breed that is a cross between the Siamese and Burmese.
Synonym: (abbreviation) Tonk
- 2001, Lorraine Shelton, The Guide to Owning a Tonkinese Cat, TFH Publications, →ISBN:
  Do not consider bringing home a Tonkinese unless you have time in your life for games […]

Usage notes

As with other terms for people formed with -ese, the countable singular noun in reference to a person (as in "I am a Tonkinese", "writing about Tonkinese cuisine as a Tonkinese") is uncommon and often taken as incorrect. In its place, the adjective is used, by itself (as in "I am Tonkinese") or before a noun like person, man, or woman ("writing about Tonkinese cuisine as a Tonkinese person"). See also -ish, which is similarly only used primarily as an adjective or as a plural noun. (This applies to the sense "a person from Tonkin".)

Translations

cat breed

French: tonkinois (fr) m
Italian: tonchinese (it) m
Portuguese: tonquinês (pt) m
Spanish: tonkinés m

Proper noun

Tonkinese

The language of Tonkin; northern Vietnamese.