dưa hấu

Vietnamese

Etymology

According to the Vietnamese folktale Sự tích trái dưa hấu (Legend of the Watermelon), the name dưa hấu derives from dưa (“melon”) + a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of 好 (SV: hảo), but this is most likely just folk etymology.

Compare also 煦 (SV: hú), which has an uncommon meaning 赤 "red" (according to Shuowen Jiezi and Yupian) and one of whose Old Chinese pronunciations was *qʰoʔ (ZS). If hấu indeed reflexed 煦 (OC *qʰoʔ), then dưa hấu would have been a compound of dưa (“melon”) +‎ hấu ("red (obsolete)"), the latter referring to the color of the fruit's fresh.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zɨə˧˧ həw˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [jɨə˧˧ həw˨˩˦]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [jɨə˧˧ həw˦˥]

Noun

(classifier trái, quả) dưa hấu

1. watermelon