puav

White Hmong

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /puə̯˧˦/

Etymology 1

Probably borrowed from Middle Chinese 蝠 (MC pjuwk, “bat”).^[1]

Noun

puav (classifier: tus)

a bat (mammal with wings)

Etymology 2

This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Not mentioned at all by Ratliff. Perhaps borrowed from Chinese 普 (pǔ, “general, universal”) or some other Sinitic term? Some of the meanings listed may be etymologically separate.”

Determiner

puav

some, occasional
lub puav txiv tsawb ― some bananas
to gather, bring together
Puav npua los. ― Gather the pigs together.
used in puav leej (“all, altogether”)
used in puav pheej (“an article of evidence”)

References

Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary‎^[1], SEAP Publications, →ISBN, pages 238-9.

^ https://web.archive.org/web/20101031002604/http://wold.livingsources.org/vocabulary/25

[1] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20101031002604/http://wold.livingsources.org/vocabulary/25

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