• (North Central Vietnam)bú(no lenition)
• (slang, eye dialect)vếu

Inherited fromProto-Vietic*k-buːʔ, theprefixed derivative ofProto-Vietic*buːʔ ~ ʔuːʔ(“to suck at breast”), fromProto-Austroasiatic*ɓuːʔ(“to suck, to suckle”). Cognate withMuong Bipủ(“breast”).Doublet ofbú(“to suckle”).

Attested as NorthernMiddle Vietnameseꞗú in theDictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651).

• (Hà Nội)IPA^(key):[vu˧˦]
• (Huế)IPA^(key):[vʊw˨˩˦]
• (Saigon)IPA^(key):[vʊw˦˥] ~[jʊw˦˥]
• Homophone:dú(Southern Vietnam)

• Audio(Saigon):

  (file)

vú• (乳,布,咘,𦜘)

1. (anatomy, of a primate)breast
2. (anatomy, by extension, of a non-primate mammal)body part thatfunctionssimilarly to theprimatebreast ornipple;udder,teat, etc.

   vú bò ―a cow udder

3. wet nurse
   • 1934, Nguyễn Công Hoan, chapter I, inLá ngọc cành vàng, Tân Dân:

     – Vú em! / – Dạ. / – Saovú cứ hát nhảm thế? Ru bài khác không được à?

     "Wet nurse!" "Yes." "Why doeswet nurse sing such stupidities? Can't you sing another lullaby?"

4. (Christianity,colloquial)godmother

   vú đỡ đầu ―female godparent

• Albeit used in scientific contexts, this term is still informally considered risqué, and people tend to use euphemisms, such asngực(“chest”), instead. Compare euphemisms in other languages, such asEnglishchest(“trunk; torso; thorax; breast”) andJapanese胸(mune,“torso; thorax; breast”).

• (a woman's breast)bưởi