Afolk etymology claims thatbánh is a corruption ofFrenchpain.[1] However, this is clearly false as the word is attested in early Vietnamese texts such asCư trần lạc đạo phú (居塵樂道賦, 13th century) andPhật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh (佛說大報父母恩重經, 12th century), which were published long before French contact with Vietnam.
a broad, vaguely defined term, mostly used by collocation or intuition, for foods that come in a specific shape or solid (a flat piece, a block, a ball, a loaf, etc.) and that are often made fromgrain orlegumeflour or plainrice, by size often larger than and contrasted with what is known askẹo(“candy”)
bánh kẹo ―sweets (literally, “bánh and candy”)
Hôm nay ănbánh thay cơm.
Today let's eatdumplings/pastries/bread instead of rice.
bà hàng bánbánh ―the lady sellingdumplings/pastries
Not all noodles are calledbánh: depending on the composition and production method, some noodles are consideredbún,mì,miến, etc.
Not all cakes are calledbánh: those made of meat are consideredchả(“patty”), e.g.chả cá(“fishcake”),chả lụa(“pork roll”), andchả trứng(“egg roll”).
Bánh is used with various classifiers, depending on the general shape of the item. A loaf ofbánh is classified aschiếc in northern Vietnam butổ in southern Vietnam.[2]Tấm is used for wafers and the like.
Bánh is usually used as a generic word to refer to certain solid foods shaped round, flat, or puffy (e.g.:Cái loạibánh đó gọi là gì nhỉ? À, pi-da.)
Hà Quang Phùng (6 September 2012), “Tìm hiểu về ngữ pháp tiếng Mường (Thim hiếu wuê ngử pháp thiểng Mường) [Understanding Muong grammar]”, in(Please provide the book title or journal name)[4] (FlashPaper; overall work in Vietnamese and Muong), Thanh Sơn–Phú Thọ Province Continuing Education Center, archived fromthe original on17 December 2013
