khôn

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [xon˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kʰoŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kʰoŋ˧˧]

• (North Central Vietnam) khun (no vowel lowering)

khôn • (坤)

1. wise; smart
2. clever; street-smart
3. sapient

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 困 (“difficult”, SV: khốn), with the commonly seen Vietnamese tone A vs. MC tone C correspondence.

khôn

1. (literary, before verb) impossibly

   nỗi buồn/giận khôn nguôi ― everlasting sadness/anger (literally, “unfadable sadness/anger”)

   • Late 19th century, Nguyễn Khuyến, “Bạn Đến Chơi Nhà (My Friend's Come Visiting My Home)”

     Ao sâu nước cả, khôn chài cá;
     Vườn rộng rào thưa, khó đuổi gà.

     The pond is so deep and large, it's impossible to catch fish;
     The garden is so broad, the hedges so sparse, it's hard to chase chicken.

Sino-Vietnamese word from 坤.

khôn

1. trigram 8
2. hexagram 2 (䷁)