General names
The following is based on analysis of dictionaries and other sources. Comments and corrections are welcome.
Note on Vietnamese naming: With the exception of ducks and chickens, it is common for Vietnamese bird names to be preceded by the word Chim meaning 'bird', although it is normally omitted in Vietnamese bird lists. All bird names, whether they include chim or not, can be preceded by the classifier con, which is used for living creatures.
The Vietnamese word for 'sparrow' is Chim sẻ. Unmodified, this refers to Passer montanus, which is the common local sparrow. (Apart from the sparrows, the word is also used in the names of the bushchats and some buntings and finches). P. montanus has a number of local variant names: Chim sẻ sẻ (Central dialects), Chim se sẻ (Central and Southern dialects), Chim ri (Southern dialects), and Chim thẻ (Northern dialects).
Cultural:
Vietnamese has the expression Chim sẻ nhờ nương, sơn dương nhờ núi, meaning 'the sparrow has recourse to the fields, the antelope has recourse to the mountains', an expression of emotional attachment to one's native place.
Chữ Nôm
Characters used to write 'sparrow' in the now obsolete Chữ Nôm characters include:
| Name | Chữ Nôm Images from the Vietnamese Nôm Preservation Foundation dictionary. (Errors are the sole responsibility of the author of this site) |
| Sẻ |  ,  ,  |
All are actual characters in Chinese, although neither 𪀆 nor 䲧 is listed in even large dictionaries and neither appears to have a clearly identifiable meaning.
Species names
ABOUT THIS TABLE (Hover cursor to see) SCIENTIFIC & WESTERN |
VIETNAMESE |
EAST ASIAN |
S. E. ASIAN |
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| Passer | ||||||||
Latin |
English/French |
Vietnamese |
Other V |
Chinese (incl. Taiwan) |
Japanese |
Thai |
Malaysian |
Indonesian |
Passer rutilans |
Russet sparrow Cinnamon sparrow Ruddy sparrow Moineau rutilant |
Chim Sẻ hung 'reddish sparrow (bird)' |
山麻雀 (山麻雀) 'mountain sparrow' Taiwan: (山麻雀) 山麻雀 'mountain sparrow' |
ニュウナイスズメ (入内雀) nyūnai suzume 'enter inside sparrow' (Characters for nyūnai refer to conferral of 'inner' court rank, up from provincial 'outer' rank. Characters do not represent actual etymology.) |
นกกระจอกป่าท้องเหลือง nók krà-còaak pàa tʰóaaŋ-lĕuaŋ 'yellow-bellied forest-sparrow (bird)' |
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| Passer flaveolus |
Plain-backed sparrow Pegu house sparrow Moineau flavéole |
Chim Sẻ bụi vàng 'yellow bush sparrow (bird)' (cf the chats, genus Saxicola) |
黄腹麻雀 (黄腹麻雀) 'yellow-bellied sparrow' |
セアカスズメ (背赤雀) se-aka suzume 'red-backed sparrow' |
นกกระจอกตาล nók krà-còaak taan 'brown sparrow (bird)' |
Burung Ciak Sawah 'ricefield sparrow (bird)' (onomat.) (26, 27) Burung Ciak Arnab 'rabbit sparrow (bird)' (onomat.) (24) |
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| Passer montanus |
Eurasian tree sparrow Tree sparrow Moineau friquet |
Chim Sẻ 'sparrow (bird)' |
Sẻ sẻ 'sparrow' (Central dialects) Se sẻ 'sparrow' (Central and Southern dialects) Chim ri 'sparrow' (Southern dialects) Chim thẻ 'sparrow' (Northern dialects) |
麻雀 (麻雀) 'sparrow' or 树麻雀 (樹麻雀) 'tree sparrow' (Alternative in 1, 3) Taiwan: (麻雀) 麻雀 'sparrow' |
スズメ (雀) suzume 'sparrow' |
นกกระจอกบ้าน nók krà-còaak bâan 'house sparrow (bird)' |
Burung Ciak Rumah 'house sparrrow bird' (onomat.) (26, 27) Burung Ciak Urasia 'Eurasian sparrow bird' (onomat.) (24) |
Burung-gereja Erasia 'Eurasian church-bird' |
