truyện

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 傳 (“story”), from Middle Chinese 傳 (MC drjwenH). Cognate with Mandarin 傳 / 传 (zhuàn) and Cantonese 傳 / 传 (zyun6). An alternative reading, Middle Chinese 傳 (trjwenH), yields the unattested *truyến which is listed in Thiều Chửu's dictionary. Doublet of chuyện, truyền, chuyền, and đồn.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕwiən˧˨ʔ]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʈwiəŋ˨˩ʔ]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʈ⁽ʷ⁾iəŋ˨˩˨]

Noun

(classifier cuốn, quyển) truyện

1. (obsolete) Synonym of chuyện (“story; tale”)

   Truyện Kiều ― The Tale of Kiều

2. a storybook, usually a novel, a comic book or a graphic novel

   truyện tranh / tranh truyện ― an illustrated storybook, a comic book or a graphic novel