nét ngài
Vietnamese
Etymology
See mắt phượng mày ngài, mắt phụng mày ngài.
In Truyện Kiều, whose writer was born in North Central Vietnam, this is also a pun on ngài (“human; body”) and the line means both "having thick silkworm-shaped eyebrows" and "having a well-endowed body".
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [nɛt̚˧˦ ŋaːj˨˩]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [nɛt̚˦˧˥ ŋaːj˦˩]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [nɛk̚˦˥ ŋaːj˨˩]
Noun
nét ngài • (𧍋)
- silkworm-shaped eyebrows; (figuratively) perfectly shaped eyebrows
- 1820, Nguyễn Du (阮攸), Truyện Kiều (傳翹) [The Tale of Kieu], Liễu Văn Ðường edition, published 1866, line 19–20:
雲 莊 重 恪 潙 囷 𦝄 苔 惮 𧍋 𦬑 囊 - Vân’s moon-face and chiefly her brows,
Alike two fully unrolled silkworms,
Gave her an imposing beauty
- Vân’s moon-face and chiefly her brows,
-