Trade, money & lettersMyths & disputes

sampan

The flat-bottomed harbour boat of East and Southeast Asia may have a Malay name, already written sāmvau in a 7th-century Srivijaya inscription, or a Chinese one; scholars have not settled it.

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The story you may have heard

That sampan is Cantonese 三板 sāam báan, 'three planks'. Wikipedia calls this likely a false etymology.

The road to English

From Malay to Hokkien (Min Nan)

From Malay to Dutch

From English to French

From English to German

From English to Japanese

From English to Russian

683 CEOld Malay

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

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