[retsoor]

excellent explanation. Thank you Sir!

Originally Posted by sevenhabits

I want to add depth to the meaning of "tam".

"Ta^`m" indeed in this sentence below means "about". But "tam" actually is also a word to indicate distance and standard/level, rather than just a word to mean approximation (which "about" is). Its original and more formal meanings are the former.

Eg. "tam nhi`n" is the range to which you can see. "Tam nhin xa" means foresight. "Tam ta~" is a compound adjective to mean heaviness of things falling from the sky, such as rain. "Tam quan tro.ng" means importance. "-Du? tam" means to have enough of a standard to do something.

But yes "tam" is also an everyday word to mean "about". People ask you how far is the hotel from here, and you could say "tam 3 kilomet" or "about 3 kilometers."

It is not quite true that "khoang" are used by southerners and "tam" by northerners. But "tam" is mostly used in the north. On the other hand, given modern communication conveniences and the tv, there is heavy borrowing and mutual adoption of each other's words. So the north-south difference is important to a lesser extent than in the past.