more Westernized look. Sino-Vietnamese etymology A frequently heard, and reasonable, explanation is that Sài is a Chinese  loanword  ( 柴 , pronounced   chái  in  Mandarin ) meaning “firewood, lops, twigs; palisade”, while Gòn is another Chinese loanword ( 棍 , pronounced gùn in Mandarin) meaning “stick, pole, bole”, and whose