gõ kiến

Vietnamese

Etymology

gõ (“to knock on”) +‎ kiến (“ant”). The verb for peck as in English woodpecker is mổ, rather than gõ.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ɣɔ˦ˀ˥ kiən˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ɣɔ˧˨ kiəŋ˦˧˥]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ɣɔ˨˩˦ kiəŋ˦˥]

Noun

(classifier con) gõ kiến

1. a woodpecker