Gò Vấp

English

Etymology

From Vietnamese Gò Vấp.

Proper noun

Gò Vấp

1. A district of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Translations

district of Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• Gò Vắp

Etymology

gò (“mound”) +‎ vấp (“Mesua ferrea”), literally "Ceylon ironwood mound". There is an etymology that this place was formerly a hill of Ceylon ironwood. Currently, in HCMC, there are two Ceylon ironwood tree in the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens.

According to a folk etymology, this area is a high mound, so it is easy to stumble, so gò (“mound”) +‎ vấp (“to stumble”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ɣɔ˨˩ vəp̚˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ɣɔ˦˩ vəp̚˦˧˥]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ɣɔ˨˩ vəp̚˦˥] ~ [ɣɔ˨˩ jəp̚˦˥]

Proper noun

Gò Vấp

1. Gò Vấp (an urban district of Ho Chi Minh City)