bọ ngựa

Vietnamese

Etymology

bọ (“bug”) +‎ ngựa (“horse”).

Compounds for "mantis" that contain "horse" seem to be rather common all over Asia. Compare the synonym ngựa trời (literally “sky/heavenly horse”), Khmer កណ្ដូបសេះ (kɑndoup seh, literally “horse grasshopper”), Chinese 天馬／天马 (tiānmǎ, literally “sky/heavenly horse”), Taiwanese Hakka 草馬仔／草马仔 (literally “grass horse”), Zhuang daekmax (literally “horse grasshopper”), Awaji Japanese ホトケウマ (hotokeuma, literally “the dead's horse”), Turkmen hudaýaty (literally “God's horse”), Crimean Tatar şeytan atı (literally “Satan's/devil's horse”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɔ˧˨ʔ ŋɨə˧˨ʔ]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɔ˨˩ʔ ŋɨə˨˩ʔ]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɔ˨˩˨ ŋɨə˨˩˨]

Noun

(classifier con) bọ ngựa

1. mantis

   Synonym: ngựa trời