bốn bể
Vietnamese edit
Etymology edit
bốn (“four”) + bể (“sea; ocean”), calque of Chinese 四海 (tứ hải, “four seas”).
Pronunciation edit
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ʔɓon˧˦ ʔɓe˧˩]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [ʔɓoŋ˦˧˥ ʔɓej˧˨]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [ʔɓoŋ˦˥ ʔɓej˨˩˦]
Audio (Hà Nội) (file)
Noun edit
- the seas around China
- (literary, possibly obsolete) the four oceans, the Pacific, the Indian, the Atlantic and the Arctic
- (literary) the whole world