cá heo

Vietnamese

Etymology

From cá (“fish”) +‎ heo (“pig”). For the semantic relationship, compare Chinese 海豚 (hǎitún) and English mereswine.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kaː˧˦ hɛw˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kaː˨˩˦ hɛw˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kaː˦˥ hɛw˧˧]

Noun

(classifier con) cá heo

1. a dolphin
2. a dolphin-like cetacean (such as the porpoise)