hiện diện

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 現 (“to appear”) and 面 (“face”).

This is apparently an internal calque, formed rather recently by sinicizing the native compound có mặt (“to be present (at)”). An early attestation of the term is in Tân thơ tổng lý qui điều (1905) (translated into Vietnamese from an earlier book).

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [hiən˧˨ʔ ziən˧˨ʔ]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [hiəŋ˨˩ʔ jiəŋ˨˩ʔ]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [hiəŋ˨˩˨ jiəŋ˨˩˨]

Verb

hiện diện

to be present (at)
Synonym: có mặt