hoàng hậu

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 皇后 (“empress consort”). The "imperial" connotation of hoàng has been lost due to its favorability over vương, likely due to the influence of historically imperial China and imperial Vietnam, whose monarchs referred to themselves as hoàng đế (“emperor”) or used hoàng in their titles (e.g. Lí Chiêu Hoàng). Compare nữ hoàng (“queen regnant”, literally “empress regnant”), hoàng tử (“royal prince”, literally “imperial prince”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [hwaːŋ˨˩ həw˧˨ʔ]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [hwaːŋ˦˩ həw˨˩ʔ]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [waːŋ˨˩ həw˨˩˨]

Noun

hoàng hậu

1. a queen consort or an empress consort

See also

• vương hậu
• bà chúa
• bà hoàng
• nữ hoàng
• nữ vương
• vợ vua
• thái hậu