phương ngữ

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 方語, composed of 方 (“region”) and 語 (“language; speech”). This does not seem to be in use in other East Asian languages, which use 方言 (phương ngôn) instead. Perhaps a coinage based on the word 言語／言语 (ngôn ngữ, “language”), or the suffix 語／语 (“language”). In Chinese, 方語／方语 refers to the Phuong language.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [fɨəŋ˧˧ ŋɨ˦ˀ˥]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [fɨəŋ˧˧ ŋɨ˧˨]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [fɨəŋ˧˧ ŋɨ˨˩˦]

Noun

phương ngữ

1. a dialect

   Synonym: phương ngôn

See also

• giọng
• thổ ngữ