rắn hổ mang

Vietnamese

Etymology

rắn hổ (“elapid”) +‎ mang (“hood”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zan˧˦ ho˧˩ maːŋ˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʐaŋ˦˧˥ how˧˨ maːŋ˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ɹaŋ˦˥ how˨˩˦ maːŋ˧˧]

Noun

(classifier con) rắn hổ mang

1. a cobra (venomous snake)

   Synonym: hổ mang

Usage notes

• As with many words for snakes, the element rắn (“snake”) is often dropped in the spoken language, especially if it is clear that the topic is a snake species. For fish, the opposite is true: the element cá is never dropped in colloquial language, but can be dropped in literary works (i.e. chép instead of cá chép (“carp”)).