thể thao

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

thể-thao

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 體操, from Japanese 体操 (taisō, “gymnastics”), perhaps from the syntactically Japanese phrase 体を操る (karada-o ayatsuru, literally “to manipulate the body”). A syntactically Chinese formation would be *操體／操体, where the verb comes first. It is not clear how "gymnastics" became "sport" in Vietnamese.

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [tʰe˧˩ tʰaːw˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [tʰej˧˨ tʰaːw˧˧]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [tʰej˨˩˦ tʰaːw˧˧]

Noun

(classifier môn) thể thao

a sport (any athletic activity that uses physical skills)
thể dục thể thao
exercise and sports

quần thể thao
a pair of sports pants, especially one with stripes on the sides