văn ngôn

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 文言.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [van˧˧ ŋon˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [vaŋ˧˧ ŋoŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [vaŋ˧˧ ŋoŋ˧˧] ~ [jaŋ˧˧ ŋoŋ˧˧]

Noun

văn ngôn

1. Literary Chinese (literary language used from the fall of the Han dynasty (220 C.E.) to the early 20th century)
2. Classical Chinese (literary language used in old China)

   Synonyms: cổ văn, Hán văn