sở trưởng

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 所長, composed of 所 (“department; institute; agency”) and 長 (“chief”), from Chinese 所長／所长. Doublet of sở trường.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [səː˧˩ t͡ɕɨəŋ˧˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂəː˧˨ ʈɨəŋ˧˨] ~ [səː˧˨ ʈɨəŋ˧˨]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʂəː˨˩˦ ʈɨəŋ˨˩˦] ~ [səː˨˩˦ ʈɨəŋ˨˩˦]

Noun

sở trưởng

1. the head of a 所 (suǒ, “department; institute”) in China

Usage notes

While the head of a bộ (“ministry”) in Vietnam is called a bộ trưởng (“minister”), the head of a sở (“department”) is not a *sở trưởng, but a giám đốc (“director”).