cổ

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ko˧˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kow˧˨]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kow˨˩˦]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Vietic *koh (“throat; neck”), from Proto-Mon-Khmer *kɔʔ ~ *kɔ(ɔ)k (“neck”); cognates include Khmer ក (kɑɑ), Bahnar hơko, Mon ကံ. Compare Proto-Tai *ɣo:ᴬ.

Noun

cổ • (股)

1. neck

   cổ tay

   a wrist

   cổ chân

   an ankle

   cổ chai

   a bottleneck

Derived terms

• cắt cổ (usurious; literally "cutthroat")
• hươu cao cổ (“giraffe”)
• bướu cổ

Etymology 2

Sino-Vietnamese word from 古.

Adjective

cổ

1. ancient; old

   Ai Cập cổ

   Ancient Egypt

2. antique; old

   đồ cổ

   antiques

Related terms

• cũ

Etymology 3

Word formation with distal denotation by adding hỏi tone to the root cô in Southern Vietnamese and certain dialects of Thanh Hoá.

Pronoun

cổ

1. (Southern Vietnam) she/her, that young adult woman