phó đô đốc

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 副 (“vice-”) and 都督 (“admiral”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [fɔ˧˦ ʔɗo˧˧ ʔɗəwk͡p̚˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [fɔ˨˩˦ ʔɗow˧˧ ʔɗəwk͡p̚˦˧˥]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [fɔ˦˥ ʔɗow˧˧ ʔɗəwk͡p̚˦˥]

Noun

phó đô đốc

1. (military, navy, coast guard) a vice admiral

Usage notes

Vietnamese uses three specific terms for the three naval general officer ranks, namely đô đốc (“admiral”), phó đô đốc (“vice admiral”) and chuẩn đô đốc (“rear admiral”). In contrast, Chinese, Japanese and Korean use generic terms applicable in all branches, for example Japanese 大将 (taishō, “general; admiral; air chief marshal”), 中将 (chūjō, “lieutenant general; vice admiral; air mashal”) and 少将 (shōshō, “major general; vice admiral; air vice-marshal”); and lower ranks are generically termed, for example đại tá (“colonel; senior colonel; captain; commodore”).

See also

• trung tướng