phương ngữ

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 方語, composed of 方 (“region”) and 語 (“language; speech”).

This does not seem to be in use in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, which use 方言 (phương ngôn) instead, a word that has significantly limited usage in Vietnamese. Perhaps a coinage based on the word 言語／言语 (ngôn ngữ, “language”). In Chinese, 方語／方语 refers to the Phuong language.

In papers by Vietnamese linguists, thổ ngữ seems to be the favored term for "dialect".

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [fɨəŋ˧˧ ŋɨ˦ˀ˥]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [fɨəŋ˧˧ ŋɨ˧˨]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [fɨəŋ˧˧ ŋɨ˨˩˦]

Noun

phương ngữ

1. dialect

   Synonyms: thổ ngữ (scientific), phương ngôn (uncommon)

See also

• tiếng (“language, lect”)
• giọng (“accent”)