Bạc Liêu

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Vietnamese Bạc Liêu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbækljeɪʊ/

Proper noun

Bạc Liêu

1. A province of Vietnam.
2. A city in Vietnam.

Translations

province of Vietnam

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 薄寮 (Bóliáo)

• Vietnamese: Bạc Liêu (vi)

Vietnamese

Etymology

Superficially Sino-Vietnamese word from 薄寮 (“poor neighborhood”), but almost certainly of Khmer origin, probably ពលលាវ (pŭəlliəw, “Laotian post/stronghold”) like what the Khmers still call it, since troops of the Lao Kingdom of Champasak used to maintain a military post here. The Chinese characters are simply phonograms.

In the past, this place name was also written as 北遼 (SV: Bắc Liêu) because the negative connotation of the character 薄.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaːk̚˧˨ʔ liəw˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaːk̚˨˩ʔ liw˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɓaːk̚˨˩˨ liw˧˧]

Proper noun

Bạc Liêu

1. Bạc Liêu (a province of Vietnam)
2. Bạc Liêu (a city in Vietnam)

Descendants

• → English: Bạc Liêu