Lý Sơn

Vietnamese

Etymology

Superficially Sino-Vietnamese word from 理 and 山.

The first element of the name is the phonetic rendering of the tên Nôm cù lao Ré using Chinese character. cù lao (“islet”) +‎ ré (“a plant called ré (possibly Alpinia tonkinensis)”). Cù lao Ré is the largest of the three islands (the archipelago).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [li˧˦ səːn˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [lɪj˨˩˦ ʂəːŋ˧˧] ~ [lɪj˨˩˦ səːŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [lɪj˦˥ ʂəːŋ˧˧] ~ [lɪj˦˥ səːŋ˧˧]

Proper noun

Lý Sơn

1. Lý Sơn (an island district in Quảng Ngãi, Vietnam)
2. An archipelago of Vietnam