Quan thoại

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• (obsolete) quan-hoại

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 官話, composed of 官 (“mandarin; official”) and 話 (“language”).

The obsolete form (tiếng) quan-hoại is also attested, such as in the 1925 translation of the Lingnan yishi (嶺南逸史) by Nguyễn Hữu Tiến or Nam học Hán văn khoá bản (1920).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kwaːn˧˧ tʰwaːj˧˨ʔ]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kwaːŋ˧˧ tʰwaːj˨˩ʔ]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [waːŋ˧˧ tʰ⁽ʷ⁾aːj˨˩˨]

Noun

Quan thoại

1. Mandarin

Usage notes

• In Vietnamese, Mandarin is also often referred to as tiếng Quan thoại, although the thoại part already means "language". This "redundant" practice in general is fairly common in Vietnamese texts, even in those written before the wide adoption of the Latin script.