chuột bạch
Appearance
Vietnamese
[edit]Etymology
[edit]chuột (“mouse, rat”) + bạch (“white”), calque of Chinese 白鼠 (bạch thử). Chinese 白 (“white”) was likely not translated to trắng in order to indicate that the compound refers specifically white laboratory mouse and not just any white mouse or rat.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [t͡ɕuət̚˧˨ʔ ʔɓajk̟̚˧˨ʔ]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [t͡ɕuək̚˨˩ʔ ʔɓat̚˨˩ʔ]
- (Saigon) IPA(key): [cuək̚˨˩˨ ʔɓat̚˨˩˨]
Noun
[edit]- a white mouse, especially a white laboratory mouse
- (figuratively) a guinea pig; a lab rat (living experimental subject)