nhọ

See also: nho, nhô, nhổ, nhỏ, nhớ, and nhơ

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• lọ

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *m-lɔːʔ.

The adjectival sense originated from the Northern dialects and spread southwards.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

nhọ • (孺, 懦)

1. (dialectal, chiefly Northern Vietnam) soot

Derived terms

• bôi nhọ

Adjective

nhọ • (孺, 懦)

1. (slang) bad; unpleasant

   số nhọ ― bad luck

Usage notes

• Similar to the case of lạt-nhạt, in Northern Vietnamese, the form nhọ is used for both senses. In Central and Southern Vietnamese, lọ is used in the noun sense, while nhọ is used in the adjectival sense.

	Soot	Bad, unlucky
Northern	nhọ	nhọ
Central-Southern	lọ	nhọ

See also

• thốn