pháp sư

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 法師, composed of 法 (“Buddhist law; dharma”) and 師 (“master”), from Literary Chinese 法師 (fǎshī), influenced by pháp thuật (“magic”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [faːp̚˧˦ sɨ˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [faːp̚˦˧˥ ʂɨ˧˧] ~ [faːp̚˦˧˥ sɨ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [faːp̚˦˥ ʂɨ˧˧] ~ [faːp̚˦˥ sɨ˧˧]

Noun

pháp sư

1. (Buddhism) a type of variously defined priest
2. (occult, fantasy) a wizard; a magician

Usage notes

• Fantasy is a contemporary genre in Vietnamese literature, imported from the West, with a lack of a diverse vocabulary. Pháp sư and phù thuỷ are used for human magicians. Chú lùn for short humanoid creatures, tiên for fair elvish creatures, and quỷ for monstrous creatures.
• Some translators consciously use pháp sư for male wizards, and phù thuỷ for female witches. The translator of the Harry Potter series used this approach.

See also

• luật sư
• phù thuỷ