phương ngữ

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 方語, composed of 方 (“region”) and 語 (“language; speech”).

This does not seem to be in use in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, which use 方言 (phương ngôn) instead, a word that has significantly limited usage in Vietnamese. Perhaps a coinage based on the word 言語 / 言语 (ngôn ngữ, “language”). In Chinese, 方語 / 方语 refers to the Phuong language.

In papers by Vietnamese linguists, thổ ngữ seems to be the favored term for "dialect".

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [fɨəŋ˧˧ ŋɨ˦ˀ˥]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [fɨəŋ˧˧ ŋɨ˧˨]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [fɨəŋ˧˧ ŋɨ˨˩˦]

Noun

phương ngữ

1. topolect; dialect

   Synonyms: thổ ngữ (scientific), phương ngôn (uncommon)

See also

• tiếng (“language, lect”)
• giọng (“accent”)