voọc

Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *vɔːk. This appears to be an "internal borrowing" from the Nghệ An/Hà Tĩnh dialects which are known for retaining the old rhymes /*ɔːk/, /*ɔːŋ/, /*oːk/, /*oːŋ/, as these rhymes have evolved into diphthongized forms in most other dialects. Compare Khmer វក (vɔɔk, “Year of the Monkey”).

See also dộc, a synonym, which is now much less used than voọc.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

(classifier con) voọc

1. (Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh) a monkey (primate)

   Synonym: khỉ

2. a langur

Derived terms

• voọc vá