đầu lâu

noun

Hanoi [ʔɗəw˨˩ ləw˧˧]Huế [ʔɗəw˦˩ ləw˧˧]Saigon [ʔɗəw˨˩ ləw˧˧] browser voice

Syllables · tones

đầufallinghuyền lâulevelngang

Each syllable carries one of six tones; the mark on the vowel tells you which. How the six tones sound →

Meanings of đầu lâu in English

Noun

colloquial a skull of a dead vertebrate ≈ sọ hộp sọ

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 頭 (“head”) and 髏, probably corrupted from Chinese 髑髏 /髑髅 (độc lâu, “dead skull”).

Frequently asked questions

How do you pronounce đầu lâu?

IPA: Hanoi [ʔɗəw˨˩ ləw˧˧]; Saigon [ʔɗəw˨˩ ləw˧˧]. Tones: đầu — falling tone (huyền), lâu — level tone (ngang).

Meanings, pronunciation and etymology from English Wiktionary (wiktionary.org, via kaikki.org; CC BY-SA 4.0), reviewed and edited. IPA shown for three accents: Hanoi (Northern), Huế (Central) and Saigon (Southern). The Listen button uses your browser's Vietnamese voice, for reference only. Spotted a mistake? Let NgonNgu know.