đồi mồi

noun

Hanoi [ʔɗoj˨˩ moj˨˩]Huế [ʔɗoj˦˩ moj˦˩]Saigon [ʔɗoj˨˩ moj˨˩] browser voice

Syllables · tones

đồifallinghuyền mồifallinghuyền

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

đồi mồi means a hawksbill sea turtle.

Classifier: con — e.g. một con đồi mồi (one hawksbill sea turtle)

Meanings of đồi mồi in English

Noun

a hawksbill sea turtle ≈ mồi

Noun

liver spots

Historical script (chữ Nôm / Hán)

Before the Latin alphabet (chữ Quốc ngữ) became standard, đồi mồi could be written as 玳瑁. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 玳瑁 (SV: đại mội). Compare Mandarin 玳瑁 (dàimào, đại mạo / dàimèi, đại mội), Cantonese 玳瑁 (doi⁶ mui⁶, đại mội), Japanese 玳瑁 (taimai, đại mội), Korean 대모 (daemo, from Chinese 玳瑁 (đại mạo)). Compare also loài and loại, vì and vị, mùi and vị, từ and tự, ngoài and ngoại.

Frequently asked questions

What does đồi mồi mean in English?

đồi mồi (noun) means "a hawksbill sea turtle".

How do you pronounce đồi mồi?

IPA: Hanoi [ʔɗoj˨˩ moj˨˩]; Saigon [ʔɗoj˨˩ moj˨˩]. Tones: đồi — falling tone (huyền), mồi — falling tone (huyền).

What classifier is used with đồi mồi?

Common classifiers: con — for example "một con đồi mồi" (one a hawksbill sea turtle).

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.