ả

nounpronouncombining form

Hanoi [ʔaː˧˩]Huế [ʔaː˧˨]Saigon [ʔaː˨˩˦] browser voice

Syllables · tones

ảdippinghỏi

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

ả means elder sister; villainess.

Meanings of ả in English

Noun

Central Vietnam elder sister ≈ chị
Northern Vietnam, Southern Vietnam, derogatory villainess

Pronoun

derogatory, dialectal, endearing, familiar, in Central Vietnam she/her

Combining form

reduplicant of im, only used in im ả

Words with ả

Ả Rập ả đào ả đầu

Historical script (chữ Nôm / Hán)

Before the Latin alphabet (chữ Quốc ngữ) became standard, ả could be written as 妸, 婭, 阿. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Frequently asked questions

What does ả mean in English?

ả (noun) means "elder sister; villainess".

How do you pronounce ả?

IPA: Hanoi [ʔaː˧˩]; Saigon [ʔaː˨˩˦]. Tones: ả — dipping tone (hỏi).

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.