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ngôn ngữ

Level ≈A1 (approx.) noun Sino-Vietnamese Top 1,000 most common
Hanoi [ŋon˧˧ ŋɨ˦ˀ˥]Huế [ŋoŋ˧˧ ŋɨ˧˨]Saigon [ŋoŋ˧˧ ŋɨ˨˩˦] browser voice
Syllables · tones
ngônlevelngangngữcreaky risingngã

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

ngôn ngữ means language.

Chinese characters: 言語 (言 “to say” + 語 “to tell”)

Meanings of ngôn ngữ in English

Noun

  1. language ≈ tiếng
    • ngôn ngữ Ấn-Âuan Indo-European language

Words with ngôn ngữ

ngôn ngữ hình thểngôn ngữ họcngôn ngữ lập trìnhngôn ngữ tự nhiên

Example sentences with ngôn ngữ

  • Anh ta nói một ngôn ngữ lạ. He speaks a strange language.
  • Bạn học ngôn ngữ như thế nào? How do you learn languages?
  • Tiếng Nhật là một ngôn ngữ khó. Japanese is a hard language.
  • Ngôn ngữ thay đổi với thời gian. Languages change with time.
  • Tiếng Anh là ngôn ngữ giao thương. English is the language of trade.
  • Biết ngôn ngữ chính ở Palau không? Do you know what the primary language of Palau is?
  • Tiếng Trung không phải ngôn ngữ khó. Chinese isn't a difficult language.
  • Đây là ngôn ngữ khó học. This is a hard language to learn.

Bilingual example sentences from Tatoeba (tatoeba.org, CC BY 2.0 FR).

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 言語, composed of 言 (“to say”) and 語 (“to tell”). Compare Chinese 言語 /言语 (“individual's word choices”), Chinese 語言 /语言 (ngữ ngôn, “national tongue”), Japanese 言語 (gengo, “national tongue”) and Korean 언어 (eoneo, “national tongue”).

Frequently asked questions

What does ngôn ngữ mean in English?

ngôn ngữ (noun) means "language".

How do you pronounce ngôn ngữ?

IPA: Hanoi [ŋon˧˧ ŋɨ˦ˀ˥]; Saigon [ŋoŋ˧˧ ŋɨ˨˩˦]. Tones: ngôn — level tone (ngang), ngữ — creaky rising tone (ngã).

Is ngôn ngữ a Sino-Vietnamese word?

Yes. ngôn ngữ is a Sino-Vietnamese word from the Chinese characters 言語.

Meanings, pronunciation and etymology from English Wiktionary (wiktionary.org, via kaikki.org; CC BY-SA 4.0), reviewed and edited; example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). IPA shown for three accents: Hanoi (Northern), Huế (Central) and Saigon (Southern). The Listen button uses your browser's Vietnamese voice, for reference only. Levels are approximate, estimated from word frequency. Spotted a mistake? Let NgonNgu know.