thiêng liêng

Vietnamese

Etymology

Its first element thiêng is non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 聖 (“holy, sacred”, SV: thánh); its other element liêng is likely non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 靈 (“numen > numinous”, SV: linh).

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [tʰiəŋ˧˧ liəŋ˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [tʰiəŋ˧˧ liəŋ˧˧]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [tʰiəŋ˧˧ liəŋ˧˧]

Adjective

thiêng liêng

spiritual; sacred

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.