kinh nguyệt

Vietnamese

Etymology

Partial calque of Chinese 月經／月经 (nguyệt kinh, literally “monthly meridian”) by reversing the position of the head element, kinh, to conform to native morphology. Compare thần kinh (literally “spiritual meridian”). This reversal accidentally makes this term homophonous with the reading of the rare Chinese 經月／经月 (kinh nguyệt, “a month”) and its derivation Japanese 経月 (keigetsu). Compare Japanese 月経 (gekkei).

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kïŋ˧˧ ŋwiət̚˧˨ʔ]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [kɨn˧˧ ŋwiək̚˨˩ʔ]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [kɨn˧˧ ŋwiək̚˨˩˨]

Noun

kinh nguyệt

menstruation; menses
Synonym: kinh

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