thiên văn

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 天文, composed of 天 (“heaven”) and 文 (“pattern of behavior”). Compare thuỷ văn (“hydrology”, literally “water behaviors”) and nhân văn (“humanities”, literally “human behaviors”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [tʰiən˧˧ van˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [tʰiəŋ˧˧ vaŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [tʰiəŋ˧˧ vaŋ˧˧] ~ [tʰiəŋ˧˧ jaŋ˧˧]

Noun

thiên văn

1. Synonym of thiên văn học (“astronomy”)

   trên thông thiên văn, dưới tường địa lí

   well-versed in both astronomy and geography

References

• "thiên văn" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)