văn xuôi

Vietnamese

Etymology

văn (“language; writing”) +‎ xuôi (“flowy”), perhaps from the notion that prose "flows" easier than poetry (which is more restrictive in terms of syllable counts and rhymes)

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [van˧˧ suəj˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [vaŋ˧˧ suj˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [vaŋ˧˧ suj˧˧] ~ [jaŋ˧˧ suj˧˧]

Noun

văn xuôi

1. (literature) prose

See also

• văn vần