âm nhạc

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 音樂 (“music”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔəm˧˧ ɲaːk̚˧˨ʔ]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔəm˧˧ ɲaːk̚˨˩ʔ]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔəm˧˧ ɲaːk̚˨˩˨]

• Audio (Hà Nội)

  (file)

Noun

âm nhạc

1. music (as a concept)

   Near-synonym: nhạc (as a hobby or object of enjoyment)

Usage notes

• âm nhạc is used when talking about music as a concept ("what is music", "the history of music", etc.).
• In other situations ("what music you like", "do you often listen to music", etc.), just nhạc is usually preferred, although âm nhạc is still understood if used by a non-native speaker.