nghê

See also: Appendix:Variations of "nghe"

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 猊, contracted from Chinese 狻猊 (Toan Nghê), one of the 龍生九子／龙生九子 (Long sinh cửu tử, “Nine sons of the dragon”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ŋe˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ŋej˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ŋej˧˧]
• Homophone: Nghê

Noun

(classifier con) nghê

1. a creature that has the traits of a dog and a lion, serves as a guardian of temples, similar to a Chinese guardian lion