Apedia

English Vietnamese Pho Word Borrowed Nuoc July Noun

Pho is a noun for a Vietnamese noodle soup, adopted into English from Vietnamese with a modified pronunciation.

Pho (FUH) is a noun for a Vietnamese soup made of broth and rice noodles. The word was borrowed into English from Vietnamese, with a slight pronunciation change.

Word pho
Date July 10, 2014
Type noun
Syllables FUH
Etymology "Pho," which first appeared in print in English in 1935, was borrowed from a Vietnamese word which was spelled "phở." English speakers replaced the vowel with "o" but preserved the pronunciation as "fuh," rather than "foh." Another Vietnamese food word that was borrowed into English is "nuoc mam," which refers to a type of fish sauce that is fermented in brine. In that case as well, the original Vietnamese word had accent marks that were lost on the journey into English. "Nuoc mam" was recorded in English just a few years before "pho" arrived.
Examples Joan and Rob decided they were too tired to cook, and ordered pho with an assortment of other Vietnamese food.

"As a first-generation Vietnamese-American growing up in Stillwater, I enjoyed my family's Sunday tradition that paid tribute to both cultures near and far: We read the local newspaper together, ate pho and watched the Minnesota Vikings game or any other sporting event that was on at the time." - Nancy Ngo, St. Paul Pioneer Press, January 28, 2014
Definition : a soup made of beef or chicken broth and rice noodles

Tags: wordoftheday::noun

Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.

Next card: Flatter   [v i make sb flattered verb 动词

Previous card: Unregenerate regenerate adjective meaning reborn july un-rih-jen-uh-rut long-standing

Up to card list: Word of the Day