sân khấu

sân khấu

Vietnamese

Etymology

sân (“court; yard”) +‎ khấu (“to kowtow; to prostrate oneself”, 叩).

Might be related to a line in Truyện Kiều, although here the sân and khấu are from two different phrases and do not form a compound:

• 1820, Nguyễn Du (阮攸), Truyện Kiều (傳翹) [The Tale of Kieu], Liễu Văn Ðường edition, published 1866, line 2261–2262:

  𠄩(Hai)边(bên)𨑮(mười)爲(vị)將(tướng)軍(quân)
  達(Đặt)鎌(gươm)𢶒(cởi)甲(giáp)𠓀(trước)𡑝(sân)叩(khấu)頭(đầu)

  Ten generals stepped in from without,
  And then fell into two lines in tandem.
  They laid down their swords, took off their armor,
  And prostrated themselves in the yard.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [sən˧˧ xəw˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂəŋ˧˧ kʰəw˨˩˦] ~ [ʂəŋ˧˧ xəw˨˩˦]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʂəŋ˧˧ kʰəw˦˥] ~ [səŋ˧˧ xəw˦˥]

Noun

sân khấu

1. stage (for a performance)