ngã

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "nga"

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

ngã • (我)

  1. (Northern Vietnam, of an animate being) to fall on the ground while standing on it in a tripping, toppling or collapsing motion
    Synonyms: té, bổ
    thanh ngã ― the tone as in the word ngã
    • 1912, Thọ An (editor), “Được cả đơn liền kép”, in Tiếu lâm An Nam, volume II:
      Anh kia nghe thấy thế, vội vàng chui ra, chạy về. Chẳng may sân nhà có lắm rêu, trượt, ngã đánh « huỵch » một cái bằng giời giáng.
      The man heard her words, hastily crawled out to run home. Unfortunately, as the mossy yard was too slippery, he fell with a "thud" as if he just got dropped from heaven.
  2. (Southern Vietnam, of a generally inanimate object) to collapse onto the ground and remains there for a period of time
    Synonyms: đổ, sụp
    Coi chừng cây nó ngã!
    Watch out for the falling tree!
    Ê, cây móc đồ ngã mất tiêu rồi kìa.
    Hey, your hanger stand has collapsed (and it's still on the ground).
Derived terms
See also

Noun

ngã

  1. (linguistics) Short for thanh ngã.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Mon-Khmer *d₁ngah (“crossroads”).

Noun

ngã

  1. (almost always in compounds with an integer greater than 2) an intersection
    ngã ba ― a three-way intersection; a fork
    ngã tư ― a crossroads
    ngã tư Bảy Hiền ― the Bảy Hiền crossroads
    ngã năm Chuồng Chó ― the "Dog Cage" five-way intersection
    ngã sáu Cộng Hoà ― the Cộng Hoà six-way intersection
Usage notes
  • The number attached is the number of exits, not the number of streets crossed. Therefore a crossroads is called ngã tư because it has four exits.
  • Only ngã tư is correct, not *ngã bốn.
  • Not to be confused with ngả (“way”).
Synonyms
Derived terms
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