Kinh Thánh

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• Kinh-Thánh

Etymology

kinh (“holy book”) +‎ thánh (“holy; sacred”), calque of Chinese 聖經 / 圣经 (Thánh Kinh), following the head-initial structure of Vietnamese, instead of head-final in the original language.

Compare Kinh Dịch (“Yijing”), Kinh Thi (“Shijing”), which are also much more common than their counterparts with original head-final structure.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kïŋ˧˧ tʰajŋ̟˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kɨn˧˧ tʰɛɲ˦˧˥]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kɨn˧˧ tʰan˦˥]

Noun

Kinh Thánh • (經聖)

1. the Holy Bible

   Synonym: Thánh Kinh