cơ học

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 機學, composed of 機 (“mechanic, machine”) and 學 (“study”). Probably a calque from a European language, compare Khmer យន្តសាស្ត្រ (yŭəntaʼsaah), Thai กลศาสตร์ (gon-lá-sàat), both mean "science/study of machines".

Note that the etymological equivalent of Chinese 力學／力学 (lìxué), Korean 역학 (yeokhak), Japanese 力学 (rikigaku), in Vietnamese (*lực học) is pretty much not used in isolation (although it occurs in names of branches of mechanics like động lực học (動力學, “dynamics”)).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kəː˧˧ hawk͡p̚˧˨ʔ]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kəː˧˧ hawk͡p̚˨˩ʔ]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kəː˧˧ hawk͡p̚˨˩˨]

Noun

cơ học

1. mechanics

Derived terms

• cơ học lượng tử (“quantum mechanics”)