cá nhám

Vietnamese

Etymology

cá (“fish”) +‎ nhám (“rough”), named so because of their crude skin.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kaː˧˦ ɲaːm˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kaː˨˩˦ ɲaːm˦˧˥]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kaː˦˥ ɲaːm˦˥]

Noun

(classifier con) cá nhám

1. shark (especially the smaller species)

Usage notes

• In colloquial usage, cá nhám often designates smaller shark species. However, within zoological context, most sharks can be called cá nhám, even the whale shark (cá nhám voi).

Related terms

• cá mập