Bồ Tát

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

Bồ-tát

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 菩薩, from Chinese 菩薩 / 菩萨 (púsà, “bodhisattva”). While there are many bodhisattvas, the Bodhisattva remains Quan Âm (“Avalokiteshvara; Guanyin”). Compare Phật (“a buddha; the Buddha”) and Chúa (“a lord; the Lord”).

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓo˨˩ taːt̚˧˦]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓow˦˩ taːk̚˦˧˥]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɓow˨˩ taːk̚˦˥]
Homophone: bồ tát

Noun

alternative letter-case form of bồ tát (“a bodhisattva”)

Proper noun

synonym of Quan Âm (“Avalokiteshvara; Guanyin”)
hiền như Bồ Tát
as merciful as the Bodhisattva