cổ

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ko˧˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kow˧˨]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kow˨˩˦]

• Audio (Saigon):

  (file)

From Proto-Vietic *koh (“throat; neck”), from Proto-Austroasiatic *kɔːʔ (“neck”) (Sidwell, 2024). Cognate with Tho [Cuối Chăm] kɔː⁵, Khmer ក (kɑɑ), Bahnar hơko, Mon ကံ. For a case of similar coda mismatch between PV and PAA forms, see vả, and also Muong nỏ.

The PV form is probably unrelated to Proto-Tai *ɣo:ᴬ.

cổ • (古, 𦙶, 股)

1. neck

   cổ chai ― a bottleneck

Sino-Vietnamese word from 古. Doublet of cũ.

cổ

1. ancient; "old"; compare cũ (“old, but not ancient”)

   Ai Cập cổ ― Ancient Egypt

2. antique; "old"; compare cũ (“old, but not ancient”)

   đồ cổ ― antiques

• cũ

Word formation with distal denotation by adding hỏi tone to the root cô in Southern Vietnamese and some topolects of Thanh Hoá.

cổ

1. (colloquial, Southern Vietnam, certain regions of Thanh Hoá) she/her, that young adult woman