Rạch Giá

Borrowed from Vietnamese Rạch Giá.

Rạch Giá

1. The capital city of Kiên Giang Province, Vietnam.

From rạch (“small irrigation canal”) +‎ giá (“bean sprouts”).

According to another etymology, the city name possibly from Khmer ក្រមួនស (krâmuŏnsâ, “white wax”). But, this phonological change lacks conviction. Specifically, ក្រមួន (*kra) is easier to become *tra / *trác and ស (*sa) is easier to become *sa. In the Southern dialects, giá is pronounced with a voiced palatal consonant approximant /j/, so it is unlikely that the voiceless /s/ becomes voiced /z/. (compare Sóc Trăng, Trà Vinh, Sa Đéc, etc).

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zajk̟̚˧˨ʔ zaː˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʐat̚˨˩ʔ jaː˨˩˦]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ɹat̚˨˩˨ jaː˦˥]

Rạch Giá

1. Rạch Giá (a city in Vietnam)