North Vietnam
9
4.2
- proper noun
:
Vietnam del Norte
- During the Vietnam War, North Vietnam was known for its communist government and military strategies.
Examples
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Where are free elections in North Vietnam?
Blog text (27) -
Let us understand: North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States.
Fiction book (1995) -
After North Vietnam signed a peace agreement, the American military went home.
Blog text (27) -
We named our daughter after the destroyed city in North Vietnam.
Fiction book (1995) -
Meanwhile I'm wandering around here in North Vietnam.
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Wouldn't happen to have anything on North Vietnam, would you?
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Thus, North Vietnam had to be deterred to prevent Chinese expansion in Asia.
Academic text (1991) -
North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States.
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In his speech, the president talked about plans to de-escalate the war in North Vietnam and his plans not to run for re-election.
Blog text (27) -
John McCain spent from October 26, 1967, to March 14, 1973, in captivity in North Vietnam.
Blog text (17)
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'North' (indicating the northern part or a political entity associated with the north) + 'Vietnam' (the country), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it refers to the northern part/state of Vietnam. This geographic compounding is a cross-linguistically common and non-idiomatic pattern, making the expression immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
North Vietnam comes from the word North, meaning the northern half of Vietnam after the country was split in 1954, with its government based in Hanoi. So North Vietnam means the 'former country' that existed from '1954 to 1975' before the north and south joined again.