Definition

1. Noun:
   • A chicken ghost / poultry spirit: In Vietnamese folk belief, a type of malevolent spirit or ghost that takes the form of a chicken. It is superstitiously believed to cause illness or misfortune to people.
   • A superstitious concept: Refers specifically to the迷信 (superstition) about a haunting spirit manifesting as poultry.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Người làng tin rằng căn bệnh kỳ lạ đó là do ma gà gây ra. (The villagers believe that strange illness is caused by the chicken ghost.)
  • Theo truyền thuyết, ma gà thường xuất hiện vào ban đêm. (According to legend, the poultry spirit often appears at night.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is almost exclusively used in the context of Vietnamese folk religion and superstition. It denotes a specific type of haunting entity, not a general ghost.

Variants and Related Words

• Ma (n): ghost, spirit.

  • Đứa trẻ sợ ma. (The child is afraid of ghosts.)

• Tà ma (n): evil spirits, demons.

  • Họ treo bùa hộ mệnh để xua đuổi tà ma. (They hang amulets to ward off evil spirits.)

Synonyms

• Malevolent spirit: A harmful ghost or entity.
• Apparition: A supernatural appearance, often of a ghost.

Related Idioms

• Đổ tại ma gà: To blame something on the "chicken ghost"; meaning to attribute a cause to superstition or an unexplained, supernatural source.
  • Mọi chuyện hỏng hóc, ông ấy đều đổ tại ma gà. (Whenever things go wrong, he blames it on superstition.)