Definition

1. Verb:

   • To set to music, to compose music for (lyrics/poem): The primary meaning of "phổ" is the act of composing musical accompaniment or a melody for existing text, typically poetry or song lyrics.
   • To arrange (music): It can also refer to the act of arranging or adapting music.

2. Noun:

   • (Physics) Spectrum: In scientific contexts, "phổ" refers to the spectrum, such as the range of colors in light or the distribution of wavelengths.
   • (Music) Score, musical setting: It can refer to the resulting musical composition or score created from setting text to music.

Usage Examples

• Verb:

  • Nhạc sĩ ấy đã phổ nhạc cho bài thơ nổi tiếng. (That composer set the famous poem to music.)
  • Anh ấy phổ bài dân ca này thành một bản giao hưởng. (He arranged this folk song into a symphony.)

• Noun:

  • Ánh sáng trắng khi qua lăng kính sẽ tách thành một dải phổ màu. (White light, when passing through a prism, separates into a color spectrum.)
  • Phổ nhạc của bài hát này rất hay. (The musical setting/score of this song is very beautiful.)

Advanced Usage

• "phổ biến" (common, widespread): This is a compound word. "Phổ" here contributes the idea of "spreading widely," related to the spectrum's concept of covering a range.

  • Tin tức này đã trở nên phổ biến. (This news has become widespread.)

• "phổ cập" (universalize, popularize): Another compound word meaning to make something common or universal.

  • Chính sách phổ cập giáo dục tiểu học. (The policy to universalize primary education.)

Variants and Related Words

• Phổ thông (adj): Common, general, universal (e.g., - general education).
• Quang phổ (n): Optical spectrum (a compound noun in physics).
• Phổ kế (n): Spectrometer (a compound noun for a scientific instrument).

Synonyms

• Verb (for setting music): Soạn nhạc (to compose music), đặt nhạc (to set music).
• Noun (for spectrum): Dải quang phổ (spectral band).

Related Phrases/Idioms

• "Phổ vào": A less common phrasing meaning to set to music.
  • Ông đã phổ vào những câu thơ đầy cảm xúc. (He set those emotional verses to music.)

Important Note

The word "phổ" is most precisely and commonly used as a verb in the artistic context of "phổ nhạc" (to set to music). Its use as a noun meaning "spectrum" is specific to scientific terminology (like quang phổ). The compound words "phổ biến" and "phổ cập" are very common in modern Vietnamese but are considered distinct lexical items from the core meanings of "phổ" listed above.

1. (vật lý) Spectrum
2. Set to (music)
   • Phổ nhạc một bài dân ca
     To set a music a folk-song