Definition

Noun: - Mountain god, mountain deity: A divine being or spirit believed to inhabit, protect, or personify a mountain. This term belongs to the cultural and spiritual vocabulary of Vietnam, often associated with folk beliefs and nature worship.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Người dân trong vùng thường cúng bái sơn thần để cầu bình an. (The local people often worship the mountain god to pray for peace.)
  • Truyền thuyết kể về một vị sơn thần quyền năng sống trên đỉnh núi cao. (The legend tells of a powerful mountain deity living on the high mountain peak.)

Advanced Usage

• "Miếu sơn thần": A shrine or temple dedicated to a mountain god.
  • Trên đường leo núi, chúng tôi đi ngang qua một ngôi miếu sơn thần cổ kính. (On the mountain climbing path, we passed by an ancient mountain god shrine.)

Variants and Related Words

• Thần núi: This is a more common, everyday Vietnamese phrase with the same meaning as "sơn thần". "Sơn thần" often carries a more literary or formal tone.
  • Thần núi được cho là người bảo vệ cho cả khu rừng. (The mountain god is believed to be the protector of the entire forest.)
• Sơn (from Hán-Việt): Means mountain. It appears in other compound words like (mountainous region), (mountains and rivers, meaning country).

Synonyms

• Genie des montagnes: The French equivalent, as seen in historical dictionaries, meaning "spirit/genie of the mountains".
• Mountain spirit: A close English synonym, though "spirit" can be broader than "god/deity".

Related Idioms/Phrases

• While "sơn thần" itself is not typically part of a common idiom, it is central to phrases describing worship or tales related to it, such as (to worship the mountain god) or (legend about the mountain god).

noun

1. mountain god