sầu riêng

Vietnamese

Etymology

From a neighbour language, most likely Khmer ទុរេន (turein), ultimately from Malay durian.

According to folk etymology, from sầu (“sorrow”) +‎ riêng (“private”), literally “one's own sorrow”. Durian was named sầu riêng after an ancient commemorative love story from the Tây Sơn dynasty, in which a man that stayed faithful to his wife after death and had a strong memory of both eating the stinky-but-delicious tu-rên (durian) that represented their love at first sight.

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [səw˨˩ ziəŋ˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂəw˦˩ ʐiəŋ˧˧] ~ [səw˦˩ ʐiəŋ˧˧]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʂəw˨˩ ɹiəŋ˧˧] ~ [səw˨˩ ɹiəŋ˧˧]

Noun

(classifier cây, trái, quả) sầu riêng

durian
- Phạm Hổ, Sầu riêng [Durian]:
  Nhà ai vừa chín quả đầu.
  Đã nghe gió thổi vườn sau thơm lừng.
  Lá chiều khép ngủ ung dung
  Để cùng dậy với tưng bừng nắng mai.
  Vàng thơm sau lớp vỏ gai
  Múi to, mật ngọt cho ai thỏa lòng.
  Mời cô, mời bác ăn cùng
  Sầu riêng mà hóa vui chung trăm nhà.
  Who's got some freshly ripe fruit?
  Smellin' the delicious aroma carried by the wind.
  Evening leaves were sleepin' cavalierly
  Just to rise awoken with tomorrow's jubilant sunshine.
  Hidden, yellowish and fragrant, under those thorny husks
  Big bundles of flesh, just like pleasant honey.
  Please join the party, everybody
  "One's sorrow" (durian) turns out to be all's joy.