tang thương

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 桑蒼, syllable metathesis of the unused thương tang (滄桑), which in turn shortened from the Chinese saying 滄海桑田 / 沧海桑田 (thương hải tang điền).

For more cases of syllable metathesis of compounds with Sino-Vietnamese elements, see đơn giản (“simple”), phục hồi (“to recover”), tha thiết (“earnest(ly)”). For similar cases with native morphemes, see nhung nhớ (< nhớ nhung).

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [taːŋ˧˧ tʰɨəŋ˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [taːŋ˧˧ tʰɨəŋ˧˧]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [taːŋ˧˧ tʰɨəŋ˧˧]

Adjective

tang thương

wretched; miserable; weary; enervated