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