Meaning of "sung" in the word "happy"

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - What does "sung" in "sung vui" mean? Hearing the word "sung vui", many people immediately think that this is a reduplicated word, and a "purely Vietnamese" word. Partly because the word "sung" is rarely used independently, while "suong" has been highly Vietnamized.

In fact, many dictionaries only record “sung” as a plant species. For example, the Great Vietnamese Dictionary (Nguyen Nhu Y, editor-in-chief), the entry for “sung” explains two meanings: “1. A tree that grows in damp places, by lakes and ponds, has a small trunk, no secondary roots, soft branches with many scales, bumps and scars, oval-shaped leaves with many small bumps called “sung nipples”, dense fruit on the trunk and branches, red-brown when ripe, edible. 2. Figs: open mouth waiting for sung (tng.)”. Or the Vietnamese Dictionary (Van Tan, editor-in-chief), the entry for “sung” explains “A tree whose fruit grows in groups on the trunk and large branches, red when ripe, edible”.

Perhaps that is why the Vietnamese Dictionary of Reduplicative Words (Hoang Van Hanh, editor-in-chief - Social Sciences Publishing House - 2013) has collected and explained "sung hanh" as "Happy, feeling satisfied materially or spiritually", and used the example "Living a happy life".

Actually, "sung vui" 充暢 is a compound word of Chinese origin [meaning the same era]. "Sung" 充 means full, sufficient, full of inner strength. "Sung" appears in many compound words such as "sung tuc" 充足; "sung man" 充滿; "sung truc". In addition, "sung" is also used independently. In the Vietnamese dictionary (Hoang Phe, editor-in-chief - Vietlex), the entry for "sung" explains it as "in a state of great enthusiasm, full of energy" and gives the example "dance very enthusiastically ~ sing with all your might".

In the word “happy”, “sung” means enough, full. In the idiom “Eat well, dress well”, “sung” means full, sufficient. For example, “Y noan nhi thuc sung - 衣煖而食充” (Xun Zi), means a life with enough clothes and warmth, enough food, referring to a life with minimal material sufficiency, in Vietnamese it is called Com no ao am/Co don cham no/Eat well, dress warm.

As for 暢, this is also a Vietnamese word of Chinese origin, meaning happy, comfortable, smooth, complete (like joy; Happy as a fairy,..). The Chinese dictionary explains the meaning of each element: “sung: enough, full” [sung: full, full - 充: 足, 滿]; “suong: comfortable; happy.” [suong: happy, joyful - 暢: 舒暢; 歡快]; “sung: full and flowing, smooth.” [sung: sung phan nhi suong dat - 充暢: 充分而暢達].

Reference: In Chinese, there are also some words that contain the word "success", such as "thong suong" 通暢 which means clear and open; "thuan suong" 順暢 which means smooth, without any obstacles; "thu suong" 舒暢 which means comfortable and happy; "luu suong" 流暢 which means flowing, fluent (like "van but luu suong" 文筆流暢 - fluent writing).

Thus, "sung" in the word "sung hau" means full, enough, and this is a compound word of Chinese origin, not a reduplicative word.

Man Nong (Contributor)

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/nghia-cua-sung-nbsp-trong-tu-sung-suong-260047.htm