Coordinate meanings of some reduplicated words: hô hoán, hóc hác, hộc tốc, hôi hám

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - In our previous installment of the "Talking About Words" series, we pointed out two compound words that were mistakenly identified as reduplicated words by the Vietnamese Dictionary of Reduplicated Words: "bộp hốt" (quickly), "bủn rún" (relentlessly). In this article, we will analyze the meanings of the elements in several reduplicated words: "hô hoán" (shout), "hốc hác" (dark and haggard), "hộc tốc" (rapidly rushing), "hôi hám" (smelly) (the part in quotation marks after the entry number is the original text from the Vietnamese Dictionary of Reduplicated Words - Institute of Linguistics - edited by Hoàng Văn Hành; the new line is our discussion):

1-“SHOUT loudly (verb). To shout loudly so that everyone knows something has happened. “When they heard his desperate cry, the neighbors ran over and shouted”; At first, he grabbed her wrist, “Please don’t shout, this matter should be made loud (common).”

The character 呼喚 (hu huan) is a compound word of Chinese origin [historically meaning], in which 呼 (hu) means to shout loudly, to call out loudly (such as "shout loudly"; "huan hu" = to shout or yell loudly to express joy or encouragement); 喚 (huan) also means to call or call out (such as: 呼風喚雨 (hu feng huan yu) = to call wind and rain, likened to the extraordinary and sublime magic of immortals or Taoist priests).

2-“HOLLOW-CHESTED.” He had become noticeably thinner, his eyes and cheeks were sunken, and he looked exhausted. “Mr. Nhan, why do you look so haggard these past few days?” (Ma Van Khang).

"Hốc hác" is a compound word of Chinese origin [historically meaning], in which "hốc" is the Chinese character 谷 meaning cave or hollow, a deep indentation (like a mountain hollow; a tree hollow); "hác" 壑 is a Sino-Vietnamese element, also meaning cave or hollow (as in "Gầy hóc gầy hác").

- The Sino-Vietnamese dictionary (Thiều Chửu) explains "hác" as "Caves and crevices, places in the mountains and forests are called hác. For example, lâm hác 林壑 (forest corner), nham hác 巖壑 (mountain hollow)... Places that hold water are also called hác. For example, rivers and seas are called đại hác 大壑".

3. "Hurry up." (tt. To work hard and put in all one's effort to get it done quickly. To finish it quickly.)

Hộc tốc 觳觫 is a compound word of Chinese origin [historical meaning], originally meaning a fearful appearance/look, where hộc 觳 means a look of fear; tốc 觫 means a trembling or shaking appearance.

The Vietnamese Dictionary (edited by Hoang Phe, with Chinese characters for Sino-Vietnamese words - Vietlex Dictionary Center) defines "hộc tốc" as "extremely hastily, aiming for the fastest possible speed, regardless of everything else: to do something hastily ~ "The bad news spread like wildfire, Anh Tuyet rushed over, only to find her husband being led into the courtroom." (Nguyen Cong Hoan).

Hoang Phe's Vietnamese dictionary adds a note: "The Chinese character 觳觫 means 'trembling with fear'; could the Vietnamese meaning be due to understanding 觫 as 速 'fast', since these two characters are homophones in Chinese?"

- Vietnamese Dictionary: “Hoc-toc - A frightened expression. In Vietnamese, it means running too fast or too hard, gasping for breath. <>Hoc-toc gioc gan (Hoc-toc means gasping for breath)”.

3- “FOUL-SMELLING (adjective). Having an unpleasant, foul smell (generally speaking). “The gray, foul-smelling bodies tied with bandages kept wriggling their arms and legs” (Anh Duc).

"Hôi hám" is a compound word with coordinate meanings [historical meaning]: "hôi" already has a clear meaning, but what does "hám" mean? "Hám" also means "smelly." In all the Vietnamese dictionaries we have, they all only explain the single meaning of the word "hám" as "greedy" or "lustful." However, the Vietnamese-Portuguese-Latin Dictionary records it as follows: "hám, hôi hám: Smelly and foul. thối hám: Strongly foul-smelling. hám lám: Same meaning."

Thus, we see that "hám" originally meant foul; "thối hám" meant foul-smelling, similar to the word "stinky" used today.

Thus, words like "hô hoán," "hốc hác," "hộc tốc," and "hôi hám" are originally compound words formed by coordinate elements, as their constituent elements have the ability to function independently. However, later on, one or both elements lost their meaning or became obscured, so these words came to be considered reduplicated words.

Man Nong (Contributor)

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/nghia-dang-lap-cua-mot-so-tu-lay-ho-hoan-hoc-hac-hoc-toc-hoi-ham-246069.htm