Regarding the two reduplicated words "sồ sề" and "sống sít"

In our previous installment of the "Talking About Words" series, we discussed two compound words mistakenly identified as reduplicated words: "dằn dỗi" (sulking) and "vùng vằng" (stubbornly waving). In this series, we continue to analyze the coordinate structure of the words "sồ sề" (slumpy) and "sống sít" (living close together). (The text in quotation marks is the original text from the Dictionary of Vietnamese Reduplicated Words - Institute of Linguistics - edited by Hoàng Văn Hành - Social Sciences Publishing House, 2011; the new line is our discussion):

* "SỔ SỢ (adjective, colloquial). (usually refers to women after childbirth). Becoming overweight and bulky, looking unattractive and not slim. After giving birth, she became overweight."

"Sồ sề" is a compound word with coordinate meanings: sồ, originally from the Chinese character 粗, means large, big, or unkempt (as in "to sồ"; "I've gotten too fat lately, I've become so sồ"); sề, originally from the Chinese character 彘, means pig/sow, here referring to the large, or clumsy appearance of someone who has given birth many times and no longer has a neat appearance (as in "gái sề"; "bỏ sề"; "To sồ to sề"; "Near the river, the roots bend together / Who can leave this sề girl?" - Folk song).

- The Đại Nam Quốc Âm Tự Vị (Huình Tịnh Paulus Của) explains: "bề sề: the part that spreads out and grows"; "sề ngang, sề ra: a term referring to young girls whose buttocks (i.e., the fleshy parts on both sides of the buttocks - HTC) have already grown large".

- The Vietnamese dictionary (Le Van Duc) explains: “sồ • adj. Large: Mangosteen (large mangosteen), large.”; “sề • adj. Having given birth many times: Sow. • (B) Having given birth many times: Sow. • Full-bodied: Sow.”

- Vietnamese Dictionary (Association for the Advancement of Knowledge and Virtue): “sồ • Large <> Large sồ. Sồ fruit. Textual example: Xá chi vú xéo, lưng eo, sồ-sề (Trinh-Thử).”; “sề • Refers to a sow that has given birth <> Sề pig. Broad meaning: Refers to a woman who has given birth many times <> Sề woman. Textual example: Even if a man has three wives and seven concubines, he will not be able to abandon this Sề sow (Folk song).”

Therefore, "sồ sề" is a compound word formed by combining elements, not a reduplicated word.

Reference: The phonetic relationship TH↔S [thô↔sồ] can also be seen in other cases such as thái 汰→sảy (sieving); thiết 鐵↔sắt (iron and steel); thủ 首→ sỏ (leader); the relationship TR↔S [trệ↔sề] can also be seen in other cases such as trứu 縐↔sồi (oak cloth); Triết 哲↔ suốt (clear-sighted); the relationship Ệ↔Ề [trệ↔sề] can also be seen in other cases such as nghệ 藝↔ nghề (profession); thệ 誓↔thề (oath); nệ 泥↔nề (concern); lệ 例↔lề (custom/habit)...

* “Raw food (adjective, idiom). (Food) that is not thoroughly cooked, not fully cooked (generally speaking). You're eating it while it's still raw?”

All the dictionaries we have at hand list and explain the word "sít" with two meanings: 1. (noun): a bird the size of a chicken, with long legs, a red beak, and black feathers with a bluish sheen, often destroying rice crops; 2. (adjective): very close together, as if there were no gap between them. These two meanings seem unrelated to the word "sít" in the phrase "sống sít" (living very close together).

So what does "sít" mean in the phrase "sống sít"?

In fact, besides meaning "tight" or "close together," the word "sít" also means "close to the bottom" or "almost burnt." Therefore, the Đại Nam Quốc Âm Tự Vị (by Huình Tịnh Paulus Của), in its entry for "sít," after explaining "tight to the bottom; almost burnt" it cites several terms such as "sít nồi: sticking tightly to the bottom of the pot"; "cơm sít: rice sticking to the bottom of the pot, burnt by the fire"; "sống sít: not yet fully cooked; undercooked." This dictionary even dedicates a separate entry to "cơm sít," explaining it as "rice almost burnt to the bottom of the pot."

We can understand that "sít" in "sống sít" refers to rice stuck to the bottom of the pot, burnt, charred, and hard. When "sống" (hard, unripe) combines with "sít" (something stuck to the bottom of the pot, burnt, hard), it forms the compound word "sống sít," and takes on a new meaning: "[food, fruit] not yet cooked [generally speaking; implying criticism]," as explained in the Vietnamese Dictionary (edited by Hoàng Phê - Vietlex).

Therefore, essentially, "sồ sề" and "sống sít" are both compound words formed by combining elements, not reduplicated words.

Man Nong (Contributor)

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/ve-hai-tu-lay-so-se-song-sit-271177.htm