'Sudden' is towering?

Why does the above semantic shift occur? The answer is that the word "suddenly " is polysemous, and its understanding depends on the social context and the era.

The character "dut" (突) first appeared in the Shang Dynasty Oracle Bone Inscriptions, consisting of two parts: the upper part is the character " huo" (穴: cave), the lower part is "khuyen" (犬: dog). The ancient shape of "dut" resembles a dog rushing out of a cave; the original meaning is to rush out very quickly ( Records of the Three Kingdoms. Wei Zhi. Wu Di Ji ). This meaning was recorded in Shuowen Jiezi: "dut, khuyen tung huyet trung tan xuat da" ( dut is a dog temporarily coming out of a cave).

Later, the word " suddenly " expanded its meaning to "raid", "insult", "speed", especially "a situation that changes rapidly and unexpectedly"...

Wu (兀) is a character that first appeared in the Oracle Bones and Bronze Steles of the Shang Dynasty. This character originally meant human head. The head is the highest point of the human body, so Wu also means towering and protruding.

Besides, "ngọt" is also used to mean "tall and outstanding appearance" (Preface to Nanyang Gongji by Lu Zhaolin); "independence" ( Tran luan by Yu Dafu); "confused and ignorant look" ( Du Thien Thai Son Phu by Sun Chuo) or "rest" ( Van Phu by Lu Ji)...

The compound word "sudden" (突兀) was first seen in the poem "Hai Fu" by Mu Hua of the Western Jin Dynasty. This word has many meanings, such as "outstanding" ( The New Words of the World ) or "strange, different" ( Mo Ji by Wang Zhi of the Song Dynasty).

During the Tang Dynasty, suddenness was also a word used to describe "tall and steep" terrain ( Mao oc vi thu phong so pha ca by Du Fu) or "unexpected events" ( Tong tang Trung Quan by Han Yu).

Abruptness is also a word that refers to appearance, for example "sitting straight and upright" ( Bai Ai Thi by Du Fu) or "tall appearance" (Preface to Nanyang Gong Ji by Lu Zhaolin).

Since the Ming and Qing dynasties , other meanings have appeared, such as a sudden change of plot in a novel.

In general, since the 10th century, Chinese characters have gradually become popular in our country. The word "dot dot " (突 兀) still represents the above meanings. However, in recent centuries, this word has only had a few meanings:

- Suddenly (突兀) means "unfamiliar, unfamiliar: Just arrived and suddenly" ( Dai Nam Quoc Am Tu Vi by Huynh-Tinh Paulus Cua, 1895, p.719).

- Sudden means "suddenly, unexpectedly: Suddenly arising, happening suddenly" ( Vietnamese-Dictionary by Le Van Duc, edited by Le Ngoc Tru, upper volume, 1970, p.490).

- Suddenly means "very unexpectedly, without any warning signs: The weather suddenly turned cold" ( Vietnamese Dictionary , op. cit., p.370).

Thus, in Vietnamese, "suddenly" is synonymous with two words: suddenly and unexpectedly :

1. Suddenly , written in Nom script as 声 灵 and 盛 令, appeared in the story Duong Tu-Ha Mau by Nguyen Dinh Chieu ( Phut dau co am tinh nhong nhong nhong nhong ) or in Nhi do mai dien ca ( Suddenly, the table lost its joy ).

2. Unexpected , a combination of two words: bất (Han) and ngh (Nom), appeared at the latest from the beginning of the 20th century, for example in the book The Country Boy ( Le Petit Campagnard , 1925) by Nguyen Lan, translated by Alfred Bouchet (p.67) or in the sentence "the unexpectedness of life, who can avoid it" ( Trang by Lan Khai, Tan Van Publishing House, 1939).