<p>喜 is a verb - &quot;to be fond of&quot;, &quot;to like&quot;, or &quot;to enjoy&quot;</p>
<p>欢 is an adjective indicating &quot;a state of mind&quot; - &quot;joyous&quot;, &quot;pleased&quot;, or &quot;happy&quot;.</p>
<p>喜 is a verb but can't be used alone, it needs a supplement. Combined with 欢, it becomes a compound &quot;verb&quot; that means &quot;like&quot;, as in &quot;I like!&quot;, or a &quot;transitive verb&quot;, as in &quot;I like <strong>it</strong>!&quot;, and &quot;I am fond of (<strong>something</strong> - an object)&quot;.</p>
<p>So - &quot;can I think of 欢 as a resultative complement of 喜&quot;? &quot;<strong>YES</strong>, it is a case of &quot;result complement&quot;.</p>

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2022-03-09T21:35:15.840Z
This doesn't answer my question -- it simply restates the information that I already provided.
Buddy L
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2022-03-09T19:37:39.010Z
2022-03-09T23:58:13.690Z
2022-03-09T23:58:13.690Z
r13
<p>In short, it's not. 欢 and 喜 are synonymous adjectives that are juxtaposed to form a verb.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>At the beginning, they were two synonyms that are often used together.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Then it becomes a habit. 欢喜 and 喜欢 were used interchangeably, with the meaning <em>happy, joyful</em>.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>As a word, both 欢喜 and 喜欢 are first documented in Han Dynasty.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>伐纣时士卒欢喜，奋迅急速，以尚威势，猛而不倾侧也。 （西汉）《史记》</p>
<p>知其安危问养，视其复闻小善言，心为之喜欢，是孝之所致也。（东汉）《太平经》</p>
</blockquote>
<p>欢喜 is, however, more frequently used, especially in the translation of Buddhist scriptures.</p>
<ol start="3">
<li>Mostly, 欢喜 retains the meaning of <em>happy</em>, but in some examples, standing alone, it's difficult to determine whether it's &quot;happy&quot; or &quot;to like&quot;, such as</li>
</ol>
<blockquote>
<p>便行则人人欢喜，不动则个个生嫌。（宋）《五灯会元》</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In （明）《拍案惊奇》, the meanings are both associated with 喜欢.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>满生心里喜欢道：“谁想绝处逢生，遇着这等好人。”  happy</p>
<p>小人喜欢他妻子。  like</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It's clear if an object is followed, since an adjective cannot have an object. It has to be a verb, meaning <em>to like</em>.</p>
<p>If there's no explict object, it's sometimes hard to decide:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>我见他是路歧人，不喜欢。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>From this, a logical development of the semantics of 喜欢 could be as follows: as a compound adjective 喜欢 first extends from <em>happy</em> to <em>liking</em>, then it changes part of speech to include the transitive verb <em>to like</em>. In many dialects and also the common tongue, 喜欢 has lost the meaning of <em>happy</em>, while 欢喜 only retains that meaning.</p>
<p>Notably in Wu Chinese, 喜欢 and 欢喜 still have the same meaning, with 喜欢 being formal and not usually used colloquially.</p>

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2022-03-10T01:27:00.127Z
2022-03-10T01:27:00.127Z
lilysirius
<p>Can somebody break down 喜欢 for me?</p>
<p>喜 alone is defined as a verb, &quot;to be fond of&quot;，so I imagine that this is the sense of the the word that is used in the compound 喜欢, which means the same thing.</p>
<p>欢 is defined as an adjective, which of course is a kind of verb in Chinese, &quot;to be jolly, to be merry&quot;.</p>
<p>So can I think of 欢 as a resultative complement of 喜？To be fond of something resulting in one's own jolliness/merriment?</p>
<hr />
<p>I know that 喜欢 is a word, not a phrase. I am looking for the original phrase that gave rise to the word, ie a morphological analysis of the word.</p>

<etymology>
Is 欢 a result complement of 喜 in the morphological breakdown of 喜欢？
# Is 欢 a result complement of 喜 in the morphological breakdown of 喜欢？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-03-08)

Can somebody break down 喜欢 for me?

喜 alone is defined as a verb, "to be fond of"，so I imagine that this is the sense of the the word that is used in the compound 喜欢, which means the same thing.

欢 is defined as an adjective, which of course is a kind of verb in Chinese, "to be jolly, to be merry".

So can I think of 欢 as a resultative complement of 喜？To be fond of something resulting in one's own jolliness/merriment?

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I know that 喜欢 is a word, not a phrase. I am looking for the original phrase that gave rise to the word, ie a morphological analysis of the word.

**Tags:** etymology


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-03-10. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

In short, it's not. 欢 and 喜 are synonymous adjectives that are juxtaposed to form a verb.

1. At the beginning, they were two synonyms that are often used together.
2. Then it becomes a habit. 欢喜 and 喜欢 were used interchangeably, with the meaning *happy, joyful*.

As a word, both 欢喜 and 喜欢 are first documented in Han Dynasty.

> 伐纣时士卒欢喜，奋迅急速，以尚威势，猛而不倾侧也。 （西汉）《史记》
>
> 知其安危问养，视其复闻小善言，心为之喜欢，是孝之所致也。（东汉）《太平经》

欢喜 is, however, more frequently used, especially in the translation of Buddhist scriptures.

3. Mostly, 欢喜 retains the meaning of *happy*, but in some examples, standing alone, it's difficult to determine whether it's "happy" or "to like", such as

> 便行则人人欢喜，不动则个个生嫌。（宋）《五灯会元》

In （明）《拍案惊奇》, the meanings are both associated with 喜欢.

> 满生心里喜欢道：“谁想绝处逢生，遇着这等好人。” happy
>
> 小人喜欢他妻子。 like

It's clear if an object is followed, since an adjective cannot have an object. It has to be a verb, meaning *to like*.

If there's no explict object, it's sometimes hard to decide:

> 我见他是路歧人，不喜欢。

From this, a logical development of the semantics of 喜欢 could be as follows: as a compound adjective 喜欢 first extends from *happy* to *liking*, then it changes part of speech to include the transitive verb *to like*. In many dialects and also the common tongue, 喜欢 has lost the meaning of *happy*, while 欢喜 only retains that meaning.

Notably in Wu Chinese, 喜欢 and 欢喜 still have the same meaning, with 喜欢 being formal and not usually used colloquially.


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### Answer by username_1 on 2022-03-09. Score: 0

喜 is a verb - "to be fond of", "to like", or "to enjoy"

欢 is an adjective indicating "a state of mind" - "joyous", "pleased", or "happy".

喜 is a verb but can't be used alone, it needs a supplement. Combined with 欢, it becomes a compound "verb" that means "like", as in "I like!", or a "transitive verb", as in "I like **it**!", and "I am fond of (**something** - an object)".

So - "can I think of 欢 as a resultative complement of 喜"? "**YES**, it is a case of "result complement".

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: This doesn't answer my question -- it simply restates the information that I already provided.  

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