Definition

Noun: - Short literary composition, short novel, novelette: A short work of prose fiction, typically longer than a short story but shorter than a full-length novel. It is an older, literary term in Vietnamese.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Tác phẩm này là một đoản thiên nổi tiếng của ông. (This work is a famous short novel of his.)
  • Văn học thế kỷ 19 có nhiều đoản thiên giá trị. (19th-century literature has many valuable short novels.)

Advanced Usage

• The term đoản thiên is considered somewhat archaic or literary in modern Vietnamese. In contemporary usage, words like truyện ngắn (short story) or tiểu thuyết ngắn (short novel) are more common for similar concepts.
• It often implies a work of a certain literary weight or seriousness, despite its brevity.

Variants and Related Words

• Tiểu thuyết đoản thiên: A compound term reinforcing the meaning of "short novel."
• Truyện ngắn (n): Short story. (A more common modern term for a brief work of fiction, often implying a simpler or more concise narrative than a ).
• Tiểu thuyết (n): Novel. (A full-length work of prose fiction).

Synonyms

• Truyện ngắn: Short story.
• Tiểu thuyết ngắn: Short novel.
• Truyện vừa: Novelette, novella. (A term for a work of intermediate length).

Notes on Meaning

• The core meaning of đoản thiên is a short literary narrative. Its usage has largely been supplanted by more specific modern terms like truyện ngắn or truyện vừa. When encountered, it typically refers to classic or formally composed short fiction.

noun

1. Short literary composition, short novel, novelette