Definition

1. Verb phrase:
   • To become sorrowful / to fall into melancholy: To begin to feel or exhibit a state of deep sadness, pensiveness, or melancholy. It describes the onset or triggering of a sorrowful mood.

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Nghe bản nhạc buồn, cô ấy bỗng phát sầu. (Listening to the sad song, she suddenly became sorrowful.)
  • Cảnh chiều tà khiến lòng người lữ khách phát sầu. (The dusk scene made the traveler's heart fall into melancholy.)

Advanced Usage

• The phrase is literary and poetic in tone. It is often used to describe a nuanced, reflective sadness evoked by specific stimuli like scenery, music, or memory, rather than acute grief.

Variants and Related Words

• Buồn (adj): sad, melancholy.
  • Anh ấy cảm thấy rất buồn. (He felt very sad.)
• U sầu (adj): gloomy, melancholic.
  • Một tâm trạng u sầu. (A gloomy mood.)

Synonyms

• To become sad: to start feeling unhappiness.
• To grow melancholy: to become pensively sad.
• To be filled with sorrow: to become overwhelmed by sad feelings.

Related Idioms

• While "phát sầu" itself is a set phrase, it relates to the theme of induced sadness in idioms like "gió chiều phát sầu" (the evening wind stirs sorrow), describing how nature can evoke melancholy.