Definition

1. Noun:
   • Life separation: A permanent or long-term parting of living individuals, often implying a forced or tragic separation during one's lifetime. It denotes a situation where people who are alive are separated, with little to no hope of reunion.
   • Parting in life: The core concept contrasts with "tử biệt" (parting by death), focusing on the sorrow of separation while all parties are still living.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Chiến tranh gây ra cảnh sinh li cho bao gia đình. (War causes the tragedy of life separation for many families.)
  • Họ đau khổ vì cuộc sinh li kéo dài. (They suffer because of the prolonged life separation.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is most powerfully and commonly used in the fixed, classical four-word idiom "sinh li tử biệt".
  • "sinh li tử biệt": This idiom expresses the ultimate human tragedies, meaning "parting in life and separation by death" or "the agonies of parting, both in life and by death."
  • Câu chuyện kể về nỗi đau sinh li tử biệt. (The story tells of the pain of parting in life and separation by death.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tử biệt (n): Separation by death, permanent parting due to death.
  • Nỗi đau tử biệt thật khó nguôi ngoai. (The pain of separation by death is hard to soothe.)

Synonyms

• Parting: The act of leaving or being separated from someone.
• Separation: The state of being moved apart.
• Estrangement (in some contexts): A state of emotional alienation.

Related Idioms

• Sinh li tử biệt: The most critical related idiom. It is a set phrase describing the most profound and tragic forms of human separation, encompassing both the sorrow of being parted while alive and the finality of death.
  • Chiến tranh là chuỗi dài của những cuộc sinh li tử biệt. (War is a long series of partings in life and separations by death.)