喜洋洋
xǐ yáng yáng · HSK 7
radiant with joy
☀️ 喜 = joy + 洋洋 = vast/overflowing, so joy overflowing like an ocean
喜 means happiness; 洋 is ocean/vast, doubled to 洋洋 for boundless abundance. Stacked together, 喜洋洋 reads as joy so plentiful it spills over, hence radiant with joy.
喜 — drum 壴 (top) + mouth 口 (bottom)
Originally a pictograph showing a drum (壴) above a mouth (口), depicting people singing or shouting joyfully alongside drumming at a celebration. The combination conveyed festive happiness, and the character came to mean 'joy' or 'to like.' The drum element 壴 itself depicts a drum on a stand.
洋 — water radical 氵 + sheep 羊
洋 combines the water radical 氵 (meaning) with 羊 'sheep' (phonetic, hinting at the sound yáng). Originally it referred to a vast body of water or ocean. Later it extended to mean 'foreign' or 'overseas,' since foreign things came across the ocean.
洋 — water radical 氵 + sheep 羊
洋 combines the water radical 氵 (meaning) with 羊 'sheep' (phonetic, hinting at the sound yáng). Originally it referred to a vast body of water or ocean. Later it extended to mean 'foreign' or 'overseas,' since foreign things came across the ocean.