九十六 (jiǔ shí liù) — ninety-six

Definition

numeral
ninety-six

Examples

  • 九十六。
    Tā jīn nián jiǔ shí liù suì le.
    He is ninety-six years old this year.
  • 九十六。
    Zhè běn shū de jià gé shì jiǔ shí liù kuài qián.
    The price of this book is ninety-six yuan.
  • 九十六。
    Kǎo shì tā dé le jiǔ shí liù fēn.
    He got ninety-six points on the exam.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

九十ninety
九jiǔnine十shíten
偏正Modifier + head
六liùsix

九 and 十 make ninety, then 六 adds the final six.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape comes from a stylized hand bent at the wrist, with the lower-right hook showing the bend. Later, it was taken to show a tightened fist bumping up to ten, giving the number nine.

Open 九 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 六 may come from a simple drawing of a shed, or from an ancient counting mark.

Open 六 →

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