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亲友 (qīn yǒu) — relatives and friends, friends and family

Definition

noun
relatives and friendsfriends and family

Examples

  • 亲友。
    Tā yāo qǐng le suǒ yǒu qīn yǒu lái cān jiā hūn lǐ.
    He invited all his friends and family to attend the wedding.
  • ，。
    Guò nián shí, wǒ hé qīn yǒu yì qǐ chī fàn liáo tiān.
    During the New Year, I eat and chat with my relatives and friends.
  • ，亲友。
    Zhè cì lǚ xíng, wǒ dǎ suàn dài shàng qīn yǒu yì qǐ qù.
    For this trip, I plan to bring along my friends and family.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

亲qīnrelatives
友yǒufriends

The 亲 'relatives' and 友 'friends' combine to mean family and friends.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 親; 亲 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
見見jiànsee
Sound part声符shēngfú
辛
辛xīn親qīn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 親 uses 見 (see) for sense and 辛 (a chisel) for sound; the simplified 亲 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 亲 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

友 is drawn as two 又, the hand form, side by side. The old explanation says two hands together mean friendship.

Open 友 →
Appears in
Friends & SocialFamily & Kinship

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