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八千 (bā qiān) — eight thousand

Definition

numeral
eight thousand

Examples

  • 八千。
    Zhè tái diàn nǎo de jià gé shì bā qiān duō kuài qián.
    The price of this computer is over eight thousand yuan.
  • 八千。
    Cóng běi jīng dào shàng hǎi de jù lí dà yuē yǒu yī bā qiān gōng lǐ.
    The distance from Beijing to Shanghai is about eight thousand kilometers.
  • 八千。
    Zhè ge sì miào yǒu bā qiān duō nián de lì shǐ le.
    This temple has a history of over eight thousand years.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

八bāeight
千qiānthousand

八 (eight) + 千 (thousand) gives the number 8,000.

Characters in this word

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

八 shows two bent lines, indicating the original meaning 'to divide'; it was later used for 'eight' because the words sounded alike.

Open 八 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →
Appears in
Numbers & Counting

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