初恋 (chū liàn) — first love | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

first love

初恋。
Wǒ de chū liàn shì zài dà xué rèn shi de.
My first love was someone I met in college.
初恋。
Tā zhì jīn hái jì de chū liàn de míng zì.
He still remembers the name of his first love.
初恋，。
chū liàn Suī rán měi hǎo, dàn wǎng wǎng bú huì cháng jiǔ.
First love is beautiful, but it often doesn't last.

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.

初恋 combines 初 for first with 恋 for love, giving the first love.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

衤刀初

初 combines 衤 (clothes) and 刀 (knife), showing the start of making clothes by cutting cloth.

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 戀; 恋 is its simplified writing.

䜌心戀

Meaning part形符xíngfú

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

䜌

䜌䜌戀liàn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 戀 pairs 心 (heart) with 䜌 as a sound part; 恋 is a later simplified form.

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