印第安 (Yìn dì ān) — Native American, American Indian

Definition

noun

Native AmericanAmerican Indian

印第安，。
Wǒ qù guò běi měi de Yìn dì ān bù luò, gǎn shòu dào le dú tè de wén huà.
I've visited Native American tribes in North America and felt their unique culture.
印第安。
Yìn dì ān Wén huà zhōng yǒu hěn duō guān yú zì rán hé wàn wù de chuán shuō.
Native American culture has many legends about nature and all things.
印第安。
Xǔ duō Yìn dì ān rén zhì jīn réng zài nǔ lì bǎo hù zì jǐ de yǔ yán hé chuán tǒng.
Many Native Americans are still working hard to preserve their languages and traditions.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

印第安 spells the foreign name 'Indian'; 印, 第 and 安 only represent sounds and carry no meaning of their own here.

Sound-only characters

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

印 pairs 爪 (hand) with 卩 (kneeling person), showing a hand pressing down on a kneeling person.

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

𥫗Written in full as竹zhúbamboo

Sound part声符shēngfú

弟

Same sound today

第 shows 𥫗, the bamboo strips once used for writing and sorting, with 弟 giving the sound.

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

宀女安

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀mián

Sound part声符shēngfú

女

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

In 安, 宀 sits above a seated 女 on a cushion; 宀 is the meaning part, 女 is the sound part, and the character originally meant sitting at ease.

Appears in