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友谊 (yǒu yì) — friendship

Definition

友谊 refers to friendship as a noble, lasting bond between people — more formal and elevated than the everyday 朋友, and more abstract than 友情 (which leans personal/warm).

noun
friendship
Easily confused

Examples

  • 友谊。
    Wǒ men de yǒu yì hěn hǎo.
    Our friendship is very good.
  • 友谊。
    Zhēn zhèng de yǒu yì hěn zhòng yào.
    True friendship is very important.
  • 友谊。
    yǒu yì Néng gěi wǒ men dài lái kuài lè.
    Friendship can bring us happiness.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

友yǒufriend
谊yìfriendship

友 and 谊 both point to friendship, so together they name companionship.

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.

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

Open 友 →

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 誼; 谊 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
宜
宜yí誼yì
Same sound today

The traditional form 誼 pairs 言, the speech part, with 宜 as a sound part; the simplified 谊 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 4Friends & Social5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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