友邻 (yǒu lín) — friendly neighbor; good neighbor

Definition

Literally 'friendly neighbor' (友 = friend, 邻 = neighbor), but at HSK 7 it is used almost entirely in formal and political contexts to mean 'friendly neighboring country' or 'good-neighborly relations'.

noun
friendly neighborgood neighbor

Examples

  • 友邻。
    Wǒ men hé zhè ge guó jiā jiàn lì le yǒu lín guān xì.
    We have established a friendly neighborly relationship with this country.
  • 友邻，。
    Zuò wéi yǒu lín, wǒ men yīng gāi hù xiāng bāng zhù.
    As friendly neighbors, we should help each other.
  • 友邻。
    Zhè ge shè qū lǐ de yǒu lín guān xì fēi cháng róng qià.
    The friendly neighborly relations in this community are very harmonious.

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.

友yǒufriendly
邻línneighbor

友 means friendly, and 邻 means neighbor; together they refer to a friendly neighboring country or person.

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 鄰; 邻 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
粦
粦lín鄰lín
Same sound today

The traditional form 鄰 pairs 粦 (lín) as the sound part with 阝 (the full form 邑, a settlement) as the meaning part; 邻 is a simplified shorthand.

Open 邻 →

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