嘉年华 (jiā nián huá) — carnival | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

carnival

Measure word · 个

嘉年华。
Měi nián xià tiān zhè lǐ dōu huì jǔ bàn yí cì dà xíng jiā nián huá.
A large carnival is held here every summer.
嘉年华。
Hái zi men zài jiā nián huá shàng wán dé hěn kāi xīn.
The children had a great time at the carnival.
嘉年华。
Zhè ge jiā nián huá yǒu gè zhǒng yóu xì hé xiǎo chī.
This carnival has all kinds of games and snacks.

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.

壴加嘉

Meaning part形符xíngfú

壴壴zhù

Sound part声符shēngfú

加

Same sound today

嘉 is built from 壴, the part tied to its sense, and 加, the part tied to its sound.

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

禾禾héwheat; grain

Sound part声符shēngfú

人

人rén年nián

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

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 華; 华 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 華 showed flowers on a plant, with stalk and leaves below. The simplified 华 is a later shorthand and not the original picture.

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