四千万 (sì qiān mò) — 40 million

Definition

numeral
40 million
Easily confused

Examples

  • 四千万。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù xū yào tóu zī sì qiān mò yuán.
    This project needs an investment of 40 million yuan.
  • 四千万。
    Zhōng guó rén kǒu chāo guò le sì qiān mò.
    China's population has exceeded 40 million.
  • 四千万。
    Tā zhōng cǎi piào yíng le sì qiān mò jiǎng jīn.
    He won a prize of 40 million in the lottery.

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.

四千four thousand
四sìfour千qiānthousand
偏正Modifier + head
万wànten-thousand

四 four and 千 thousand make 四千, and 万 ten-thousand gives 四千万 as four thousand ten-thousands.

Characters in this word

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

The form 四 was drawn as a nose breathing out. It later came to be used for the word four.

Open 四 →

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
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

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