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女作家 (nǚ zuò jiā) — woman writer

Definition

noun
woman writer
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 女作家。
    Tā shì yí wèi zhù míng de nǚ zuò jiā.
    She is a famous female writer.
  • 女作家。
    Zhè běn xiǎo shuō shì nà wèi nǚ zuò jiā xiě de.
    This novel was written by that female writer.
  • 女作家。
    Hěn duō nián qīng de nǚ zuò jiā dōu xiàng tā xué xí.
    Many young female writers learn from her.

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.

女nǚwoman
作家writer
作zuòwrite家jiāperson
后缀Suffix

女 (woman) specifies the kind of 作家 (writer).

Characters in this word

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

女 shows a woman with folded arms, kneeling or standing. In the modern form the figure faces right, and the small enclosed part is what is left of one arm.

Open 女 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →
Appears in
Literature & PoetryProfessions & Jobs

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