居民楼 (jū mín lóu) — apartment building; residential tower

Definition

noun
apartment buildingresidential tower
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 居民楼。
    Zhè dòng jū mín lóu yǒu èr shí céng.
    This apartment building has twenty floors.
  • 居民楼。
    Nà dòng jū mín lóu zài chāo shì páng biān.
    That residential building is next to the supermarket.
  • 居民楼。
    Wǒ zhù zài zhè dòng jū mín lóu lǐ yǐ jīng sān nián le.
    I have lived in this apartment building for three years.

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.

居民residents
居jūdwell民mínpeople
偏正Modifier + head
楼lóubuilding

居民 means residents, and 楼 is a building; together they describe a residential tower.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ居jū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

居 is built from 尸 as the meaning part and 古 (gǔ) as the sound part.

Open 居 →

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

The early form of 民 shows an eye pierced by a sharp cross-shaped implement, possibly linked to an injured or unclear eye.

Open 民 →

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 樓; 楼 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
婁
婁lóu樓lóu
Same sound today

The traditional form 樓 pairs 木 (tree) with 婁 as its sound part; the simplified 楼 is a later shorthand.

Open 楼 →

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