山顶洞人 (shān dǐng dòng rén) — (archaeology) Upper Cave Man

Definition

Proper noun for Upper Cave Man, an archaic Homo sapiens subspecies whose fossils were found at Zhoukoudian and used as evidence for early human evolution in China. Often used loosely as a jocular insult meaning 'caveman' (see example 2).

noun
(archaeology) Upper Cave Man

Examples

  • 山顶洞人。
    shān dǐng dòng rén De fā xiàn duì yán jiū rén lèi jìn huà fēi cháng zhòng yào.
    The discovery of Upper Cave Man is very important for the study of human evolution.
  • ，山顶洞人。
    Tā lián shǒu jī dōu bú huì yòng, jiǎn zhí xiàng gè shān dǐng dòng rén.
    He doesn't even know how to use a mobile phone — he's practically a caveman.
  • 山顶洞人。
    Bó wù guǎn lǐ zhǎn chū le shān dǐng dòng rén de fù yuán mó xíng.
    The museum exhibited a reconstruction model of Upper Cave Man.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

山 shows three mountain peaks side by side.

Open 山 →

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 頂; 顶 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng頂dǐng
Same sound today

The traditional form 頂 pairs 頁, meaning head, with 丁, which supplies the sound; the simplified 顶 is a later abbreviation.

Open 顶 →

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
同
同tóng洞dòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

洞 combines 水 (water) with 同, which gives the sound tóng.

Open 洞 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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