年份 (nián fen) — particular year; year (as a specific point in t…

Definition

年份 refers to a specific calendar year (e.g. a vintage, birth year, or year of an event), not a span of years (those are 年).

noun

particular yearyear (as a specific point in time, often used for dates, vintages, or years in history)

年份。
Zhè ge nián fen de pú tao jiǔ wèi dào hěn hǎo.
This year's wine tastes very good.
？
Nǐ jì de nà nián fen fā shēng le shén me shì ma?
Do you remember what happened that year?
年份。
Qǐng tián xiě nǐ de chū shēng nián fen.
Please fill in your year of birth.

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

年 (year) plus 份 names a particular year or date.

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

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

亻分份

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

分

分fēn份fèn(r)

Same sound today

份 is built from 亻, the person form written in full as 人, and 分, which gives the sound.

Appears in