年假 (nián jiǎ) — annual leave; New Year holidays

Definition

Two senses: paid time off from work ('annual leave', e.g. 休年假) and the New Year/Spring Festival holiday period. Context — work schedule vs. the calendar — disambiguates which one is meant.

noun
annual leaveNew Year holidays

Examples

  • 。
    Wǒ jīn nián hái yǒu wǔ tiān nián jiǎ méi yǒu xiū wán.
    I still have five days of annual leave left this year.
  • 。
    Chūn jié qī jiān gōng sī fàng qī tiān nián jiǎ.
    The company gives seven days off for the Spring Festival holiday.
  • 年假。
    Qǐng bǎ jīn nián de nián jiǎ ān pái dào míng nián xiū.
    Please schedule this year's annual leave for next year.

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.

年niányear
假jiǎholiday

年 gives the year, and 假 gives holiday, together meaning annual leave or New Year break.

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.

Open 年 →

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
叚
叚jiǎ假jiǎ
Same sound today

假 pairs 亻 (person) with 叚, which gives the sound jiǎ.

Open 假 →

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