年间 (nián jiān) — during the years of (a specific period, e.g., a reign or era)

Definition

年间 marks a span of years tied to a named period (a reign, war, or era) — the noun before it is REQUIRED, never used alone. Functions as an adverbial.

adverb
during the years of (a specific period, e.g., a reign or era)

Examples

  • 年间，。
    Qián lóng nián jiān, zhōng guó de jīng jì hé wén huà dōu dá dào le gāo fēng.
    During the Qianlong reign, China's economy and culture both reached a peak.
  • 年间，。
    Zhàn zhēng nián jiān, xǔ duō jiā tíng bèi pò lí kāi jiā xiāng.
    During the war years, many families were forced to leave their hometowns.
  • 年间，。
    Wén gé nián jiān, jiào yù xì tǒng shòu dào le yán zhòng pò huài.
    During the Cultural Revolution years, the education system suffered severe damage.

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
间jiāninterval

年间 combines 年 'year' and 间 'interval' to mean the period of some years.

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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 间 →

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