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幼年 (yòu nián) — childhood (early years); infancy

Definition

noun
childhood (early years)infancy

Examples

  • 幼年。
    Wǒ de yòu nián shēng huó hěn xìng fú.
    My childhood life was very happy.
  • 幼年。
    yòu nián De jīng lì duì xìng gé yǒu hěn dà yǐng xiǎng.
    Experiences in early childhood have a big impact on personality.
  • 幼年。
    Tā yòu nián shí qī jiù biǎo xiàn chū le yīn yuè tiān fù.
    He showed musical talent in his early childhood.

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.

幼yòuyoung
年niányears

幼 (young) with 年 (years) denotes the early years of life.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

幼 is built from 幺, shown as tiny, and 力, shown as strength. 幺 may also contribute the sound.

Open 幼 →

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 →
Appears in
Life Stages & Age

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