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影响力 (yǐng xiǎng lì) — influence, clout, impact

Definition

noun
influencecloutimpact

Examples

  • 影响力。
    Tā de shè huì yǐng xiǎng lì hěn dà.
    His social influence is great.
  • 影响力。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng duì nián qīng rén de yǐng xiǎng lì hěn shēn.
    This movie has a deep influence on young people.
  • 影响力。
    Méi tǐ de yǐng xiǎng lì yuè lái yuè dà.
    The influence of the media is getting bigger and bigger.

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.

影响influence
影yǐngshadow响xiǎngecho/sound
联合Coordinate
力lìpower

影 and 响 suggest shadow and echo, while 力 adds the sense of power to affect.

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
彡彡shān
Sound part声符shēngfú
景
景jǐng影yǐng
Same sound today

影 pairs 景, which gives the sound and also carries the idea of image, with 彡, the part that points to shadow.

Open 影 →

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 響; 响 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
音音yīnsound
Sound part声符shēngfú
鄉
鄉xiāng響xiǎng
Same sound today

The traditional form 響 pairs 音, meaning sound, with 鄉 to give its pronunciation. The simplified 响 is a later shorthand, so its visible parts are not the historical parts.

Open 响 →

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

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.

Open 力 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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