德国人 (Dé guó rén) — German (person or people)

Definition

noun

German (person or people)

Measure word · 个

德国人，。
Zhè wèi Dé guó rén shì wǒ de tóng shì, tā zài běi jīng gōng zuò.
This German is my colleague; he works in Beijing.
德国人。
Hěn duō Dé guó rén xǐ huan hē pí jiǔ hé chī xiāng cháng.
Many Germans like to drink beer and eat sausages.
德国人，。
Wǒ rèn shi yí gè Dé guó rén, tā huì shuō liú lì de zhōng wén.
I know a German; she speaks fluent Chinese.

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.

德国Germany

偏正Modifier + head

德 indicates Germany, 国 means country, and 人 means person, yielding a person from Germany.

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

彳彳chìroad

Sound part声符shēngfú

惪

惪dé德dé

Same sound today

德 combines 彳, a road, with 惪, a component meaning virtue that also supplies the sound.

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

囗或國

Meaning part形符xíngfú

囗囗wéiclosure

Sound part声符shēngfú

或

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.