怀春 (huái chūn) — (literary) to begin to have romantic or sexual feelings (of a young girl); to be love-struck

Definition

A literary verb meaning a young girl begins to have feelings of love or romantic awakening. It appears mainly in poetry and prose, never in everyday speech.

verb
(literary) to begin to have romantic or sexual feelings (of a young girl)to be love-struck

Examples

  • 怀春，。
    Shào nǚ huái chūn, xīn si biàn de xì nì qǐ lái.
    A young girl begins to feel love, and her thoughts become more delicate.
  • 怀春。
    Zhè shǒu shī miáo xiě le yí wèi huái chūn shào nǚ de xiū sè.
    This poem describes the shyness of a young girl who has begun to feel love.
  • ，。
    Tā huái le chūn, zhěng tiān hún bù shǒu shè.
    She has fallen in love and is distracted all day.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

怀huáiharbour; cherish
春chūnspring; love

怀 is to harbour, and 春 evokes spring and love, giving a love-struck feeling.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 懷; 怀 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
褱
褱huái懷huái
Same sound today

The traditional form 懷 uses 心 (heart) to show longing and 褱 for the sound; the simplified 怀 is a later shorthand.

Open 怀 →

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
艸艸cǎograss
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
屯
屯tún春chūn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

春 combines 艸 (grass) and 日 (sun) with 屯, which supplies the sound and is described as a swollen sprout.

Open 春 →

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