成年人 (chéng nián rén) — adult | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

adult

Measure word · 个

成年人。
Tā yǐ jīng shì gè chéng nián rén le.
He is already an adult.
成年人。
chéng nián rén Yào duì zì jǐ de xíng wéi fù zé.
Adults must be responsible for their own behavior.
成年人。
Zhè ge yóu lè yuán zhī duì chéng nián rén kāi fàng.
This amusement park is open to adults only.

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.

成年come of age

成chéngbecome/reach年niánage/years

动宾Verb + object

成年 means having reached full age, and 人 gives the sense of a person.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

丁dīng成chéng

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

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

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.

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.

Appears in