TongTong
Sign in

文盲 (wén máng) — illiteracy; an illiterate person

Definition

Literally 'character-blind': a person who cannot read or write, or the condition of illiteracy itself. In modern usage the abstract sense ('illiteracy') is far more common than the person sense.

noun
illiteracyan illiterate person
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，文盲。
    Tā xiǎo shí hou jiā lǐ qióng, chéng le wén máng.
    He was poor as a child and became illiterate.
  • 文盲。
    Zhèng fǔ zhèng zài nǔ lì xiāo chú wén máng xiàn xiàng.
    The government is working hard to eliminate illiteracy.
  • 文盲。
    Guò qù nóng cūn de wén máng lǜ hěn gāo.
    The illiteracy rate in rural areas used to be very high.

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.

文wénwriting
盲mángblind

文盲 describes someone 盲, blind, to 文, writing, so unable to read.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The current form 文 shows a man with head, arms, legs, and chest; the tattoo marks on the chest are no longer drawn.

Open 文 →

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
目目mùeye
Sound part声符shēngfú
亡
亡wáng盲máng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

盲 is made from 目, meaning “eye”, plus 亡, which gives the sound. The eye part relates to the meaning of blindness.

Open 盲 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9School & Education

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.