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新生 (xīn shēng) — (noun) new student, freshman; (adjective) newborn, newly born; (noun, figurative) new life, rebirth, regeneration

Definition

As a noun, 新生 means 'new student' (a person enrolling in a school) — narrower than 新人 ('newcomer' in any context). As an adjective, it means 'newly born / newborn', used literally for babies/animals or figuratively for rebirth.

noun
new studentfreshman
adjective
newbornnewly born(noun, figurative) new liferebirthregeneration
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 新生。
    Tā shì jīn nián rù xué de xīn shēng.
    He is a new student who enrolled this year.
  • 新生。
    Zhè zhī xīn shēng xiǎo gǒu hěn kě ài.
    This newborn puppy is very cute.
  • ，新生。
    Dì zhèn hòu, zhè zuò chéng shì kāi shǐ le xīn shēng.
    After the earthquake, this city started a new life.

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.

新xīnnew
生shēnglife

新 and 生 combine to mean newly born, or a new life.

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.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
斤斤jīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
辛
辛xīn新xīn
Same sound today

The shape originally paired 斤, for chopping wood, with 辛 for sound. It was borrowed for its sound to write 新, so the chopping-wood parts are unrelated to 'new'.

Open 新 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Life Stages & AgeSchool & Education

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