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更年期 (gēng nián qī) — menopause

Definition

noun
menopause

Examples

  • 更年期。
    Hěn duō nǚ xìng zài gēng nián qī qī jiān huì gǎn dào shēn tǐ bú shì.
    Many women feel physical discomfort during menopause.
  • 更年期。
    gēng nián qī Shì nǚ xìng shēng mìng zhōu qī zhōng de yí gè zì rán jiē duàn.
    Menopause is a natural stage in a woman's life cycle.
  • 更年期。
    Yī shēng jiàn yì tā zhù yì yǐn shí hé yùn dòng lái huǎn jiě gēng nián qī de zhèng zhuàng.
    The doctor recommended she pay attention to diet and exercise to relieve the symptoms of menopause.

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.

更年change of years
更gèngchange年niányears
动宾Verb + object
期qīperiod

更 means change, 年 means years, and 期 means period; together they name the period of bodily change.

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
攴攴pūhand holding a whip; action
Sound part声符shēngfú
𰀒
𰀒𰀒更gēng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form showed two chariots, 𰀒; 攴, a hand holding a whip, was added to show action, and one chariot part was dropped. The remaining part changed into the shape seen in 更.

Open 更 →

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.

Open 年 →

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
日日rì
Sound part声符shēngfú
其
其qí期qī
Same sound today

The original form paired 其 for its sound with 日 (sun). A related form changed that sun to 月, and this later developed into 期.

Open 期 →
Appears in
Life Stages & Age

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