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流连 (liú lián) — to linger (somewhere out of enjoyment or reluctance to leave)

Definition

流连 (liú lián) means to linger or stay on somewhere because you enjoy it or can't bear to leave — stronger than just 'staying'. Almost always appears in the set phrase 流连忘返 ('linger and forget to return').

verb
to linger (somewhere out of enjoyment or reluctance to leave)

Examples

  • 流连，。
    Zài xī hú biān liú lián le yì zhěng tiān, shě bu de lí kāi.
    I lingered by West Lake for a whole day and couldn't bear to leave.
  • 流连，。
    Tā liú lián zài shū diàn lǐ, yì běn yi běn dì fān kàn zhe.
    He lingered in the bookstore, flipping through books one by one.
  • 流连。
    Yóu kè men liú lián zài gǔ zhèn de xiàng nòng zhī jiān.
    The tourists lingered in the alleys of the ancient town.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

流liú
连lián

The characters 流 and 连 do not carry separate meanings here; together they name lingering.

Sound-only characters

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㐬
㐬㐬流liú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

流 has 水, water, and 㐬, which gives the sound. The water part matches meanings such as flow.

Open 流 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 連; 连 is its simplified writing.

  • 辶辵chuòto walk
  • 車車jūchariot

The traditional form 連 joins 辶 (walk) and 車 (chariot) to show a man-drawn carriage; this note is about 連, not the simplified 连.

Open 连 →
Appears in
Travel & Tourism

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