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犹太人 (Yóu tài rén) — Jew; Jewish person

Definition

noun
JewJewish person
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 犹太人。
    Tā shì yí gè Yóu tài rén.
    He is a Jew.
  • 犹太人。
    Zhè wèi Yóu tài rén zuò jiā xiě le yì běn hěn shòu huān yíng de xiǎo shuō.
    This Jewish writer wrote a very popular novel.
  • ，犹太人。
    Lì shǐ shàng, xǔ duō Yóu tài rén bèi pò lí kāi zì jǐ de jiā yuán.
    Historically, many Jews were forced to leave their homeland.

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.

犹太Jewish
犹yóu太tài
人rénperson

The word combines 犹太, the name of the Jewish people, with 人, person, to mean a Jewish 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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 猶; 犹 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
酋
酋qiú猶yóu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 猶 combines 犬 (dog) with 酋 as a sound part, and the evidence identifies it as a kind of monkey. The simplified 犹 is a shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 犹 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

太 is a modified form of 大, with an extra dot added to show 'too big'.

Open 太 →

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.

Open 人 →
Appears in
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