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犹太 (Yóu tài) — Jewish (as a prefix in compounds like 犹太人); Judaism (as a prefix in compounds like 犹太教)

Definition

A combining form meaning 'Jewish' / 'Judaic', used only as a prefix in compounds like 犹太人 (Jew), 犹太教 (Judaism), 犹太文化 (Jewish culture). It does not stand alone as a noun — always pair it with a second character.

noun
Jewish (as a prefix in compounds like 犹太人)Judaism (as a prefix in compounds like 犹太教)

Examples

  • 。
    Tā shì yí wèi Yóu tài rén.
    He is a Jewish person.
  • 。
    Tā xìn yǎng Yóu tài jiào.
    She practices Judaism.
  • 犹太。
    Wǒ duì Yóu tài wén huà hěn gǎn xìng qù.
    I am very interested in Jewish culture.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

犹yóu
太tài

The characters carry no meaning of their own here; 犹太 spells the foreign name for the Jewish people.

Sound-only characters

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 →
Appears in
Ethnic Groups & NationalitiesReligion & Belief5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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