生趣 (shēng qù) — joy of life; zest for life

Definition

noun
joy of lifezest for life

Examples

  • 生趣。
    Tā chōng mǎn le shēng qù.
    He is full of the joy of life.
  • 生趣。
    Zhè zhǒng shēng qù ràng rén gǎn dào wēn nuǎn.
    This kind of zest for life makes people feel warm.
  • 生趣。
    Tuì xiū hòu tā zhǎo dào le xīn de shēng qù.
    After retirement, he found a new joy of 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.

生shēnglife
趣qùinterest

生 gives life, 趣 gives interest, together joy of life.

Characters in this word

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 →

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
走走zǒuwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
取
取qǔ趣qù
Same sound today

趣 has 走, showing walking or hurrying, and 取, which gives the sound; the shape points to moving toward something.

Open 趣 →

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