留学生 (liú xué shēng) — international student; student studying abroad

Definition

noun

international studentstudent studying abroad

Measure word · 个, 位

留学生。
Tā shì cóng rì běn lái de liú xué shēng.
He is an international student from Japan.
留学生。
Wǒ men xué xiào yǒu wǔ shí gè liú xué shēng.
Our school has fifty international students.
留学生。
liú xué shēng Měi tiān xué xí hàn yǔ.
International students study Chinese every day.

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.

留学study abroad

动宾Verb + object

留学生 combines 留学 (study abroad) and 生 (person), referring to a person who studies abroad.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

卯

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

留 combines 田 (field) with 卯, which gives the sound.

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 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

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.

Appears in