立陶宛人 (Lì táo wǎn rén) — Lithuanian (person)

Definition

noun

Lithuanian (person)

Measure word · 个

立陶宛人，。
Wǒ rèn shi yí wèi Lì táo wǎn rén, tā fēi cháng yǒu hǎo.
I know a Lithuanian; he is very friendly.
立陶宛人。
Zhè xiē Lì táo wǎn rén de yǐn shí xí guàn hé ōu zhōu qí tā guó jiā hěn xiàng.
The eating habits of these Lithuanians are very similar to those of other European countries.
立陶宛人。
Lì táo wǎn rén Hěn wèi zì jǐ de wén huà yí chǎn gǎn dào jiāo ào.
Lithuanians are very proud of their cultural heritage.

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.

立陶宛Lithuania

The name 立陶宛, representing Lithuania, and 人, person, combine to mean a Lithuanian person.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

立 pictures a person standing on the ground.

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

The oldest 陶 paired 阜 (mound of dirt) with 勹 (two people) and 土 (earth), showing digging; the parts below 勹 later changed.

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

宀夗宛

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀mián

Sound part声符shēngfú

夗

夗wǎn宛wǎn

Same sound today

宛 has 宀, a roof/house shape, with 夗 giving the sound; its early meaning was perhaps linked to a house.

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.