老汉 (lǎo hàn) — old man; (self-reference, used by an elderly man) I, this old man

Definition

老汉 is an old-fashioned, affectionate or self-deprecating term for an elderly man. When an older man uses it to refer to himself (e.g. 老汉今年八十多了), it shifts to mean 'I, this old man'.

noun
old man(self-reference, used by an elderly man) Ithis old man
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 老汉。
    lǎo hàn Zài gōng yuán lǐ sàn bù.
    The old man is walking in the park.
  • 老汉，。
    lǎo hàn Jīn nián bā shí duō le, shēn tǐ hái xíng.
    I'm over eighty this year, still in decent health.
  • 老汉。
    Cūn lǐ nà wèi lǎo hàn shì gè lǎo zhōng yī.
    That old man in the village is an old-school Chinese doctor.

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.

老lǎoold
汉hànman

老 describes 汉 as an old man, also used by an elderly man for himself.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 汉 →

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