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节前 (jié qián) — before a holiday/festival; pre-holiday

Definition

Used as a time noun (often before 的 or in topic position) to mean 'before a holiday/festival.' Read jiēqián — 节 here is the short form of 节日 (festival), not the 'joint/node' 节 (jié).

noun
before a holiday/festivalpre-holiday

Examples

  • 节前。
    jié qián Wǒ men dōu huì mǎi hěn duō lǐ wù.
    Before the holiday, we all buy many gifts.
  • 节前。
    Gōng sī jié qián ān pái le yí cì jù cān.
    The company arranged a dinner before the holiday.
  • 节前。
    jié qián De jiāo tōng zǒng shì hěn yōng jǐ.
    The traffic is always very congested before the holiday.

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.

节jiéholiday
前qiánbefore

节 (holiday) and 前 (before) together mean before a holiday.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 節; 节 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
⺮Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
即
即jí節jié
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 節 pairs ⺮ (bamboo) with 即, which gives the sound; the bamboo part points to a node of bamboo. The simplified 节 is a later abbreviation.

Open 节 →

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

In the older form of 前, 止 (foot) and 舟 (boat) showed a foot on a boat moving forward; in the current 前 those parts are shortened.

Open 前 →
Appears in
Festivals & Holidays

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