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英 (yīng) — (bound form) hero; outstanding talent; (bound form) England; Great Britain; British; English

Definition

英 is a bound form that does not stand alone — it must pair with another character to form a word. The most common pairings are 英雄 (hero), 英国 (England/Britain), and 英语 (English).

bound form
herooutstanding talentEnglandGreat BritainBritishEnglish

Examples

  • 。
    Tā shì yí wèi wěi dà de yīng xióng.
    He is a great hero.
  • 。
    Tā zài yīng guó zhù le wǔ nián.
    She lived in England for five years.
  • 。
    Wǒ zhèng zài xué xí yīng yǔ hé yīng wén.
    I am currently studying English (spoken) and English (written).

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
央
央yāng英yīng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

英 pairs 艹 (grass) with 央, which gives the sound.

Appears in
5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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