蓝领工人 (lán lǐng gōng rén) — blue-collar worker(s)

Definition

A compound for 'blue-collar worker(s)' — manual, physical labor (factory work, construction) rather than office work.

noun
blue-collar worker(s)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 蓝领工人。
    Hěn duō gōng chǎng dōu xū yào lán lǐng gōng rén lái wán chéng tǐ lì láo dòng.
    Many factories need blue-collar workers to do physical labor.
  • 蓝领工人，。
    lán lǐng gōng rén De gōng zuò suī rán xīn kǔ, dàn shōu rù bú cuò.
    Although blue-collar workers' work is hard, the income is good.
  • ，蓝领工人。
    Suí zhe zì dòng huà de fā zhǎn, lán lǐng gōng rén de shù liàng yǒu suǒ jiǎn shǎo.
    With the development of automation, the number of blue-collar workers has decreased.

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.

蓝领blue collar
蓝lánblue领lǐngcollar
偏正Modifier + head
工人worker
工gōngwork人rénperson
偏正Modifier + head

蓝领 means blue-collar and 工人 means worker; together they name workers in manual jobs.

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 藍; 蓝 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艸艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
監
監jiān藍lán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 蓝, the traditional form 藍 has 艸, grass, above 監, which gives the sound.

Open 蓝 →

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 領; 领 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yè
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng領lǐng
Same sound today

The traditional form 領 has 令 as a sound part and 頁 as a meaning part; the simplified 领 is a later shorthand.

Open 领 →

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

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.

Open 人 →

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