过路人 (guò lù rén) — passerby, someone passing by on the street | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A compound noun for 'passerby' — a person passing through a place, not part of the scene. More literary and specific than the everyday colloquial term 路人 (lùrén).

noun

passerbysomeone passing by on the street

Measure word · 个

Examples

过路人。
Yí gè guò lù rén gào sù wǒ qián miàn yǒu jiā bú cuò de cān tīng.
A passerby told me there's a good restaurant ahead.
过路人，。
Tā zhǐ shì gè guò lù rén, bìng bú rèn shi zhè lǐ de rén.
He's just a passerby and doesn't know anyone here.
过路人，。
Jiē shàng guò lù rén hěn duō, dàn méi yǒu rén tíng xià lái bāng máng.
There were many passersby on the street, but no one stopped to help.

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.

过路pass along a road

过guòpass路lùroad

动宾Verb + object

过路 means passing along a 路, and 人 is a person.

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 過; 过 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辵辵chuòwalk

Sound part声符shēngfú

咼

咼wāi過guò

Same sound today

The traditional form 過 pairs 辵 (walk) with 咼 as a sound component; the simplified 过 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

各

各gè路lù

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

路 combines 足, a foot, with 各, which supplies the sound.

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.

Appears in

People (General)

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