难友 (nàn yǒu) — fellow sufferer (fellow prisoner or comrade in adversity)

Definition

难友 (nànyǒu) means 'comrade in adversity' — people who share hardship or imprisonment together, bonded by a common difficult experience rather than choice.

noun
fellow sufferer (fellow prisoner or comrade in adversity)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 难友。
    Tā zài jiān yù lǐ rèn shi le hěn duō nàn yǒu.
    He met many fellow prisoners in jail.
  • 难友。
    Zhè xiē nàn yǒu yì qǐ áo guò le zuì kùn nan de rì zi.
    These fellow sufferers endured the hardest days together.
  • 难友。
    Tā hé tā de yí wèi nàn yǒu zhì jīn hái bǎo chí lián xì.
    She still keeps in touch with a fellow sufferer.

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.

难nánhardship
友yǒufriend

难 points to hardship, and 友 to a companion, forming a fellow sufferer.

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 難; 难 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuībird
Sound part声符shēngfú
暵
暵hàn難nán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional 難 pairs 隹, a bird, with 暵 for sound, and meant a type of bird. It was later borrowed for other meanings; the modern 难 is a shorthand.

Open 难 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

友 is drawn as two 又, the hand form, side by side. The old explanation says two hands together mean friendship.

Open 友 →

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