难懂 (nán dǒng) — difficult to understand; hard to comprehend

Definition

adjective

difficult to understandhard to comprehend

难懂，。
Zhè piān wén zhāng tài nán dǒng le, wǒ kàn le sān biàn cái míng bai.
This article is too hard to understand; I read it three times before I got it.
难懂，。
Tā de fāng yán hěn nán dǒng, wǒ yí jù dōu tīng bù dǒng.
His dialect is very hard to understand; I can't understand a single word.
难懂。
Zhè běn zhuān yè shū de nèi róng duì chū xué zhě lái shuō què shí nán dǒng.
The content of this professional book is indeed difficult for beginners to understand.

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nándifficult

懂dǒngunderstand

难 means difficult, and 懂 means understand, so the idea is hard to comprehend.

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.

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

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

董

Same sound today

懂 is built from 心, the heart, and 董, which gives the sound.