青少年 (qīng shào nián) — adolescents, youth, young people

Definition

noun

adolescentsyouthyoung people

Measure word · 个

青少年。
qīng shào nián Shí qī shì yí gè rén chéng zhǎng de zhòng yào jiē duàn.
The adolescent period is an important stage of growth.
青少年。
Zhè ge jié mù zhǔ yào miàn xiàng qīng shào nián guān zhòng.
This program mainly targets young audiences.
青少年。
qīng shào nián Yīng gāi duō cān jiā hù wài huó dòng.
Young people should participate in more outdoor activities.

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.

青少young

联合Coordinate

青 and 少 both mean young, and together they describe 年, giving the sense of people at a young age.

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.

An early form of 青 combined 生 and 井, both used for sound; the modern form has changed.

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

The form 少 is drawn as four dots, perhaps three grains of sand, to indicate a few or a little.

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

禾禾héwheat; grain

Sound part声符shēngfú

人

人rén年nián

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

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

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