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高个儿 (gāo gè r) — a tall person, someone of tall stature (colloquial)

Definition

Casual, everyday word for 'a tall person' (literally 'tall one'). The 儿 suffix is colloquial; for writing or formal speech, swap to the measure-word form 高个子.

noun
a tall personsomeone of tall stature (colloquial)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 高个儿。
    Wǒ men bān yǒu liǎng gè gāo gè r.
    There are two tall people in our class.
  • ，高个儿。
    Tā cháng dé zhēn gāo, shì gè dà gāo gè r.
    He's really tall — he's a big tall guy.
  • 高个儿，。
    Nà ge gāo gè r zhàn zài hòu miàn, wǒ kàn bú jiàn.
    That tall person is standing in the back; I can't see.

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.

高gāotall
个儿build; stature
个gèindividual; unit儿érer
后缀Suffix

高 describes tallness, while 个儿 denotes build or stature; together they refer to a person of tall build.

Characters in this word

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

高 was drawn as a tall building.

Open 高 →

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 個; 个 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
固
固gù個ge
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 个, the form 個 pairs 亻 (person) with 固 as a sound part.

Open 个 →

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

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Open 儿 →
Appears in
AppearancePeople (General)

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