一万六千 (yí wàn liù qiān) — (numeral) sixteen thousand

Definition

Reads as 'one ten-thousand six thousand' (yī wàn liù qiān) = 16,000. The pinyin shown is informal; the number is spoken digit-by-digit (yī-líng-liù-líng-líng-líng) when reciting a phone or ID number.

numeral
sixteen thousand

Examples

  • 一万六千。
    Tā gōng zuò le yí wàn liù qiān gè xiǎo shí.
    He worked 16,000 hours.
  • 一万六千。
    Zhè zuò qiáo huā le yí wàn liù qiān yuán xiū jiàn.
    This bridge cost 16,000 yuan to build.
  • 一万六千。
    Gōng yuán lǐ yǒu yí wàn liù qiān kē shù.
    There are 16,000 trees in the park.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

一万ten thousand
一yīone万wànten thousand
偏正Modifier + head
六千six thousand
六liùsix千qiānthousand
偏正Modifier + head

It adds 一万 ten thousand to 六千 six thousand, giving sixteen thousand.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

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

The shape of 六 may come from a simple drawing of a shed, or from an ancient counting mark.

Open 六 →

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
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →

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