不谙 (bù ān) — (literary) to be unfamiliar with, to not be well-versed in

Definition

不谙 (bù ān) is a literary way to say 'not be familiar with' — used in writing about lacking experience in a field or skill, not for people or daily things.

verb
(literary) to be unfamiliar withto not be well-versed in
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，不谙。
    Tā cóng xiǎo zài chéng shì zhǎng dà, wán quán bù ān nóng huó.
    He grew up in the city and is completely unfamiliar with farm work.
  • 不谙。
    Zhè wèi xīn lái de jīng lǐ bù ān dāng dì de fēng sú xí guàn.
    This newly arrived manager is not familiar with the local customs.
  • 不谙。
    bù ān Jīn róng shì chǎng de tóu zī zhě róng yì kuī sǔn.
    Investors who are unfamiliar with the financial market are likely to incur losses.

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.

不bùnot
谙ānbe familiar

不 means not and 谙 means be familiar, so unfamiliar with.

Characters in this word

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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 諳; 谙 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
音
音yīn諳ān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 諳 pairs 言 (speech) with 音 as a sound component; the simplified 谙 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 谙 →

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