临时工 (lín shí gōng) — temporary worker

Definition

noun

temporary worker

Measure word · 个

临时工。
Tā zài zhè jiā gōng sī zuò lín shí gōng.
He works as a temporary worker at this company.
临时工。
Gōng sī zuì jìn zhāo le hěn duō lín shí gōng.
The company recently hired many temporary workers.
临时工。
lín shí gōng De gōng zī bǐ zhèng shì yuán gōng dī.
Temporary workers' salaries are lower than regular employees'.

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.

临时temporary

偏正Modifier + head

'临时' means temporary and '工' means worker, together naming a temporary worker.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臨; 临 is its simplified writing.

For the traditional form 臨, 人 is a person, 臣 is an eye, and 品 is objects, showing a person looking down at objects.

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 時; 时 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

日日rìsun; day

Sound part声符shēngfú

之

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 時 pairs 日 (sun/day) with 之 as the part that gives the sound; the simplified 时 is not the form described.

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Appears in