亲临 (qīn lín) — to attend in person; to be present personally (at an event or scene)

Definition

A formal verb meaning to attend or show up in person, used for VIPs (officials, leaders) at events or sites. More written and elevated than 到场, and emphasizes the personal presence of someone important rather than just showing up.

verb
to attend in personto be present personally (at an event or scene)

Examples

  • 亲临。
    Zhǔ xí qīn lín le kāi mù shì bìng fā biǎo le jiǎng huà.
    The chairman attended the opening ceremony in person and delivered a speech.
  • 亲临。
    Zhè cì huó dòng jiāng yóu shì zhǎng qīn lín zhǐ dǎo.
    This event will be personally guided by the mayor.
  • 亲临，。
    Tā qīn lín xiàn chǎng, wèi wèn shòu zāi qún zhòng.
    He visited the scene in person to console the disaster victims.

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.

亲qīnpersonally
临línarrive/be present

'亲' (personally) and '临' (arrive/be present) mean to attend in person.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 親; 亲 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
見見jiànsee
Sound part声符shēngfú
辛
辛xīn親qīn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 親 uses 見 (see) for sense and 辛 (a chisel) for sound; the simplified 亲 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 亲 →

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.

Open 临 →

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