亲友 (qīn yǒu) — relatives and friends, friends and family

Definition

noun
relatives and friendsfriends and family

Examples

  • 亲友。
    Tā yāo qǐng le suǒ yǒu qīn yǒu lái cān jiā hūn lǐ.
    He invited all his friends and family to attend the wedding.
  • ，。
    Guò nián shí, wǒ hé qīn yǒu yì qǐ chī fàn liáo tiān.
    During the New Year, I eat and chat with my relatives and friends.
  • ，亲友。
    Zhè cì lǚ xíng, wǒ dǎ suàn dài shàng qīn yǒu yì qǐ qù.
    For this trip, I plan to bring along my friends and family.

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.

亲qīnrelatives
友yǒufriends

The 亲 'relatives' and 友 'friends' combine to mean family and friends.

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 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

友 is drawn as two 又, the hand form, side by side. The old explanation says two hands together mean friendship.

Open 友 →
Appears in
Friends & SocialFamily & Kinship

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