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人影 (rén yǐng) — human shadow or figure; sign of human presence (often used in negative sentences: 人影都没有 'not a soul')

Definition

Literally 'person-shadow': a silhouette or outline of a person, or any sign someone was/is there. Most often heard in the set phrase 一个人影都没有 ('not a soul around').

noun
human shadow or figuresign of human presence (often used in negative sentences: 人影都没有 'not a soul')

Examples

  • 。
    Qiáng shàng yǒu yí gè rén yǐng.
    There is a human shadow on the wall.
  • 。
    Jiē shàng yí gè rén yǐng dōu méi yǒu.
    There isn't a single person on the street.
  • ，。
    Tā kàn jiàn le yí gè rén yǐng, dàn kàn bù qīng shì shuí.
    He saw a human figure, but couldn't tell who it was.

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.

人rénperson
影yǐngshadow

人 means person and 影 means shadow, together a human shadow or figure.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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
彡彡shān
Sound part声符shēngfú
景
景jǐng影yǐng
Same sound today

影 pairs 景, which gives the sound and also carries the idea of image, with 彡, the part that points to shadow.

Open 影 →
Appears in
People (General)

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