人愿 (rén yuàn) — people's wishes, human desires

Definition

人愿 refers to the collective wishes or desires of people. In writing it often pairs with verbs like 实现 or 满足, e.g. 实现人民的人愿 (fulfill the people's wishes).

noun
people's wisheshuman desires

Examples

  • 人愿，。
    Tiān bú suì rén yuàn, wǒ men zhǐ néng jiē shòu xiàn shí.
    Heaven does not fulfill people's wishes; we can only accept reality.
  • 人愿。
    Dà jiā gòng tóng de rén yuàn shì xī wàng shì jiè hé píng.
    Everyone's common wish is for world peace.
  • 人愿。
    Zhèng fǔ nǔ lì shí xiàn guǎng dà rén mín de rén yuàn.
    The government strives to realize the wishes of the broad masses.

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rénpeople
愿yuànwish

人 (people) limits 愿 (wishes) to human desires.

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
原
原yuán愿yuàn
Same sound today

愿 places 心 (heart) below 原, which supplies the sound yuán; the 心 part marks the sense of heart or feeling.

Open 愿 →

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