健步 (jiàn bù) — vigorous strides; healthy walking pace

Definition

noun
vigorous strideshealthy walking pace

Examples

  • 健步。
    Tā mài zhe jiàn bù xiàng qián zǒu qù.
    He walked forward with vigorous strides.
  • ，健步。
    Lǎo rén suī rán nián jì dà le, dàn jiàn bù yī rán wěn jiàn.
    Although old, his vigorous strides are still steady.
  • 健步。
    Yùn dòng yuán de jiàn bù ràng rén yìn xiàng shēn kè.
    The athlete's vigorous strides are impressive.

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.

健jiànhealthy
步bùstep

健 means strong or healthy and 步 means step, so the word describes vigorous strides.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
建
建jiàn健jiàn
Same sound today

The left part 亻 depicts a person, and the right part 建 gives the sound.

Open 健 →

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

步 uses two 止 (foot) forms, one reversed, to show one foot stepping in front of the other.

Open 步 →

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