前院 (qián yuàn) — front courtyard | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

front courtyard

Measure word · 个

Examples

前院。
Wǒ men jiā de qián yuàn lǐ zhǒng le hěn duō huā.
Our family's front courtyard has many flowers planted in it.
前院。
Tā měi tiān zǎo chén zài qián yuàn sàn bù.
He takes a walk in the front courtyard every morning.
前院，。
Zhè shì yí gè hěn dà de qián yuàn, kě yǐ fàng hěn duō zhuō zi.
This is a large front courtyard where you can put many tables.

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.

院yuàncourtyard

前 means front and 院 means courtyard, so together they name the front courtyard.

Characters in this word

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

止止zhǐfoot
舟舟zhōuboat

In the older form of 前, 止 (foot) and 舟 (boat) showed a foot on a boat moving forward; in the current 前 those parts are shortened.

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

阝完院

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阝Written in full as阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

完

完wán院yuàn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

院 is built from 阝, written in full as 阜, and 完, which gives the sound.

Appears in

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