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华人 (Huá rén) — ethnic Chinese person (especially overseas Chinese)

Definition

华人 means ethnic Chinese people anywhere in the world, and is the general term for overseas Chinese. 华裔 specifically means an ethnic Chinese person who is a citizen of another country.

noun
ethnic Chinese person (especially overseas Chinese)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 华人。
    Hěn duō Huá rén zài guó wài yī rán bǎo liú zhe guò chūn jié de chuán tǒng.
    Many ethnic Chinese abroad still keep the tradition of celebrating Spring Festival.
  • 华人，。
    Tā suī rán shì Huá rén, dàn cóng xiǎo zài fǎ guó zhǎng dà.
    Although she is ethnically Chinese, she grew up in France.
  • 华人。
    Zhè ge chéng shì de Huá rén shè qū fēi cháng huó yuè.
    The ethnic Chinese community in this city is very active.

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.

华huáChinese
人rénperson

The 'Chinese' sense of 华 and the 'person' sense of 人 combine to mean an ethnic Chinese person.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 華; 华 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 華 showed flowers on a plant, with stalk and leaves below. The simplified 华 is a later shorthand and not the original picture.

Open 华 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Ethnic Groups & Nationalities

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