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四千 (sì qiān) — four thousand; 4,000

Definition

numeral
four thousand4,000

Examples

  • 四千。
    Zhè běn shū de yìn shù dà yuē shì sì qiān cè.
    The print run for this book is approximately 4,000 copies.
  • 四千。
    Wǒ men gōng sī mù qián yǒu sì qiān míng yuán gōng.
    Our company currently has 4,000 employees.
  • 四千。
    Tā měi yuè gōng zī shì sì qiān kuài.
    His monthly salary is 4,000 yuan.

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.

四sìfour
千qiānthousand

四 (four) and 千 (thousand) combine to mean 4,000.

Characters in this word

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

The form 四 was drawn as a nose breathing out. It later came to be used for the word four.

Open 四 →

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
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →
Appears in
Numbers & Counting

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