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国人 (guó rén) — fellow countrymen; compatriots (formal/literary)

Definition

国人 is a formal/written word for 'compatriots' — the people of a nation, especially contrasted with foreigners. Use it in news and official writing rather than everyday speech, where 中国人 is more common.

noun
fellow countrymencompatriots (formal/literary)

Examples

  • 国人。
    Suǒ yǒu guó rén dōu yīng gāi wèi guó jiā fā zhǎn gòng xiàn lì liàng.
    All compatriots should contribute to the nation's development.
  • 国人。
    Hǎi wài guó rén shí kè xīn xì zǔ guó.
    Overseas compatriots always care about the motherland.
  • 国人。
    Hǎi wài guó rén de quán yì shòu dào fǎ lǜ bǎo hù.
    The rights of overseas compatriots are protected by law.

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.

国guócountry
人rénperson

国 means country and 人 means person, so the person belongs to a country.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →

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
People (General)

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