外乡人 (wài xiāng rén) — nonnative, outsider, person from another region

Definition

外乡人 (wài xiāng rén) is a person from another town or region — someone seen as a local outsider. Often used by villagers or locals to distinguish non-natives from themselves.

noun
nonnativeoutsiderperson from another region
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，外乡人。
    Tā gāng lái zhè ge chéng shì, hái shì gè wài xiāng rén.
    He just came to this city and is still an outsider.
  • 外乡人，。
    Cūn lǐ rén dōu zhī dào tā shì wài xiāng rén, duì tā hěn kè qi.
    The villagers all know he's from another region and are very polite to him.
  • 外乡人。
    wài xiāng rén Hěn nán tīng dǒng dāng dì de fāng yán.
    It's hard for a nonnative to understand the local dialect.

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.

外乡other region
外wàioutside乡xiānghometown
偏正Modifier + head
人rénperson

外 “outside” + 乡 “hometown” + 人 “person” gives someone from another region.

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
卜卜bǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
月
月yuè外wài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

Open 外 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鄉; 乡 is its simplified writing.

  • 𠨍𠨍𠨍two people facing each other
  • 皀皀jía round-mouthed food vessel

The traditional form 鄉 combines two people facing each other with a round-mouthed food vessel, depicting a feast. The village meaning is connected to this feasting event.

Open 乡 →

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 →

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