孤魂 (gū hún) — wandering soul; one without family or friends t… | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A 孤魂 is the soul of someone who died with no one to mourn them, or a metaphor for a lonely, rootless person. The phrase often appears in superstitious contexts or as a literary image of abandonment.

noun

wandering soulone without family or friends to depend on

Measure word · 个

Examples

，孤魂。
Tā zài huāng yě zhōng yóu dàng, xiàng yí gè gū hún.
He wanders in the wilderness like a wandering soul.
，孤魂。
Zhè wèi lǎo rén wú yī wú kào, chéng le kě lián de gū hún.
This old man has no one to rely on, becoming a pitiful solitary soul.
，孤魂。
Chuán shuō zhōng, gū hún huì zài yè wǎn chū mò.
Legend says that wandering souls appear at night.

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.

孤gūsolitary

孤 gives solitary and 魂 gives soul, together a lonely spirit or unsupported person.

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.

子瓜孤

Meaning part形符xíngfú

子子zǐchild

Sound part声符shēngfú

瓜

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

孤 uses 子 (child) to show a child, and 瓜 to give the sound.

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

云鬼魂

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

云

云yún魂hún(r)

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

魂 is made from 鬼, the ghost component, plus 云, which supplies the sound.

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