学龄 (xué líng) — school age (the age range during which children are expected to attend school)

Definition

A formal, written term for 'school age' — the years when children are legally expected to be enrolled in school. Used mainly in official or statistical contexts (e.g. 学龄儿童, 学龄人口), not in casual conversation.

noun
school age (the age range during which children are expected to attend school)

Examples

  • 学龄。
    Zhè ge dì qū de xué líng ér tóng rù xué lǜ hěn gāo.
    The enrollment rate for school-age children in this area is very high.
  • 学龄。
    Zhèng fǔ zhèng zài tǒng jì quán shì de xué líng rén kǒu.
    The government is counting the school-age population of the whole city.
  • 学龄。
    xué líng Qián jiào yù duì hái zi de chéng zhǎng hěn zhòng yào.
    Preschool education is very important for children's development.

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.

学xuéstudy
龄língage

“学” specifies studying or school, and “龄” means age, so it is the age for attending school.

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 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

Open 学 →

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 齡; 龄 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
齒齒chǐtooth
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng齡líng
Same sound today

The traditional form 齡 shows 齒, a tooth, associated with age, and 令 for the sound; simplified 龄 is a later shorthand.

Open 龄 →

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