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小青年 (xiǎo qīng nián) — young adult (colloquial, typically in one's twenties)

Definition

Colloquial Chinese for a 'young adult' (typically in their twenties). Often used in casual speech to refer to young people as a social group, with a slightly informal or playful tone.

noun
young adult (colloquial, typically in one's twenties)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 小青年。
    Zhè ge xiǎo qīng nián hěn cōng ming.
    This young person is very smart.
  • 小青年。
    Yì qún xiǎo qīng nián zài jiē shàng chàng gē.
    A group of young people are singing on the street.
  • 小青年。
    xiǎo qīng nián Men xǐ huan wán yóu xì.
    Young people like to play games.

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.

小xiǎoyoung
青年young adult
青qīngyoung年niánage
偏正Modifier + head

小 suggests youth and 青年 names a young adult, together labeling a person often in one's twenties.

Characters in this word

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

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

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

An early form of 青 combined 生 and 井, both used for sound; the modern form has changed.

Open 青 →

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
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →
Appears in
Life Stages & AgePeople (General)

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