少年犯 (shào nián fàn) — juvenile delinquent; a minor who has committed…

Definition

noun

juvenile delinquenta minor who has committed a crime

Measure word · 个

少年犯。
Zhè ge shào nián fàn jīng guò jiào yù hòu yǐ jīng gǎi guò zì xīn le.
This juvenile delinquent has turned over a new leaf after receiving education.
少年犯。
Fǎ yuàn duì shào nián fàn de shěn pàn tōng cháng zhù zhòng jiào yù hé gǎi zào.
Court trials for juvenile delinquents usually focus on education and rehabilitation.
少年犯。
Shè huì yīng gāi bāng zhù shào nián fàn chóng xīn huí dào zhèng cháng de shēng huó zhōng.
Society should help juvenile delinquents return to a normal life.

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.

少年young age

偏正Modifier + head

犯fànoffender

少年 (young age) + 犯 (offender): a young person who commits a crime.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 少 is drawn as four dots, perhaps three grains of sand, to indicate a few or a little.

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.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

𢎘

𢎘𢎘犯fàn

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

犯 combines 犬 and 𢎘: 犬 gives the meaning, and 𢎘 gives the sound.

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