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年夜饭 (nián yè fàn) — New Year's Eve family reunion dinner (traditional Chinese custom celebrated on Lunar New Year's Eve)

Definition

The reunion dinner eaten on 除夕 (lunar New Year's Eve) — not the broader holiday period called 新年. Symbolizes family togetherness.

noun
New Year's Eve family reunion dinner (traditional Chinese custom celebrated on Lunar New Year's Eve)
Measure word · 顿

Examples

  • ，年夜饭。
    Měi nián chú xī, wǒ men quán jiā dōu huì yì qǐ chī nián yè fàn.
    Every New Year's Eve, our whole family gets together to eat the reunion dinner.
  • 年夜饭。
    Mā ma cóng zǎo shàng jiù kāi shǐ zhǔn bèi nián yè fàn le.
    Mom started preparing the New Year's Eve dinner since morning.
  • 年夜饭，。
    nián yè fàn Bù jǐn fēng shèng, hái dài biǎo zhe tuán yuán hé xìng fú.
    The New Year's Eve dinner is not only lavish but also represents reunion and happiness.

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.

年夜New Year's Eve
年niánNew Year夜yènight
偏正Modifier + head
饭fànmeal

年夜 names the New Year's Eve night, and 饭 is the meal eaten then.

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
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 →

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
夕夕xīmoon
Sound part声符shēngfú
亦
亦yì夜yè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 夜 pairs 亦 as a sound part with 夕 as a moon part, for night. In the modern shape, the 亦 part is broken up and one stroke merges into 夕.

Open 夜 →

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 飯; 饭 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
食食shífood
Sound part声符shēngfú
反
反fǎn飯fàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 飯 combines 食 (food) with 反 for the sound; the simplified 饭 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical form.

Open 饭 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Chinese Culture & CustomsFestivals & Holidays

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