年收入 (nián shōu rù) — annual income

Definition

noun

annual income

年收入。
Tā de nián shōu rù bǐ wǒ de gāo.
His annual income is higher than mine.
年收入。
Qù nián gōng sī de nián shōu rù zēng jiā le bǎi fēn zhī shí.
The company's annual income increased by ten percent last year.
年收入。
Zhè fèn bào gào fēn xī le jiā tíng nián shōu rù de biàn huà.
This report analyzes changes in household annual income.

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.

收入income

联合Side by side

年 marks the yearly span, while 收 and 入 both point to money taken in, meaning annual income.

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.

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

攴攴pū

Sound part声符shēngfú

丩

丩jiū收shōu

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

收 uses 攴 to show an action and 丩 as a sound clue; the old meaning was 'to arrest.'

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

入 is drawn as an arrowhead, indicating 'to enter'.