年景 (nián jǐng) — the year's harvest; the overall condition (good or bad) of a year (often agricultural); the atmosphere or circumstances of a given year, especially around the New Year

Definition

A traditional, slightly literary word for how a year goes overall — chiefly the harvest or general fortune of a year. Often heard in New Year wishes (好年景), more literary than the plain '年'.

noun
the year's harvestthe overall condition (good or bad) of a year (often agricultural)the atmosphere or circumstances of a given year, especially around the New Year

Examples

  • 年景,。
    Jīn nián de nián jǐng hěn hǎo, zhuāng jia cháng dé tè bié zhuàng.
    This year's harvest is very good; the crops are growing especially strong.
  • ,年景。
    Zhè jǐ nián jīng jì bù jǐng qì, nián jǐng yě bù rú cóng qián le.
    In these past few years the economy has been sluggish, and the times aren't as good as before.
  • ,年景。
    Guò nián shí, dà jiā dōu shuō yào yǒu hǎo nián jǐng.
    During the New Year, everyone says they want a good year ahead.

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 means year and 景 means scene, picturing the outlook or conditions of a year.

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
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
京
京jīng景jǐng
Same sound today

景 has 日 (sun) with 京, which gives its sound; it originally meant sunlight.

Open 景 →

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