年终奖 (nián zhōng jiǎng) — year-end bonus

Definition

noun
year-end bonus

Examples

  • 年终奖。
    Gōng sī jīn nián fā le sān gè yuè de nián zhōng jiǎng.
    The company gave a three-month year-end bonus this year.
  • 年终奖？
    Nǐ ná dào nián zhōng jiǎng yǐ hòu dǎ suàn zěn me huā?
    What do you plan to spend after you get your year-end bonus?
  • 年终奖。
    Jīn nián de nián zhōng jiǎng bǐ qù nián shào le yì xiē.
    This year's year-end bonus is a bit less than last year's.

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.

年终end of year
年niányear终zhōngend
偏正Modifier + head
奖jiǎngbonus

年终 marks the end of the year, and 奖 is the bonus, so 年终奖 is an end-of-year bonus.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 終; 终 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mì
Sound part声符shēngfú
冬
冬dōng終zhōng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 終 pairs 糸 (a cord) with 冬 as a sound part; the simplified 终 is a later shorthand. An older form showed a knot at the end of a cord.

Open 终 →

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 獎; 奖 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
將
將jiāng獎jiǎng
Same sound today

The traditional form 獎 pairs 將 as a sound part with 犬, a dog; the simplified 奖 is a later shorthand. The evidence says the dog part's meaning is unclear, perhaps referring to guiding a dog by voice.

Open 奖 →

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