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年轻人 (nián qīng rén) — young people; youth

Definition

noun
young peopleyouth
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 年轻人。
    Xiàn zài hěn duō nián qīng rén xǐ huan lǚ xíng.
    Nowadays many young people like to travel.
  • 年轻人。
    nián qīng rén Yīng gāi duō xué xí xīn zhī shi.
    Young people should learn new knowledge more.
  • 年轻人。
    Zhè ge huó dòng zhǔ yào miàn xiàng nián qīng rén.
    This event is mainly aimed at young people.

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.

年轻young
年niánage轻qīngyoung
主谓Subject + predicate
人rénperson

年轻 means age is young and 人 means person, giving young people.

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 輕; 轻 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
車車jūcarriage
Sound part声符shēngfú
巠
巠jīng輕qīng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 輕 pairs 車, a carriage, with 巠 to give the sound; it originally named a light carriage. The simplified 轻 is only a later shorthand.

Open 轻 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
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