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年长 (nián zhǎng) — older (in age); senior

Definition

As a verb/adjective, 年长 means 'to be older / senior' and focuses on age relative to others (e.g., 年长的同事 'senior colleagues'). Compare 古老 (ancient) and 老 (old in general).

verb
older (in age)senior

Examples

  • 年长。
    Wǒ bǐ tā nián zhǎng jǐ suì.
    I am a few years older than him.
  • 年长。
    nián zhǎng De tóng shì jīng yàn gèng fēng fù.
    Senior colleagues have more experience.
  • ，年长。
    Zài jiā zú lǐ, nián zhǎng de chéng yuán shòu dào zūn jìng.
    In the family, the older members are respected.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

年niányears
长chángolder

年, years, and 长, older, say that the years are greater, hence senior.

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

Open 长 →
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