年龄段 (nián líng duàn) — age group; age bracket | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

age groupage bracket

Examples

年龄段。
Zhè ge xué xiào de lǎo shī lái zì bù tóng de nián líng duàn.
The teachers at this school come from different age groups.
年龄段？
Nǐ shǔ yú nǎ ge nián líng duàn?
Which age group do you belong to?
年龄段。
Nián qīng rén zhè ge nián líng duàn xǐ huan liú xíng de dōng xī.
Young people in this age group like trendy things.

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.

年龄age

年niányear龄língage

联合Coordinate

段duànsegment

年龄, meaning age, combined with 段, a section, gives an age bracket.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 齡; 龄 is its simplified writing.

齒令齡

Meaning part形符xíngfú

齒齒chǐtooth

Sound part声符shēngfú

令

令lìng齡líng

Same sound today

The traditional form 齡 shows 齒, a tooth, associated with age, and 令 for the sound; simplified 龄 is a later shorthand.

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

殳殳shū

Sound part声符shēngfú

厂

厂chǎng段duàn

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

段's shape shows 殳 as a hammer breaking a stone, with fragments flying off.

Appears in

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