建设者 (jiàn shè zhě) — builder, constructor

Definition

建设者 (jiànshèzhě) is 'builder' or 'constructor' — the agent of 建设, broader and more abstract than a manual worker. Often used in grand or ideological contexts (城市的建设者, 社会的建设者) rather than for a single construction site.

noun
builderconstructor
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 建设者。
    Zhè xiē jiàn shè zhě zhèng zài xiū jiàn yí zuò dà qiáo.
    These builders are constructing a big bridge.
  • 建设者。
    Měi yí wèi láo dòng zhě dōu shì shè huì de jiàn shè zhě.
    Every worker is a builder of society.
  • 建设者。
    Tā shì yì míng yōu xiù de chéng shì jiàn shè zhě.
    He is an excellent city builder.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

建设build
建jiànbuild设shèset up
联合Side by side
者zhěone who

The 建设 work and 者 point to someone who builds.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 廴廴yǐn
  • 聿聿yù

The shape 建 shows 廴 and 聿, but it comes from an older drawing of a hand planting a pole into a base; the lower part of 聿 is not a brush.

Open 建 →

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 設; 设 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
埶
埶yì設shè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 設 uses 言 (speech) to show the meaning and 埶 to give the sound; this explanation is for 設, not the simplified 设.

Open 设 →

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

The form 者 originally drew a sugarcane with full stems, small points around it, and an open smiling mouth at the bottom.

Open 者 →

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