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思乡 (sī xiāng) — to be homesick, to miss one's hometown

Definition

思乡 (sīxiāng) means 'to be homesick, to miss one's hometown' — typically used in writing rather than everyday speech, where 想家 is more common.

verb
to be homesickto miss one's hometown

Examples

  • ，思乡。
    Tā gāng lái běi jīng bù jiǔ, cháng cháng sī xiāng.
    He recently came to Beijing and often feels homesick.
  • ，。
    Lí jiā duō nián, tā cháng cháng sī le xiāng què bù gǎn huí qù.
    After years away from home, he often felt homesick but didn't dare go back.
  • 思乡。
    Tā yīn wèi sī xiāng ér gǎn dào gū dú.
    He feels lonely because he is homesick.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

思sīmiss
乡xiānghometown

思 means to miss or long for, and 乡 is the hometown.

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
囟
囟xìn思sī
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 思, 心 (heart) points to thinking, while the top part is a changed form of 囟, which supplied the sound.

Open 思 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鄉; 乡 is its simplified writing.

  • 𠨍𠨍𠨍two people facing each other
  • 皀皀jía round-mouthed food vessel

The traditional form 鄉 combines two people facing each other with a round-mouthed food vessel, depicting a feast. The village meaning is connected to this feasting event.

Open 乡 →
Appears in
Emotions & Feelings

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