手艺人 (shǒu yì rén) — craftsman, artisan (someone who practices a tra…

Definition

noun

craftsmanartisan (someone who practices a traditional handcraft as a profession)

Measure word · 个

手艺人，。
Zhè wèi shǒu yì rén de shǒu yì fēi cháng hǎo, zuò de jiā jù hěn shòu huān yíng.
This craftsman's skill is excellent; the furniture he makes is very popular.
手艺人。
Hěn duō chuán tǒng shǒu yì rén xiàn zài dōu hěn nán zhǎo dào tú dì le.
Many traditional craftsmen now find it very hard to find apprentices.
手艺人，。
Zhè wèi shǒu yì rén zuò le sān shí nián de táo qì, jì shù hěn shú liàn.
This artisan has been making pottery for thirty years and is very skilled.

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.

手艺handicraft

偏正Modifier + head

手 and 艺 describe skill of the hand, and 人 names the person who practices it.

Characters in this word

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

艹乙艺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎo

Sound part声符shēngfú

乙

Same sound today

In 艺, the top 艹 points to plants, and the lower 乙 gives the sound.

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.