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拜年 (bài nián) — to pay a New Year visit; to offer New Year greetings

Definition

拜年 means paying New Year visits or greetings, tied specifically to Chinese New Year (春节). 拜访 is a general formal visit any time of year; 拜年 is the holiday custom.

verb
to pay a New Year visitto offer New Year greetings

Examples

  • ，拜年。
    Měi nián chūn jié, wǒ dōu yào huí lǎo jiā gěi zhǎng bèi men bài nián.
    Every Spring Festival, I go back to my hometown to pay New Year visits to my elders.
  • 拜年，。
    Xiàn zài hěn duō rén yòng shǒu jī fā wēi xìn bài nián, jì fāng biàn yòu kuài jié.
    Now many people send New Year greetings via WeChat on their phones—it's both convenient and fast.
  • ，。
    Zuó tiān wǒ qù gěi wáng lǎo shī bài le gè nián, tā hěn gāo xìng.
    Yesterday I went to pay a New Year visit to Teacher Wang, and she was very happy.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

拜bàipay respects
年niánNew Year

拜 means to pay respects, and 年 is the New Year, describing a New Year visit or greeting.

Characters in this word

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

拜 combines 扌 (hand, written fully as 手) with 𠦪 (herbs), showing a hand holding herbs as a gift.

Open 拜 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6

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