拟人 (nǐ rén) — personification

Definition

Personification: a figure of speech that gives human traits to non-human things (animals, objects, nature). As a subtype of 比喻, it uses the 把 construction to treat the object as a person.

noun
personification

Examples

  • 拟人，。
    Zhè piān sǎn wén yòng le nǐ rén de shǒu fǎ, ràng dà zì rán biàn de yǒu shēng mìng.
    This essay uses personification to make nature come alive.
  • 拟人，。
    nǐ rén Shì bǐ yù de yì zhǒng, bǎ wù dàng zuò rén lái xiě.
    Personification is a type of metaphor that writes about objects as if they were human.
  • 拟人。
    Hái zi men zài zuò wén lǐ yòng nǐ rén xiě tài yáng gōng gong xiào le.
    The children used personification in their compositions to write that Grandpa Sun was smiling.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

拟nǐimitate
人rénperson

拟 means imitate or represent, 人 means person, and the action describes making something like a person.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
以
以yǐ拟nǐ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拟 is made of 扌 (hand) and 以. The 扌 side is the hand part, and 以 gives the sound.

Open 拟 →

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.

Open 人 →

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