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新年 (xīn nián) — New Year

Definition

新年 is the general word for 'New Year' (can mean the Western New Year or, in festive contexts, the Lunar New Year). 元旦 specifically means January 1st; 新春 is a more formal, festive name for the Lunar New Year period.

noun
New Year
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 新年！
    Zhù nǐ xīn nián kuài lè!
    Wish you a happy New Year!
  • 新年？
    xīn nián Nǐ yǒu shén me dǎ suàn?
    What are your plans for the New Year?
  • 新年。
    Wǒ men yì jiā rén yì qǐ guò xīn nián.
    Our whole family celebrates the New Year together.

Origin

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.

新xīnnew
年niányear

新 (new) and 年 (year) combine to mean the new year.

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.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
斤斤jīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
辛
辛xīn新xīn
Same sound today

The shape originally paired 斤, for chopping wood, with 辛 for sound. It was borrowed for its sound to write 新, so the chopping-wood parts are unrelated to 'new'.

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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.

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Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3Festivals & Holidays5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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