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新闻 (xīn wén) — news

Definition

新闻 (xīnwén) is 'news' as a broad category — TV, online, or print. Compared with 消息, it refers to reported news items rather than informal information one person passes to another. 报纸 is the physical newspaper itself, not the content.

noun
news
Measure word · 条, 个

Examples

  • 新闻。
    Wǒ měi tiān zǎo shàng tīng xīn wén.
    I listen to the news every morning.
  • 新闻？
    Zhè tiáo xīn wén nǐ kàn le ma?
    Have you read this piece of news?
  • 新闻。
    Tā xǐ huan kàn tǐ yù xīn wén.
    He likes to watch sports news.

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
闻wénheard

The ideas of 新 (new) and 闻 (heard) combine to mean newly heard information, i.e. news.

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'.

Open 新 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聞; 闻 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
耳耳ěrear
Sound part声符shēngfú
門
門mén聞wén
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 聞, 門 supplies the sound and 耳 is an ear; this explanation is about 聞, not the simplified 闻.

Open 闻 →
Appears in
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