日本人 (Rì běn rén) — Japanese person

Definition

noun

Japanese person

Measure word · 个

日本人。
Wǒ gōng sī zuì jìn zhāo le yí wèi Rì běn rén tóng shì.
Our company recently hired a Japanese colleague.
日本人。
Zhè wèi Rì běn rén dǎo yóu duì lì shǐ fēi cháng liǎo jiě.
This Japanese tour guide knows the history very well.
日本人。
Hěn duō Rì běn rén xǐ huan zài jié rì shí chuān chuán tǒng fú zhuāng.
Many Japanese people like to wear traditional clothes during festivals.

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.

日本Japan

偏正Modifier + head

日本 names Japan, and 人 means a person, so the whole means a person from Japan.

Characters in this word

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

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

本 adds a stroke at the bottom of a tree shape to mark the roots, giving the sense of foundation or original.

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.