有感 (yǒu gǎn) — (attributive) felt (as in 有感地震)

Definition

A technical adjective meaning 'felt' — used only as an attributive modifier (e.g. 有感地震 'felt earthquake'), never as a predicate. Not used in everyday speech.

adjective
(attributive) felt (as in 有感地震)

Examples

  • 有感。
    Zhè cì yǒu gǎn dì zhèn chí xù le shí miǎo.
    This felt earthquake lasted ten seconds.
  • 有感。
    Hěn duō jū mín bào gào le yǒu gǎn zhèn dòng.
    Many residents reported felt tremors.
  • 有感。
    Gāi dì qū yǒu gǎn fàn wéi hěn guǎng.
    The felt area of this region is very wide.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

有yǒuhave
感gǎnfeeling

有 and 感 give having feeling, hence a felt reaction or reflection.

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
咸
咸xián感gǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

感 pairs 咸, which gives the sound, with 心, the heart, for feeling.

Open 感 →

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