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未成年 (wèi chéng nián) — (noun) minor, underage person; (attributive) underage, juvenile

Definition

Refers to a person who has not yet reached the legal age of adulthood. Often used attributively, e.g. 未成年人 ('minor') — note it's a fixed written/formal term, not used for casual age talk.

noun
minorunderage person(attributive) underagejuvenile
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 未成年。
    Fǎ lǜ duì wèi chéng nián yǒu tè shū de bǎo hù.
    The law provides special protection for minors.
  • 未成年。
    Zhè jiā shāng diàn jìn zhǐ xiàng wèi chéng nián chū shòu yān jiǔ.
    This store is prohibited from selling tobacco and alcohol to minors.
  • 未成年。
    wèi chéng nián Fàn zuì àn jiàn xū yào zhuān mén chǔ lǐ.
    Juvenile delinquency cases require special handling.

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.

未wèinot yet
成年adult
成chéngbecome年niánage
动宾Verb + object

未 means not yet, 成 means become, and 年 means age, so the word denotes someone not yet adult.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 未 shows a tree with extra branches spreading above its trunk, like lush, overlapping limbs.

Open 未 →

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
戊戊wù
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng成chéng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

Open 成 →

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.

Open 年 →
Appears in
Life Stages & Age

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