欢 (huān) — happy, joyful (bound morpheme used in compounds)
Definition
欢 (huān) is a bound morpheme meaning 'joyful / happy' that never stands alone — it appears only in compounds such as 欢迎 (welcome) and 欢乐 (joy). Think of it as the written root behind familiar 2-character words.
bound form
happyjoyful (bound morpheme used in compounds)
Examples
- 。Dà jiā dōu hěn huān lè.Everyone is very joyful.
- 。Wǒ men rè liè huān yíng xīn tóng xué.We warmly welcome the new classmates.
- 。Tā huān kuài dì dā ying le.He cheerfully agreed.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 歡; 欢 is its simplified writing.
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn歡huān
Same sound today
The traditional form 歡 uses 雚 for the sound and 欠 for the meaning; the simplified 欢 is a later shorthand, so its parts do not carry that history.
Appears in
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