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民俗 (mín sú) — folk custom; folklore

Definition

民俗 refers to the customs and traditions of ordinary people — folkways, festivals, local practices. 风俗 is a broader everyday word for any social custom.

noun
folk customfolklore
Measure word · 种

Examples

  • 民俗。
    Měi gè dì fāng dōu yǒu zì jǐ dú tè de mín sú.
    Every place has its own unique folk customs.
  • 民俗。
    Zhè běn shū xiáng xì jiè shào le zhōng guó chuán tǒng mín sú.
    This book introduces traditional Chinese folk customs in detail.
  • 民俗。
    Yán jiū dì fāng mín sú kě yǐ bāng zhù wǒ men liǎo jiě lì shǐ.
    Studying local folk customs can help us understand history.

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.

民mínpeople
俗súcustom

民 means people and 俗 means custom, together denoting customs among ordinary people.

Characters in this word

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

The early form of 民 shows an eye pierced by a sharp cross-shaped implement, possibly linked to an injured or unclear eye.

Open 民 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
谷
谷gǔ俗sú
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

俗 is built from 亻, a person, and 谷, which gives the sound; it refers to customs of people.

Open 俗 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6

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