灾民 (zāi mín) — disaster victims

Definition

noun
disaster victims
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 灾民。
    Zhèng fǔ gěi zāi mín tí gōng le shí wù hé shuǐ.
    The government provided food and water to the disaster victims.
  • 灾民。
    Zhè cì dì zhèn zào chéng le hěn duō zāi mín.
    This earthquake caused many disaster victims.
  • 灾民。
    Zhì yuàn zhě men bāng zhù zāi mín chóng jiàn jiā yuán.
    The volunteers helped the disaster victims rebuild their homes.

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.

灾zāidisaster
民mínpeople

“灾” disaster and “民” people make people hit by disaster.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 災; 灾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡿧
𡿧𡿧災zāi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 災 combines 火 (fire) with 𡿧, an old picture of flowing water that supplied the sound; the simplified 灾 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 灾 →

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 →

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