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生路 (shēng lù) — a way to survive or make a living; a way out of difficulty; an unfamiliar road

Definition

生路 means 'a way out / means of survival' in a difficult situation (困境). Don't confuse it with the literal 'unfamiliar road' sense, which is rare at this level.

noun
a way to survive or make a livinga way out of difficultyan unfamiliar road
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 生路。
    Tā zài kùn jìng zhōng zhōng yú zhǎo dào le yì tiáo shēng lù.
    He finally found a way out of the difficult situation.
  • ，。
    Wèi le móu shēng lù, tā měi tiān gōng zuò shí jǐ gè xiǎo shí.
    To make a living, he works over ten hours a day.
  • 生路，。
    Zhè tiáo shēng lù wǒ cóng lái méi zǒu guò, bù zhī dào tōng xiàng nǎ lǐ.
    I've never taken this unfamiliar road; I don't know where it leads.

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.

生shēnglife
路lùroad

生 and 路 combine as a road of life, giving a way to survive or make a living.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →

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
足足zú
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè路lù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

路 combines 足, a foot, with 各, which supplies the sound.

Open 路 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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