疑难 (yí nán) — (noun) difficulty; problem

Definition

A formal noun for a 'knotty' or hard-to-solve problem, stronger than 普通 'difficulty' and usually paired with 杂症, 解答, 解决. Often used in titles of expert Q&A shows.

noun
difficultyproblem

Examples

  • 疑难。
    Zhè ge yí nán wèn tí xū yào dà jiā yì qǐ tǎo lùn.
    This knotty problem needs to be discussed together.
  • 疑难。
    Yī shēng duì yí nán zá zhèng zuò le xiáng xì fēn xī.
    The doctor gave a detailed analysis of the difficult and complicated case.
  • ，疑难。
    Jīng guò jǐ cì shì yàn, wǒ men zhōng yú jiě jué le zhè ge yí nán.
    After several experiments, we finally resolved this difficulty.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

疑yídoubtful
难nándifficult

疑 and 难 together give something doubtful and difficult, hence a problem.

Characters in this word

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

  • 大大dàstanding human figure
  • 夂夂zhǐtilted head with open mouth
  • 丨丨gǔncane

疑 depicts a standing figure 大 with a tilted, open-mouthed head 夂 and a cane 丨, a confused person looking around for direction.

Open 疑 →

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 難; 难 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuībird
Sound part声符shēngfú
暵
暵hàn難nán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional 難 pairs 隹, a bird, with 暵 for sound, and meant a type of bird. It was later borrowed for other meanings; the modern 难 is a shorthand.

Open 难 →

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