缘何 (yuán hé) — (formal, literary) why, for what reason

Definition

A literary, written-Chinese way to ask 'why?' — equivalent in meaning to 为什么 but used in formal prose, news, and editorials, not everyday speech.

pronoun

(formal, literary) whyfor what reason

缘何？
yuán hé Gǔ shì tū rán dà diē?
Why did the stock market suddenly crash?
缘何？
Tā yuán hé xuǎn zé lí kāi zhè ge chéng shì?
Why did he choose to leave this city?
缘何？
yuán hé Huì chū xiàn zhè yàng de wèn tí?
Why would such a problem arise?

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.

缘 “because” and 何 “what” combine to ask for the reason of something.

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 緣; 缘 is its simplified writing.

糹彖緣

Meaning part形符xíngfú

糹Written in full as糸mì

Sound part声符shēngfú

彖

彖tuàn緣⁰yuán

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 緣 puts 糸 (silk) beside 彖, which gives the sound; the simplified 缘 is a later abbreviation.

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

The old form of 何 drew a person carrying something on their shoulder. If the carried thing was a 戈, the 人 and 戈 parts together showed that picture.