艰 (jiān) — difficult; arduous (bound form)
Definition
艰 (jiān) is a bound morpheme meaning 'difficult / arduous' — it never stands alone. It combines with characters like 难 (艰难), 苦 (艰苦), 险 (艰险) to make fixed compound adjectives.
bound form
difficultarduous (bound form)
Easily confused
- 眼yǎnlook-alikeeye
- 间jiānsound-alike(classifier) for rooms, offices, and other enclosed spaces
- 跟gēnlook-alike(preposition) with; together with; (indicating comparison) compared to
- 尖jiānsound-alike(adjective) sharp, pointed; shrill, tapering, piercing; acute, keen
- 哏génlook-alikefunny, amusing, comical (colloquial, often used in crosstalk and northern dialects)
- 煎jiānsound-aliketo pan-fry; to sauté
Examples
- ，。Shēng huó suī rán hěn jiān nán, dàn wǒ men bù néng fàng qì.Although life is hard, we cannot give up.
- 。Tā men jīng lì le jiān kǔ de xùn liàn cái chéng gōng.They succeeded only after going through arduous training.
- ，。Qián fāng dào lù jiān xiǎn, dà jiā yào xiǎo xīn.The road ahead is dangerous and difficult — everyone must be careful.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 艱; 艰 is its simplified writing.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
𦰩𦰩𦰩
Sound part声符shēngfú
艮
艮gèn艱jiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
The traditional form 艱 pairs 𦰩 for meaning with 艮 for sound; the simplified 艰 is a later abbreviation.
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