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贫民区 (pín mín qū) — slum, poor district

Definition

noun
slumpoor district
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 贫民区。
    Zhè ge chéng shì de pín mín qū jí xū gǎi zào.
    This city's slum urgently needs renovation.
  • 贫民区，。
    Tā cóng xiǎo zài pín mín qū zhǎng dà, zhī dào qióng rén de xīn kǔ.
    He grew up in a slum and knows the hardships of the poor.
  • 贫民区。
    Zhèng fǔ jì huà zài pín mín qū xīn jiàn xué xiào hé yī yuàn.
    The government plans to build new schools and hospitals in the slum.

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.

贫民poor people
贫pínpoor民mínpeople
偏正Modifier + head
区qūdistrict

贫 poor 民 people in a 区 district means a slum area.

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 貧; 贫 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèimoney
Sound part声符shēngfú
分
分fēn貧pín
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 貧 has 分 above 貝, a money part. 分 gives the sound and means 'divide', giving the image of dividing one's money; the simplified 贫 is a later shorthand.

Open 贫 →

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 區; 区 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 區 is made from 匸 and 品; the simplified 区 is a shorthand.

Open 区 →
Appears in
City & Urban

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