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迁移 (qiān yí) — to migrate (of people, animals, or data/systems)

Definition

迁移 emphasizes a large-scale or long-distance move — people, animals, or data/systems shifting to a new location. Compare 移动 (general physical move) and 移民 (specifically people moving across borders).

verb
to migrate (of people, animals, or data/systems)

Examples

  • ，迁移。
    Měi nián chūn tiān, hěn duō niǎo lèi cóng nán fāng qiān yí dào běi fāng.
    Every spring, many birds migrate from the south to the north.
  • 迁移。
    Gōng sī jì huà bǎ fú wù qì qiān yí dào yún duān.
    The company plans to migrate the servers to the cloud.
  • 迁移。
    Zhè cì rén kǒu qiān yí gǎi biàn le chéng shì de rén kǒu jié gòu.
    This population migration changed the city's demographic structure.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

迁qiānmove
移yímove

迁 and 移 both mean moving from one place to another, so together they describe migration.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 迁 →

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
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
多
多duō移
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

移 pairs 禾, a grain plant, with 多, which gives the sound.

Open 移 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Change & Process

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