邻 (lín) — (bound form) neighbor; adjacent; near

Definition

邻 is a bound morpheme meaning 'neighboring / adjacent' — it only appears in compounds like 邻居, 邻近, 邻国, never on its own.

bound form

neighboradjacentnear

Easily confused

。
Wǒ de lín jū fēi cháng yǒu hǎo.
My neighbor is very friendly.
。
Zhè jiā chāo shì lín jìn dì tiě zhàn.
This supermarket is near the subway station.
14。
Zhōng guó yǔ 14 gè lín guó jiē rǎng.
China borders 14 neighboring countries.

Sound + meaning

六书liùshū

形声xíngshēng

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 鄰; 邻 is its simplified writing.

粦阝鄰

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阝Written in full as邑yì

Sound part声符shēngfú

粦

粦lín鄰lín

Same sound today

The traditional form 鄰 pairs 粦 (lín) as the sound part with 阝 (the full form 邑, a settlement) as the meaning part; 邻 is a simplified shorthand.

Appears in