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邻居 (lín jū) — neighbor

Definition

General word for 'neighbor' (any person living nearby). 隔壁 specifically means 'the one next door' and can also mean the room/house itself; 街坊 is a more colloquial, community-feeling term.

noun
neighbor
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 邻居。
    Wǒ de lín jū fēi cháng rè qíng.
    My neighbor is very warm-hearted.
  • 邻居。
    lín jū Bāng le wǒ yí gè dà máng.
    The neighbor helped me a lot.
  • 邻居？
    Nǐ jiàn guò xīn lái de lín jū ma?
    Have you met the new neighbor?

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.

邻línadjacent
居jūdwelling

邻 gives near or adjacent, and 居 gives dwelling, together pointing to someone living nearby.

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 鄰; 邻 is its simplified writing.

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.

Open 邻 →

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
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ居jū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

居 is built from 尸 as the meaning part and 古 (gǔ) as the sound part.

Open 居 →
Appears in
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