银元 (yín yuán) — silver dollar (historical coinage used in China before 1949)

Definition

A historical silver coin used in China before 1949, now a collector's item. 量词 is 个.

noun
silver dollar (historical coinage used in China before 1949)
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 银元。
    Wǒ yé ye yǐ qián yòng guò yín yuán.
    My grandfather used silver dollars before.
  • 银元。
    Zhè zhǒng yín yuán xiàn zài hěn shǎo jiàn le.
    This kind of silver dollar is rarely seen now.
  • 银元。
    Tā huā le bù shǎo qián mǎi yí gè yín yuán.
    He spent quite a sum of money to buy a silver dollar.

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.

银yínsilver
元yuáncoin unit

银 names the metal and 元 names the coin unit, denoting a former silver dollar.

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 銀; 银 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal
Sound part声符shēngfú
艮
艮gèn銀yín
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 銀 has 金, meaning metal, and 艮, used for the sound; the simplified 银 is a shorthand.

Open 银 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 元 shows a figure with two lines for a head, one connected to the body and one above it, emphasizing the head.

Open 元 →

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