长年 (cháng nián) — the whole year; throughout the year; a long period of time; years

Definition

长年 (chángnián) means 'year after year / over many years' — emphasizes duration across whole years, longer than 常年 in the 'usual, year-round' sense. Common in collocations like 长年累月.

noun
the whole yearthroughout the yeara long period of timeyears
Easily confused

Examples

  • 长年，。
    Tā cháng nián zài wài dì gōng zuò, hěn shǎo huí jiā.
    He has been working away from home for years and rarely returns.
  • 长年，。
    Jīng guò cháng nián de nǔ lì, gōng sī zhōng yú shàng shì le.
    After years of effort, the company finally went public.
  • 。
    cháng nián Lěi yuè de gōng zuò ràng tā jī lěi le fēng fù de jīng yàn.
    Working year after year allowed him to accumulate rich experience.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

Open 长 →

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héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →

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