闹饥荒 (nào jī huāng) — to suffer from famine; (colloquial) to be hard up, to be short of money

Definition

Literally 'to raise a famine', meaning a region or people suffer famine. Colloquially, it also means being short of money — say it about a place going through hard times, not everyday personal spending.

verb
to suffer from famine(colloquial) to be hard upto be short of money

Examples

  • 闹饥荒。
    Nà nián běi fāng hěn duō dì fāng dōu nào jī huāng le.
    That year, many places in the north suffered from famine.
  • ，。
    Zhè ge cūn zi nào guò jǐ cì jī huang, hòu lái cái màn màn hǎo qǐ lái.
    This village went through several famines before gradually getting better.
  • ，闹饥荒。
    Zuì jìn shǒu tóu jǐn, yòu zài nào jī huāng le.
    I'm tight on cash lately — I'm hard up again.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

闹nàosuffer
饥荒famine
饥jīhungry荒huāngfamine
联合Side by side

闹 means to suffer, and 饥荒 is famine, giving the sense of suffering from famine.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鬧; 闹 is its simplified writing.

  • 鬥鬥dòuto fight
  • 市市shìmarket; town

The traditional form 鬧 combines 鬥 (to fight) and 市 (market; town) to mean noisy.

Open 闹 →

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 飢; 饥 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 饥 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (饥饿) it is 飢; in others it is 饑.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
食食shí
Sound part声符shēngfú
几
几jǐ飢jī
Same sound today

The traditional form 飢 uses 食 for food and 几 for the sound; the simplified 饥 is a shorthand.

Open 饥 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss, plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
巟
巟huāng荒huāng
Same sound today

荒 is built from 艹 (grass, plant) and 巟, with 巟 giving the sound huāng.

Open 荒 →

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