难民 (nàn mín) — refugee | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

refugee

Measure word · 个

难民。
Hěn duō nàn mín lái zì zhàn zhēng dì qū.
Many refugees come from war zones.
。
Zhèng fǔ wèi nàn mín tí gōng le bāng zhù.
The government provided help to refugees.
难民。
Wǒ men yīng gāi bāng zhù nàn mín.
We should help refugees.

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.

难nándisaster

难 (disaster) and 民 (people) combine to mean people fleeing a disaster.

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 難; 难 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

隹隹zhuībird

Sound part声符shēngfú

暵

暵hàn難nán

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional 難 pairs 隹, a bird, with 暵 for sound, and meant a type of bird. It was later borrowed for other meanings; the modern 难 is a shorthand.

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

The early form of 民 shows an eye pierced by a sharp cross-shaped implement, possibly linked to an injured or unclear eye.

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