饥荒 (jī huāng) — famine; crop failure; (colloquial) debt | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literally 'hunger + desolation' — primarily a severe famine or crop failure. The colloquial sense 'debt' (as in 欠一屁股饥荒) is a northern-spoken slang extension.

noun

faminecrop failure(colloquial) debt

Examples

饥荒。
Nà chǎng jī huāng duó zǒu le hěn duō rén de shēng mìng.
That famine took many people's lives.
，饥荒。
Jīn nián gān hàn yán zhòng, nóng mín dān xīn huì chū xiàn jī huāng.
This year's drought is severe; farmers worry there will be a famine.
，饥荒。
Tā zuò shēng yi shī bài, qiàn le yí pì gu jī huāng.
He failed in business and owes a lot of debt.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

饥jīhunger

荒huāngfamine

饥 hunger and 荒 famine combine to name crop failure and food shortage.

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 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

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

艹巟荒

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.

Appears in

Agriculture & Farming Society & Public Life

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