{"id":1473,"date":"2022-08-02T20:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T12:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/?p=1473"},"modified":"2023-06-07T14:49:27","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T06:49:27","slug":"chinese-compound-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Compound Word"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_1 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-white ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#Have_you_ever_wondered_about_the_following_questions\" >Have you ever wondered about the following questions?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#What_is_a_compound_word\" >What is a compound word?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#What_actually_are_characters_in_Chinese\" >What actually are characters in Chinese?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#Can_I_just_use_one_character\" >Can I just use one character?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#So_%E2%80%9C%E5%AD%90_zi%E2%80%9C_and_%E2%80%9D%E5%85%92%E5%84%BF_er%E2%80%9D_have_no_meaning\" >So \u201c\u5b50 zi\u201c and \u201d\u5152\/\u513f er&#8221; have no meaning?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#How_about_ancient_Chinese\" >How about ancient Chinese?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#It_seems_like_every_word_has_its_own_function\" >It seems like every word has its own function<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#FYI\" >F.Y.I.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<div style=\"height:14px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Have_you_ever_wondered_about_the_following_questions\"><\/span><strong>Have you ever wondered about the following questions?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Why is Chinese obsessed with 2-syllable words?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Why does Chinese make compound words with characters that have similar meanings?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Why does Chinese add \u5b50 zi and <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u5152<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u513f<\/span> er, which have no meaning after so many words?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Why can one character have so many different pronunciations?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I\u2019ve heard all Chinese characters have their own meaning, so I should always see words separately, right?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to know the answers, this is the right article \ud83d\ude07<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:43px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_a_compound_word\"><\/span><strong>What is a compound word?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A compound word is made up of two smaller words. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u7259\u5237 = \u7259 + \u5237<br>Y\u00e1shu\u0101 = Y\u00e1 + shu\u0101<br>Toothbrush = Tooth + Brush<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u66f8<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u4e66<\/span>\u67b6 = <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u66f8<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u4e66<\/span> + \u67b6<br>Sh\u016bji\u00e0 = Sh\u016b + ji\u00e0<br>Bookshelf = Book + Shelf<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ok, so 2 words with different meanings create 1 new word. It makes sense! But how about the following 2 examples?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u7761<span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u89ba<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u89c9<\/span> = \u7761 + <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u89ba<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u89c9<\/span><br>Shu\u00ecji\u00e0o = Shu\u00ec + ji\u00e0o<br>Sleep = Sleep + Sleep<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u7f8e<span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u9e97<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u4e3d<\/span> = \u7f8e + <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u9e97<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u4e3d<\/span><br>M\u011bil\u00ec = M\u011bi + l\u00ec<br>Beauty = Beauty + Beauty<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The characters in these words mean basically the same thing, so why do we have to repeat ourselves? Before I answer that question, let&#8217;s look more closely at how characters work in Chinese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:43px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_actually_are_characters_in_Chinese\"><\/span><strong><mark><mark style=\"background-color:#ffffff\" class=\"has-inline-color\">What actually are characters in Chinese?<\/mark><\/mark><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In English, it&#8217;s easy to recognize prefixes and suffixes and tell them apart from word roots, but that\u2019s not how Chinese works. Lots of Chinese words have multiple functions. One character can be a word by itself, or can be combined with another word (a little bit like English prefixes and suffixes). For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#8dd2fc4d\"><strong>\u6c34<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As a word: \u6c34<span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u5152<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u513f<\/span> (shu\u01d0er) water + no meaning = water<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As a prefix: \u6c34\u679c (shu\u01d0gu\u01d2) water + fruit = fruit<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As a suffix: \u53e3\u6c34 (k\u01d2ushu\u01d0) mouth + water = saliva<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#cf2d2d4d\">\u706b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As a word: \u706b\u7130 (hu\u01d2y\u00e0n) fire + fire = fire<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As a prefix: \u706b<span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u8eca<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u8f66<\/span> (hu\u01d2ch\u0113) fire + car = train<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As a suffix: <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u8ecd<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u519b<\/span>\u706b (J\u016bnhu\u01d2) military + fire = ammunition<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you want to clarify the meaning and the function, it\u2019s better to use 2 characters to describe one word. It can narrow down the meaning and get rid of other ambiguities. That\u2019s why we love to use compound words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides being a prefix and a suffix, one character can also be a verb, an adjective (<a href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/06\/14\/stativeverbs\/\">stative verb<\/a>), a noun, or even a particle. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#7bdbb557\">\u9577\/\u957f<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As a verb: <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u9577<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u957f<\/span> (zh\u01ceng) to grow<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As an adjective (stative verb): <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u9577<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u957f<\/span> (ch\u00e1ng) long<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As a noun: <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u9577<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u957f<\/span> (zh\u01ceng) leader<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#9b51e026\">\u5f97<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As a verb: \u5f97 (d\u00e9) to get<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As a particle: \u5f97 (de) to link a verb and a stative verb<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As an auxiliary verb: \u5f97 (d\u011bi) must<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These 2 are good examples of why one character has several pronunciations: Because they serve different functions. Just like in English, \u201crecord&#8221; is one word, but depending on the meaning, you will pronounce it differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:43px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_I_just_use_one_character\"><\/span><strong>Can I just use one character?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The short answer is yes! But, one of the reasons we try to avoid using only one character is that there are so many homophones in Chinese. If you just listen to a word without reading it, it can be very confusing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So when one character is by itself,&nbsp;<mark><mark style=\"background-color:#ffffff\" class=\"has-inline-color has-pale-pink-color\">especially if it is a noun<\/mark><\/mark>, we like to add another character with the same meaning or add a non-content word such as, \u201c\u5b50(zi) and <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u5152<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u513f<\/span>(er)&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u706b\u7130 (hu\u01d2y\u00e0n) fire + fire = fire<br>\u6c34<span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u5152<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u513f<\/span> (shu\u01d0er) water + no meaning = water<br>\u684c\u5b50 (zhu\u014dzi) table + no meaning = table<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, the funny thing is that when these nouns combine with another word, it can help clarify the meaning. Then the duplicate words and no-meaning words are not necessary anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u5927\u706b (d\u00e0hu\u01d2) big + fire = large fire; conflagration<br>\u559d\u6c34 (h\u0113shu\u01d0) drink + water = to drink water<br>\u6728\u684c (m\u00f9zhu\u014d) wood + table = wooden table<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><mark><mark style=\"background-color:#ffffff\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\"><strong>Note:<\/strong>&nbsp;Around 10 percent of Chinese words are commonly used by themselves. So don\u2019t get me wrong- I am not asking you to always use compound words. I am just trying to give you a&nbsp;brief introduction and explanation.<\/mark><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:43px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"So_%E2%80%9C%E5%AD%90_zi%E2%80%9C_and_%E2%80%9D%E5%85%92%E5%84%BF_er%E2%80%9D_have_no_meaning\"><\/span><strong><mark><mark style=\"background-color:#ffffff\" class=\"has-inline-color has-black-color\">So \u201c\u5b50 zi\u201c and \u201d\u5152\/\u513f er&#8221; have no meaning?<\/mark><\/mark><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Correct but not correct!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you read \u5b50 as z\u01d0, it means child.<br>When you read <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u5152<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u513f<\/span> as \u00e9r, it means son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you read both of them in a neutral tone, then yes, they have no meaning, but they still have their functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-background\" style=\"background-color:#8dd2fc3d\"><strong>\u5b50<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To define a word as a noun<br>\u9f3b\u5b50 (b\u00edzi) nose<br>\u978b\u5b50 (xi\u00e9zi) shoe<br><span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u7345<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u72ee<\/span>\u5b50 (sh\u012bzi) lion<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To change a word into a noun<br>\u5237\u5b50 (shu\u0101zi) = to brush + zi = a brush<br>\u50bb\u5b50 (sh\u01cezi) = foolish + zi = fool<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#7bdbb547\"><strong>\u5152\/\u513f<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To distinguish words<br>\u767d<span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u9eb5<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u9762<\/span> (b\u00e1imi\u00e0n): flour<br>\u767d<span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u9eb5\u5152<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u9762\u513f<\/span> (b\u00e1imi\u00e0nr): heroin<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To distinguish homophones<br>\u5b8c (w\u00e1n): to finish<br>\u73a9<span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u5152<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u513f<\/span> (w\u00e1nr): to play<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To distinguish a noun from a verb<br><span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u756b<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u753b<\/span> (hu\u00e0): to paint<br><span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u756b\u5152<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u753b\u513f<\/span> (hu\u00e0r): painting<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:43px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_about_ancient_Chinese\"><\/span><strong>How about ancient Chinese?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Chinese wasn\u2019t always like this. In ancient times, most Chinese words were one syllable. However, language has changed a lot over time. The basic characters are not enough anymore, so we have started to create some new characters. But creating new characters wasn\u2019t an easy job, so instead of creating new characters, Chinese people decided to combine characters and make them into new words. As for the original root words, we also add one character or create two-syllable words to get rid of any ambiguity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table is-style-stripes\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Ancient Words<\/strong><\/td><td><\/td><td><strong>New Words<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u65e5 r\u00ec<\/td><td>\u27a1\ufe0f<\/td><td>\u592a<span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u967d<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u9633<\/span><br>T\u00e0iy\u00e1ng<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Sun<\/td><td><\/td><td>\u2600\ufe0f<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u6708 yu\u00e8<\/td><td>\u27a1\ufe0f<\/td><td>\u6708\u4eae<br><span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">Yu\u00e8li\u00e0ng<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">Yu\u00e8liang<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Moon<\/td><td><\/td><td>\ud83c\udf19<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:30px\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>So did we abandon the ancient words? The answer is no. We\u2019ve kept the ancient words and their meanings to combine with other characters. And we\u2019ve created new words that somehow relate to the original meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u65e5\u671f <span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">r\u00ecq\u00ed<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">r\u00ecq\u012b<\/span> date<br>\u65e5\u51fa r\u00ecch\u016b sunrise<br>\u751f\u65e5 sh\u0113ngr\u00ec birthday<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u4e00\u6708 y\u012byu\u00e8 January<br><span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u6708\u7d93<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u6708\u7ecf<\/span> yu\u00e8j\u012bng menstrual period<br>\u6708\u7968 yu\u00e8pi\u00e0o monthly ticket<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:43px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"It_seems_like_every_word_has_its_own_function\"><\/span><strong><mark><mark style=\"background-color:#ffffff\" class=\"has-inline-color\">It seems like every word has its own function<\/mark><\/mark><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s not quite the case. There is one kind of word called binding words (<span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u9023\u7dbf\u8a5e<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u8fde\u7ef5\u8bcd<\/span> li\u00e1nmi\u00e1n c\u00ed), which contains only one morpheme. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u8461\u8404 (p\u00fat\u00e1o): grape<br><span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u99f1\u99dd<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u9a86\u9a7c<\/span> (lu\u00f2tu\u00f3): camel<br><span class=\"lang-zh-TW\">\u5c37\u5c2c<\/span><span class=\"lang-zh-CN\">\u5c34\u5c2c<\/span> (g\u0101ng\u00e0): embarrassing; embarrassed<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These words can not be separated. Despite having 2 characters, these words have no meaning if the characters are separated. So don\u2019t force your Mandarin teacher to explain every single word in Chinese to you, <strong>unless you want to kill your teacher\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:43px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FYI\"><\/span><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#216c50\" class=\"has-inline-color\">F.Y.I.<\/mark><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In Chinese culture, even numbers are considered good and peaceful. This even number combination could be 1+1 = <mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">2<\/mark> characters, 1+3 = <mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">4<\/mark> characters, or 2+2 = <mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\">4<\/mark> characters, etc. And this belief extends to the preference for even syllable characters and sentences, which are thought to sound more pleasing and harmonious to the ear, and they are often used in poetry and other forms of literature. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-medium is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/tiffanystalk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-300x58.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-570\" width=\"150\" height=\"29\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-300x58.png 300w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-600x115.png 600w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-1024x197.png 1024w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-768x148.png 768w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-1536x296.png 1536w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-2048x394.png 2048w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/fcacd-buymeacoffee_red402x-850x164.png 850w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Do you like it? \ud83d\ude42<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-medium is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/foundation\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/e68f92e59c963-300x86.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-571\" width=\"150\" height=\"43\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/e68f92e59c963-300x86.png 300w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/e68f92e59c963-600x171.png 600w, https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/e68f92e59c963.png 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you ever wondered about the following questions? If you want to know the answers, this is the right article \ud83d\ude07 What is a compound word? A compound word is made up of two smaller words. For example: \u7259\u5237 = \u7259 + \u5237Y\u00e1shu\u0101 = Y\u00e1 + shu\u0101Toothbrush = Tooth + Brush \u66f8\u4e66\u67b6 = \u66f8\u4e66 +&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,13],"tags":[131,308,132,133],"class_list":["post-1473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hsk3","category-hsk4","tag-chinese-compound-word","tag-edited","tag-132","tag-133"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Chinese Compound Word - OneDotDot Chinese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is Chinese Compound Word? Why does Chinese add \u5b50(zi) and \u5152\/\u513f(er), which have no meaning after so many words?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chinese Compound Word - OneDotDot Chinese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What is Chinese Compound Word? Why does Chinese add \u5b50(zi) and \u5152\/\u513f(er), which have no meaning after so many words?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OneDotDot Chinese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-02T12:15:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-07T06:49:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/e68f92e59c963-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tiffany\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tiffany\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"tiffany\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99\"},\"headline\":\"Chinese Compound Word\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-02T12:15:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-07T06:49:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/\"},\"wordCount\":1075,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/e68f92e59c963-2.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Chinese Compound Word\",\"edited\",\"\u513f\",\"\u5b50\"],\"articleSection\":[\"HSK 3\",\"HSK 4\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/\",\"name\":\"Chinese Compound Word - OneDotDot Chinese\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/e68f92e59c963-2.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-02T12:15:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-07T06:49:27+00:00\",\"description\":\"What is Chinese Compound Word? Why does Chinese add \u5b50(zi) and \u5152\/\u513f(er), which have no meaning after so many words?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/e68f92e59c963-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/e68f92e59c963-2.png\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9801\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chinese Compound Word\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/\",\"name\":\"OneDotDot Chinese\",\"description\":\"Learn a little Chinese every day\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99\",\"name\":\"tiffany\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png\",\"width\":214,\"height\":214,\"caption\":\"tiffany\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tiffanys_talk\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tiffany-huang-mandarin\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/author\/tiffany\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chinese Compound Word - OneDotDot Chinese","description":"What is Chinese Compound Word? Why does Chinese add \u5b50(zi) and \u5152\/\u513f(er), which have no meaning after so many words?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chinese Compound Word - OneDotDot Chinese","og_description":"What is Chinese Compound Word? Why does Chinese add \u5b50(zi) and \u5152\/\u513f(er), which have no meaning after so many words?","og_url":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/","og_site_name":"OneDotDot Chinese","article_published_time":"2022-08-02T12:15:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-07T06:49:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/e68f92e59c963-2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"tiffany","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tiffany","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/"},"author":{"name":"tiffany","@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99"},"headline":"Chinese Compound Word","datePublished":"2022-08-02T12:15:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-07T06:49:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/"},"wordCount":1075,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/e68f92e59c963-2.png","keywords":["Chinese Compound Word","edited","\u513f","\u5b50"],"articleSection":["HSK 3","HSK 4"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/","url":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/","name":"Chinese Compound Word - OneDotDot Chinese","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/e68f92e59c963-2.png","datePublished":"2022-08-02T12:15:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-07T06:49:27+00:00","description":"What is Chinese Compound Word? Why does Chinese add \u5b50(zi) and \u5152\/\u513f(er), which have no meaning after so many words?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/e68f92e59c963-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/e68f92e59c963-2.png","width":1000,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/chinese-compound-word\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9801","item":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chinese Compound Word"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/","name":"OneDotDot Chinese","description":"Learn a little Chinese every day","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3556e1160fac98b190d03b8aa8604d99","name":"tiffany","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png","url":"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png","width":214,"height":214,"caption":"tiffany"},"logo":{"@id":"http:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo_tiffany2-1.png"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tiffanys_talk\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tiffany-huang-mandarin\/"],"url":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/author\/tiffany\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/e68f92e59c963-2.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1473"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6357,"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1473\/revisions\/6357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiffanysmandarin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}