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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

層出不窮

/t͡sʰɤŋ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰu⁵⁵ pu⁵¹ t͡ɕʰi̯ʊŋ³⁵/
to emerge in an endless stream; to come thick and fast
  • 层出不穷
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Origin

The phrase 層出不窮 is formed from the characters 層, 出, 不, and 窮. The character 層, meaning to pile up or to overlap, contains the semantic component 尸 (a living person representing a dead person during a rite) and the phonetic component 曾 (already; ever; once; previously).

The character 出, meaning to go out, to leave, or to exit, is composed of the components 止 (foot) and 凵 (to open one's mouth). The character 不 means not, un-, in-, il-, im-, or ir-. Finally, 窮, meaning to exhaust, consists of the semantic component 穴 (hole) and the phonetic component 躬 (body). The character 躬 itself contains the semantic component 身 (body) and the phonetic component 弓 (bow weapon).

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

層出不窮由「層」、「出」、「不」、「窮」四個字組成。其中，「層」表示堆疊或重疊，由表示祭祀中代表死者的「尸」作為意符，並以「曾」作為音符；「出」表示出去、離開或退出，由「止」（腳）與「凵」（張開口）組成；「不」表示否定；「窮」則表示窮盡，由「穴」作為意符，並以「躬」作為音符。

在字形構成上，「躬」字包含表示身體的「身」作為意符，並以「弓」作為音符。此詞彙描述事物接連不斷地湧現，呈現出沒有盡頭的狀態。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • characterChinese層 “to pile up; to overlap”
    • meaningChinese尸 “a living person who represents the dead person during a rite”
    • soundChinese曾 “already; ever; once (in the past); previously”
  • characterChinese出 “to go out; to leave; to exit”
    • ideaChinese止 “foot”
    • ideaChinese凵 “to open one's mouth”
  • characterChinese不 “not; un-; in-; il-; im-; ir-”
  • characterChinese窮 “to exhaust”
    • meaningChinese穴 “hole”
    • soundChinese躬 “body”
      • meaningChinese身 “body”
      • soundChinese弓 “bow (weapon) (Classifier: 張／张)”
Wiktionary etymology text

No etymology text yet. The graph shows what is known from the sources.

Meanings

phrase
  1. to emerge in an endless stream; to come thick and fast

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 接連不斷的出現，似乎沒有窮盡。 例：這臺冷氣機自買來後，毛病就層出不窮。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

An Endless Stream of Emergence

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Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0