源etymfun
About

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

年

nián
year (in generic contexts)
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 1
  • radical 干
  • 6 strokes

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
React Flow
Press enter or space to select a node. You can then use the arrow keys to move the node around. Press delete to remove it and escape to cancel.
Press enter or space to select an edge. You can then press delete to remove it or escape to cancel.

點擊節點放大 · Click a node to zoom in

Origin

The Chinese character 年 (nián) is a phono-semantic compound. It is composed of the semantic component 禾, meaning grain or cereal, and the phonetic component 人, meaning man, person, or people. In its earliest forms found in oracle bone script and early bronze inscriptions, it was written as 秂. Originally, the character meant harvest, but it later came to mean year.

In bronze inscriptions following the Western Zhou period, a stroke was often added to the phonetic component 人 to create 千, resulting in the form 秊. This form still functioned phonetically. The current character is inherited from the clerical script following the process of libian. The character is also considered to have been inherited from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ni(ŋ~k) "year".

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

「年」是一個形聲字，由表示「禾」（穀物）的語義部分與表示「人」的音符部分組成。在甲骨文與早期青銅器銘文中，其原始寫法為「秂」。西周時期的青銅器銘文中，常在「人」字上增加一筆形成「千」（上古音 *sn̥ʰiːn），使其作為音符，寫作「秊」。目前的字形是繼承自隸書，並經過隸變而來。

根據溯源，此字繼承自原始漢藏語的 *s-ni(ŋ~k)（意為「年」）。在字義上，「年」除了指代一般的年份、時代或時期，也可用作計算時間的量詞，並指代歲數或年齡。此外，它也與收穫或年度相關。

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

Lineage

  • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*s-ni(ŋ~k) “year”
  • meaningChinese禾 “grain; cereal”
  • soundChinese人 “man; person; people (Classifier: 個／个 m c; 隻／只 h)”

Words built on it: 今年, 去年, 前年, 明年, 青年, 新年, 中年, 年代, 青少年, 少年, 周年, 半年

Wiktionary etymology text

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *niːŋ): semantic 禾 (“wheat; grain”) + phonetic 人 (OC *njin). Originally meaning "harvest", it later came to mean "year". In the oracle bone script and early bronze inscriptions, it was originally written like 秂.

In bronze inscriptions after the Western Zhou period, a stroke was often added to 人 to give 千 (OC *sn̥ʰiːn), which still acted as a phonetic component, thus getting (秊). The current form is inherited from the clerical script, where libian (隸變) has occurred.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ni(ŋ~k) (“year”).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. year (in generic contexts)
  2. harvest
  3. annual
  4. age
  5. period of life
  6. period (in history)

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 量詞。計算時間的單位。一年有十二個月。 例：這件事要花四年時間才能完成。
  2. 年節。 例：過年
  3. 時代、時期。 例：滿清末年、康熙年間
  4. 歲數、年齡。 例：延年益壽、年輕力壯
  5. 人生中的某時期。 例：童年、壯年、老年
  6. 農作物收成的情形。 例：豐年、歉年

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

How 年 was written 字形演變

  1. 年 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 年 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 年 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 年 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 年 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 年 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 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
  • Wiktionary: 年