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姓氏

xìngshì

surname; family name

Generations of one family stand before an old house
Memory picture

Characters in this word

姓 xìng

Strokes
8
Radical
女 — woman, girl
Made of
女 woman, girl 生 life, lifetime
How it's built
Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound

氏 shì

Strokes
4
Radical
氏 — clan, family
How it's built
Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
More about the character 氏

Example phrases

  • 许多姓氏的迁徙轨迹能够反映族群融合和地方历史。 Xǔduō xìngshì de qiānxǐ guǐjì nénggòu fǎnyìng zúqún rónghé hé dìfāng lìshǐ. The migration patterns of many surnames can reflect ethnic integration and local history.
  • 我这个姓氏很少见,你肯定没听说过。 Wǒ zhège xìngshì hěn shǎojiàn, nǐ kěndìng méi tīngshuōguò. My surname is very rare — you have surely never heard of it.
  • 他正在研究中国姓氏的起源和分布情况。 Tā zhèngzài yánjiū Zhōngguó xìngshì de qǐyuán hé fēnbù qíngkuàng. He is studying the origin and distribution of Chinese surnames.

Related words

All HSK 9 words →