{"id":13480,"date":"2020-01-23T14:51:32","date_gmt":"2020-01-23T19:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.pimsleur.com\/?p=13480"},"modified":"2025-11-05T14:33:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T19:33:42","slug":"chinese-lunar-new-year-vocabulary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/chinese-lunar-new-year-vocabulary\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Lunar New Year Vocabulary and Phrases Explained – Word Nerd"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Top Mandarin Chinese Lunar New Year (Spring Festival) Greetings and Expressions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Welcome to the Pimsleur Word Nerd Blog Series!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In each Word Nerd post, I\u2019ll share interesting insights into the origins and etymology of words in various languages, and other fun tidbits related to words and language.  In this first post, I\u2019ll dive into some words, expressions, and phrases in Mandarin Chinese which are associated with the Lunar New Year, Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year as it is commonly known. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lunar New Year Greetings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On Lunar New Year, it\u2019s traditional to greet people with the phrase:  \u65b0\u5e74\u5feb\u4e50\uff01<\/strong>(x\u012bn ni\u00e1n ku\u00e0i l\u00e8) <\/em>which means \u201cHave a Happy New Year!\u201d  X\u012bn<\/em> means \u201cnew,\u201d or \u201cnewly.\u201d Ni\u00e1n<\/em> means \u201cyear.\u201d  Ku\u00e0i<\/em> has many meanings, most of them related to speed, for example, the rate something is going, or making haste to get somewhere, but it also means a quickness of thought or being clever.  In this way, it\u2019s related to the sharpness of both wits, and knives. L\u00e8<\/em> means, \u201chappy, cheerful,\u201d and also is related to laughter.  So if taken literally, the phrase x\u012bn ni\u00e1n ku\u00e0i l\u00e8<\/em> sort of means, \u201cnew year haste to happy laughter.\u201d  I\u2019m sure we all could use more happy laughter in our lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An interesting thing about the etymology, or origins, of ni\u00e1n<\/em>, or \u201cyear,\u201d is that it\u2019s related to the rice harvest, and the tradition of celebrating the Lunar New Year has ancient ties to agriculture. \u519c\u5386\u65b0\u5e74<\/strong> (n\u00f3ng l\u00ec x\u012bn ni\u00e1n)<\/em> means, \u201cLunar New Year,\u201d in Mandarin. You\u2019ll recognize x\u012bn<\/em> and ni\u00e1n<\/em> from the new year\u2019s greeting above.  N\u00f3ng<\/em> is related to things having to do with agriculture, and l\u00ed<\/em> in this usage is related to history or the passage of time.  Together they reference harvest time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\ncommon phrase related to Chinese New Year is \u8fc7\u5e74 (gu\u00f2 ni\u00e1n<\/em>).  Gu\u00f3<\/em> means, \u201cto cross,\u201d or \u201cto go\nover,\u201d but also \u201cto live,\u201d so although gu\u00f3<\/em> ni\u00e1n<\/em> literally means\n\u201cto cross to the new year,\u201d some people also associate it with overcoming a\nmythical beast called the Ni\u00e1n<\/em>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese Legend of Ni\u00e1n<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n