What can I say ... I love making lists. This
one is a collection of the different Chinese characters that can be used to
refer to people. As with my other lists, the real value comes from
learning the word combinations that can be formed with each character.
Note that some of the synonyms carry other meanings, but I only mention these if
they are relevant to the theme of this collection.
This collection doesn't include the numerous words
Chinese has for naming relatives, such as 媽 (mother), 爸 (father), 姑 (father's sister), 舅 (mother's brother) ... there are dozens of these and so
they really deserve their own list.
人 - person
家人
jia1
ren2
family
member
親人
qin1
ren2
relative
工人
gong1
ren2
worker
犯人
fan4
ren2
criminal
太空人
tai4 kong1
ren2
astronaut
本地人
ben3 di4
ren2
local,
native
外國人
wai4 guo2
ren2
foreigner
候選人
hou4 xüan3 ren2
candidate
者 - person,
always attached to a verb and can be interpreted as "one who
does..."
作者
zuo4
zhe3
editor
記者
ji4
zhe3
reporter
支持者
zhi1 chi2
zhe3
supporter
反對者
fan3 dui4
zhe3
opponent
使用者
shi3 yong4
zhe3
user
消費者
xiao1 fei4
zhe3
consumer
參加者
can1 jia1
zhe3
participant
志願者
zhi4 yuan4
zhe3
volunteer
朝聖者
chao2 sheng4 zhe3
pilgrim, lit. 'one
who faces holy'
患者
huan4 zhe3
patient, lit. 'one
who suffers'
民 - civilian,
usually identifies a person as a member of a larger group
難民
nan4 min2
refugee
公民
gong1 min2
civilian
市民
shi4 min2
civilian (city
dweller)
選民
xüan3 min2
voters, electorate
移民
yi2 min2
immigrant
原住民
yüan2 zhu4 min2
aboriginese
家 -
professional
作家
zuo4
jia1
writer
畫家
hua4
jia1
painter
藝術家
yi4 shu4
jia1
artist
探險家
tan4 xian3
jia1
explorer
科學家
ke1 xüe2
jia1
scientist
贏家
ying2
jia1
winner
專家
zhuan1
jia1
expert
員 - staff,
member
人員
ren2
yuan2
staff
會員
hui4
yuan2
club
member
委員
wei3
yuan2
councilor,
committee member
演員
yan3
yuan2
actor
匠 -
craftsman
工匠
gong1
jiang4
craftsman
木匠
mu4
jiang4
carpenter
鎖匠
suo3
jiang4
locksmith
東 - owner,
host
房東
fang2
dong1
landlord
股東
gu3
dong1
stock
holder
長 - literally 'senior', refers to someone in charge of a
team or institution
部長
bu4
zhang3
department
head
校長
xiao4
zhang3
shcool
principal
院長
yuan4
zhang3
dean, director
of institute
家長
jia1
zhang3
head of
household
市長
shi4
zhang3
mayor
州長
zhou1
zhang3
governor
董事長
dong3 shi4 zhang3
chairman of board
of trustees
主 - literally 'main, primary', also master or
leader
幫主
bang1
zhu3
gang
leader
雇主
gu4
zhu3
employer
君主
jun1
zhu3
monarch
師 - teacher, master
老師
lao3
shi1
teacher
律師
lü4
shi1
lawyer
廚師
chu2
shi1
chef
工程師
gong1 cheng2 shi1
engineer
手 - literally 'hand', implies a low-level occupation or
manual labor
歌手
ge1
shou3
singer
鼓手
gu3
shou3
drummer
助手
zhu4
shou3
assistant,
helper
敵手
di2
shou3
enemy
舵手
duo4
shou3
helmsman
徒 - disciple, follower
信徒
xin4
tu2
disciple,
believer
學徒
xue3
tu2
apprentice
叛徒
pan4
tu2
traitor
暴徒
bao4 tu2
insurgent
賭徒
du3
tu2
gambler
夫 - literally 'husband',
refers to a man in an agricultural occupation
農夫
nong2
fu1
farmer
漁夫
yu2
fu1
fisherman
屠夫
tu2
fu1
buther
戶 - literally 'door leaf, household', used also to refer to
a customer
客戶
ke4
hu4
customer,
client
用戶
yong4
hu4
customer
裁 - literally 'to cut or tailor', for some reason also
appears in these two words:
總裁
zong3
cai2
chief
executive
獨裁
du2
cai2
dictator
匪 - bandit
土匪
tu3
fei3
bandit
盜匪
dao4
fei3
bandit,
pirate
鬼 - literally 'ghost, demon', used as a derogatory term when
referring to a person
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