(rén kǒu) - population in Mandarin
rénkǒuTraditional: 人口
Translation
population
Word origin
Literally people (人, rén) counted by mouth (口, kǒu); historical censuses tallied households by the number of mouths to feed, and the phrase settled into the modern word for population.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 人 (rén, person) + 口 (kǒu, mouth, used as a counting unit for people)
Stroke order
人
口
Examples
。
China's population is very large.
逐。
This city's population increases year by year.
亿。
The world's population has already exceeded eight billion.
。
The rural population is decreasing.
。
This country's population ageing is very serious.
人口 (rénkǒu) is population, from 人 (rén, person) and 口 (kǒu, mouth). The "mouth" here is a counting unit, the historical way of tallying how many people a household or a region had to feed.
It shows up in the vocabulary of demographics and policy: 人口增长 (rénkǒu zēngzhǎng), population growth; 人口密度 (rénkǒu mìdù), population density; 人口老龄化 (rénkǒu lǎolínghuà), an ageing population. All of these keep 人口 (rénkǒu) fixed as the first element.
Do not confuse it with 人们 (rénmen), "people" as in a group of individuals, or 人数 (rénshù), a headcount for a specific event. 人口 (rénkǒu) is specifically the statistical population of a place.
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人口: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "人口" (population): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 92.