前边

Étymologie et composants

The Chinese word 前边 (qiánbiān) is composed of two characters: 前 (qián) and 边 (biān). 前 means "front" or "before", while 边 means "side" or "edge". Together, 前边 literally means "the front side" or "the front edge". In modern Chinese, 前边 is used as a preposition to mean "in front of" or "ahead of". It can also be used as a noun to mean "the front" or "the forefront".The character 前 is derived from the oracle bone script, which depicts a person standing with their arms outstretched. This character originally meant "to go forward" or "to advance". Over time, it came to be used more broadly to mean "front" or "before".The character 边 is derived from the oracle bone script, which depicts a person standing on the edge of a cliff. This character originally meant "edge" or "boundary". Over time, it came to be used more broadly to mean "side" or "border".The combination of 前 and 边 to form 前边 is a natural one, as it combines the meanings of "front" and "side" to create a word that means "the front side" or "the front edge". This word is commonly used in everyday Chinese to refer to the front of something, such as the front of a building or the front of a line.