年龄
niánlíng · HSK 5
age
🎂 年 = year + 龄 = age-suffix; together literally years-of-age
年 means year and 龄 is a bound morpheme meaning age or years-of-life (also in 工龄 work-years, 树龄 tree age). So 年龄 stacks year + age-suffix to mean a person's age.
年 — grain 禾 over person 人 (oracle bone)
Originally a pictograph of a person carrying a bundle of harvested grain on their back, representing the yearly grain harvest. Because harvests came once a year, the character shifted from meaning 'harvest' to meaning 'year.' The modern form 年 obscures the original 禾 (grain) + 人 (person) structure.
nián líng · HSK 4
age
🎂 年 = year + 龄 (age suffix, from 齿 tooth) — years counted by teeth
年 means year; 龄 combines 齿 (tooth) + 令, since ancient cultures judged age by counting teeth (on people and livestock). Together 年龄 literally reads year-age, the standard word for someone's age in years.
年 — grain 禾 over person 人 (oracle bone)
Originally a pictograph of a person carrying a bundle of harvested grain on their back, representing the yearly grain harvest. Because harvests came once a year, the character shifted from meaning 'harvest' to meaning 'year.' The modern form 年 obscures the original 禾 (grain) + 人 (person) structure.