青少年
qīngshàonián · HSK 2
adolescent
🧑🎓 青 (young/green) + 少年 (youth) = young person, i.e. adolescent
少年 on its own means 'youth/boy'; prefixing 青 (green, by extension 'young/fresh') narrows it to the teen band. Compare 青年 (young adult) — 青少年 spans the younger 'teens' stretch.
青 — 生 (growth/sprout) on top + 丹 (well/cinnabar) below
青 originally depicted young plants (生) growing above a mineral pit (丹, cinnabar well), suggesting the fresh blue-green color of new growth and natural pigments. Over time it came to cover a range of cool colors—green, blue, and even black—and by extension means 'young' or 'youthful.'
少 — 小 (small) + 丿 (slash stroke)
Originally a pictograph showing four small dots or grains, suggesting 'few' or 'small in quantity'. Over time it became distinguished from 小 (small) by adding a downward stroke. The core meaning shifted toward 'few' or 'little in number', while 小 kept the sense of physical smallness.
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.