# Pronunciation: 了无生机



## yuechu

大家好！

I was recently reading the following sentence online: "往日的纽约城，从来没有像今天这般空旷零落，了无生机，她总是热闹非凡，充满活力，每一次造访总是能给人们带来别样的愉悦感受。" 
Source: Yuntai (2020) 忆去年岁末参观纽约联合国总部

Would anyone know how to pronounce "了无生机" here and its meaning?
Thanks!


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## ovaltine888

Liao3wu2sheng1ji1

Lifeless


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## yuechu

Such a quick answer!  Thanks, Ovaltine888!


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## SimonTsai

了 (altogether) 無

生機 ==> devoid of living beings
新意 ==> clichéd; unoriginal
生趣 ==> (of life) dull
成效 ==> ineffective


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## ovaltine888

了无生趣应该比dull严重得多，是depression的症状才是。


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## yuechu

Those expressions use the same structure with 了无, right? Thanks for the info, SimonTsai!


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## brofeelgood

生机
① 生存的机会
② 生命的活力

Definition ② applies here. The sentence describes the lack of vitality/vibrancy in NYC, a trait the city's always been associated with.


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## Skatinginbc

SimonTsai said:


> 了 (altogether) 無
> 生機 ==> devoid of living beings


了無生跡，毫無生物跡象???


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## SimonTsai

My mistake. I must have been thinking of somewhere like the Atacama Desert or Antarctica.

Just feeling curious, what exactly does '機' there mean? (Being a native speaker doesn't mean that I know everything.)


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## ovaltine888

没有必要把中文拆成单字，现代中文是以词为基本元素的。


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## Skatinginbc

SimonTsai said:


> what exactly does '機' there mean?


機能，活動能力，活力。
生機，生命的活力，生命力。


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## retrogradedwithwind

以前曾经看过有人论述“机”字含义的演变。在历史上，“机”多代表无生命的物体如机器机关。但后来不知道怎么回事，出现了“有机物”一词，机的意义中多出了一层意思，指代有生命的物体。生机应该是近代创造的词汇，意为生命的活力。表达同样的意思，古人多用 生意、生气。这些词现代也用，但没有生机用得普遍。


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