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两翼 (liǎng yì) — both wings (of a bird, aircraft, etc.); both flanks / wings (of an army, organization, political party, etc.)

Definition

Both wings of a bird or aircraft, or both flanks/wings of an army or organization. A physical or military figure of speech, not a general term for 'both sides' — for abstract 'both parties' use 双方.

noun
both wings (of a bird, aircraft, etc.)both flanks / wings (of an army, organization, political party, etc.)

Examples

  • 两翼。
    Niǎo de liǎng yì kě yǐ bāng zhù tā fēi dé hěn gāo.
    The bird's wings help it fly very high.
  • 两翼。
    Jūn duì bì xū bǎo hù hǎo liǎng yì.
    The army must protect both flanks.
  • 两翼。
    Zhè ge zǔ zhī de liǎng yì bāo kuò shēng chǎn hé xiāo shòu.
    The two wings of this organization include production and sales.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

两liǎngtwo
翼yìwing

两 gives both or two, and 翼 names the wings, so it means both wings or flanks.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 兩; 两 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 兩 is described as combining 一 and 㒳. The simplified 两 is a later abbreviation.

Open 两 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
羽羽yǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
異
異yì翼yì
Same sound today

翼 combines 羽 (feathers/wings) with 異, which supplies the sound.

Open 翼 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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