丧钟 (sāng zhōng) — funeral bell; death knell (figurative sign of downfall)

Definition

Literally 'funeral bell', 丧钟 is used figuratively as 'death knell' to signal the end or downfall of something (a regime, an idea, a practice). It is almost never a neutral term — it carries a solemn, ominous tone in political or literary writing.

noun
funeral belldeath knell (figurative sign of downfall)

Examples

  • 丧钟。
    Zhàn zhēng de shī bài wèi jiù dì guó qiāo xiǎng le sāng zhōng.
    The defeat in war tolled the death knell for the old empire.
  • 丧钟。
    Fǎn duì pài rèn wéi zhè xiàng zhèng cè shì mín zhǔ de sāng zhōng.
    The opposition considers this policy the death knell of democracy.
  • 丧钟，。
    Měi dāng tīng dào sāng zhōng, rén men dōu huì gǎn dào bēi shāng.
    Whenever they hear the funeral bell, people feel sad.

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.

丧sàngmourning
钟zhōngbell

丧 mourning and 钟 bell combine for a bell rung at funerals.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 喪; 丧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
㗊㗊㗊many mouths
Sound part声符shēngfú
桑
桑sāng喪sàng
Same sound today

The traditional form 喪 originally paired 桑 (mulberry tree) with 㗊 (many mouths). The simplified 丧 is the modern form, deriving from a form that used 哭 (cry) and 亡 (die).

Open 丧 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 钟 →

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