举报人 (jǔ bào rén) — whistleblower; informant; person who reports illegal activity

Definition

noun
whistleblowerinformantperson who reports illegal activity
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 举报人。
    Nì míng jǔ bào rén tí gōng le zhòng yào xiàn suǒ.
    The anonymous whistleblower provided important clues.
  • 举报人。
    Gōng sī nèi bù yǒu jǔ bào rén xiàng méi tǐ bào guāng le chǒu wén.
    There was an informant inside the company who exposed the scandal to the media.
  • 举报人。
    Hěn duō jǔ bào rén yīn wéi hài pà bào fu ér xuǎn zé chén mò.
    Many whistleblowers choose to remain silent out of fear of retaliation.

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.

举报report
举jǔreport报bàoreport
联合Side by side
人rénperson

举报 (reporting) and 人 (person) give someone who reports wrongdoing.

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 舉; 举 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
與
與yǔ舉jǔ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 舉 pairs 與, which gives the sound, with 手, a hand; the simplified 举 is a later shorthand.

Open 举 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 報; 报 is its simplified writing.

  • 㚔㚔㚔handcuffs
  • 𠬝𠬝𠬝to subdue

The traditional form 報 puts 㚔 (handcuffs) beside 𠬝 (to subdue), showing someone restrained and subdued, as in convicting or punishing a guilty person. The simplified 报 is a later shorthand.

Open 报 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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