介词 (jiè cí) — preposition; coverb (in Chinese linguistics)

Definition

A grammatical term for 'preposition' — a word (e.g. 在, 从, 对) placed before a phrase to mark location, time, direction, or object. In Chinese linguistics many 介词 historically derive from verbs, so they're often called 'coverbs'.

noun
prepositioncoverb (in Chinese linguistics)

Examples

  • 介词。
    Xué xí jiè cí shí yào zhù yì tā zài jù zi zhōng de wèi zhì.
    When learning prepositions, pay attention to their position in the sentence.
  • 介词。
    Hàn yǔ zhōng de jiè cí cháng cháng yóu dòng cí yǎn biàn ér lái.
    Prepositions in Chinese are often derived from verbs.
  • 介词。
    Zhè piān lùn wén tǎo lùn le jiè cí de dìng yì hé fēn lèi.
    This paper discusses the definition and classification of prepositions.

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.

介jièintroduce
词cíword

“介” (introduce) and “词” (word) name a word that introduces other words.

Characters in this word

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

介 shows a central human form with two marks around it, indicating being between.

Open 介 →

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 詞; 词 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
司
司sī詞cí(r)
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 詞 uses 言, meaning speech, and 司 to show how it was pronounced; the simplified 词 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 词 →

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