代表大会 (dài biǎo dà huì) — congress, representative assembly

Definition

noun
congressrepresentative assembly
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 代表大会。
    Zhè ge guó jiā měi nián dōu huì zhào kāi yí cì dài biǎo dà huì.
    This country holds a congress every year.
  • 代表大会。
    Dài biǎo men zài dài biǎo dà huì shàng tǎo lùn le zhòng yào wèn tí.
    The delegates discussed important issues at the congress.
  • 代表大会。
    dài biǎo dà huì De xuǎn jǔ jié guǒ yǐ jīng gōng bù.
    The election results of the congress have been announced.

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.

代表represent
代dàisubstitute表biǎoexpress
联合Side by side
大会large meeting
大dàlarge会huìmeeting
偏正Modifier + head

The '代表' idea of people standing for others and the '大会' idea of a large meeting combine to name a congress.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
弋
弋yì代dài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 代, 亻 shows a person, and 弋 gives the sound.

Open 代 →

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

The shape 表 pairs 衣 (garment) with 毛 (hair or feather), originally an outer garment.

Open 表 →

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →

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