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伤亡 (shāng wáng) — casualties; injuries and deaths

Definition

伤亡 covers BOTH sides of the toll in one word — injuries and deaths combined, used as a collective noun (伤亡人数, 伤亡惨重). 受伤 is just 'to be injured'; 伤员 is a single wounded person.

casualtiesinjuries and deaths

Examples

  • 伤亡。
    Zhè cì dì zhèn zào chéng le dà liàng shāng wáng.
    This earthquake caused heavy casualties.
  • 伤亡。
    Yī yuàn zhèng zài tǒng jì shāng wáng rén shù.
    The hospital is counting the number of casualties.
  • ，。
    Zhàn zhēng zhōng shāng wáng cǎn zhòng, lìng rén tòng xīn.
    The casualties in the war were heavy and heartbreaking.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

伤shānginjury
亡wángdeath

伤亡 joins 伤 'injury' and 亡 'death' to refer to those hurt or killed.

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 傷; 伤 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
𥏻
𥏻𥏻傷shāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 傷 shows 人, a person, and uses 𥏻 to give the sound; the simplified 伤 is a later shorthand.

Open 伤 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The shape originally marked a knife's cutting edge with a line.

Open 亡 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6

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