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停工 (tíng gōng) — to stop work, to shut down (operations)

Definition

A verb-object phrase meaning operations halt: a site, factory, or project suspends work, usually temporarily (weather, strike, overhaul). Not for people clocking off — use 下班 or 休息.

verb
to stop workto shut down (operations)

Examples

  • ，停工。
    Yīn wèi tái fēng, gōng dì tíng gōng le.
    The construction site shut down because of the typhoon.
  • 。
    Gōng chǎng tíng le sān tiān gōng cái huī fù shēng chǎn.
    The factory stopped work for three days before resuming production.
  • 停工。
    Lǎo bǎn xuān bù cóng míng tiān qǐ tíng gōng zhěng dùn.
    The boss announced a shutdown starting tomorrow for reorganization.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

停tíngstop
工gōngwork

停 expresses stopping, while 工 names work, so the whole means to stop work.

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rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
亭
亭tíng停tíng
Same sound today

The left side 亻 is a person, and the right side 亭 gives the sound tíng; this forms 停.

Open 停 →

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →
Appears in
Change & ProcessWorkplace & Office

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