光荣榜 (guāng róng bǎng) — honor roll; list of honorees

Definition

A public board listing people honored for achievements — 'honor roll'. The literal meaning is 'glory + list', so it implies official recognition, not just any name list.

noun
honor rolllist of honorees
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 光荣榜。
    Tā de míng zì shàng le zhè ge xué qī de guāng róng bǎng.
    His name is on this semester's honor roll.
  • 光荣榜。
    Xué xiào de guāng róng bǎng shàng tiē mǎn le yōu xiù xué shēng de zhào piàn.
    The school's honor board is covered with photos of outstanding students.
  • 光荣榜。
    Gōng sī měi nián dōu huì gōng bù xiāo shòu guàn jūn de guāng róng bǎng.
    The company publishes the sales champions' honor roll every year.

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.

光荣glory
光guāngglory荣rónghonor
联合Side by side
榜bǎnglist

光荣 gives the sense of glory or honor, and 榜 is a list, so it is a list honoring people.

Characters in this word

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

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The shape 光 places 火 (fire) above 卩 (a kneeling person), showing fire over the head and the shining of light.

Open 光 →

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 榮; 荣 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
熒
熒yíng榮róng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 榮 pairs 木, a tree/wood part, with 熒 (yíng) as the part that gives the sound; the simplified 荣 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 荣 →

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
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
旁
旁páng榜
Same sound today

榜 pairs 木, a tree or wood element, with 旁, which is used for the sound.

Open 榜 →

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