公国 (gōng guó) — duchy; dukedom

Definition

A 'duchy' — a small state ruled by a duke (公爵). 比 '王国' (kingdom) smaller in rank; not as common as 王国 or 帝国 in Chinese historical texts.

noun
duchydukedom
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 公国。
    Lú sēn bǎo shì yí gè gōng guó.
    Luxembourg is a duchy.
  • 公国。
    Tā men cān guān le nà ge gǔ lǎo de gōng guó.
    They visited that ancient duchy.
  • 公国。
    Zhè ge gōng guó de lì shǐ kě yǐ zhuī sù dào zhōng shì jì.
    The history of this duchy can be traced back to the Middle Ages.

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.

公gōngduke
国guóstate

“公” gives the rank of a duke and “国” gives a state, naming a duke’s territory.

Characters in this word

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →

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