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共同体 (gòng tóng tǐ) — community

Definition

共同体 refers to a community united by a shared identity, interest, or goal (e.g., economic, ecological). 社区 is a local neighborhood; 集体 is a working group; 群体 is a looser demographic cluster.

noun
community
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 共同体。
    Zhè ge xué xí gòng tóng tǐ yóu lái zì bù tóng guó jiā de xué shēng zǔ chéng.
    This learning community is made up of students from different countries.
  • 共同体。
    Tā men xíng chéng le yí gè jǐn mì de jīng jì gòng tóng tǐ.
    They formed a close-knit economic community.
  • 共同体。
    Zhè ge dì qū zhèng zài jiàn shè yí gè shēng tài gòng tóng tǐ.
    This region is building an ecological community.

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.

共同shared
共gòngshared同tóngsame
联合Coordinate
体tǐbody

共同 (shared, same) and 体 (body/entity) combine to name a body joined by shared ties.

Characters in this word

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

  • 廾廾gǒngtwo hands
  • 口口kǒuan object

共 shows 廾, two hands, holding up an object. That object was written 口 and later became the 廿-like top.

Open 共 →

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

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

Open 同 →

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 體; 体 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
骨骨gǔbone
Sound part声符shēngfú
豊
豊lǐ體tǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 體 pairs 骨 (bone) with 豊 as a sound part; this note is about 體, not about the parts of 体.

Open 体 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Groups & Organizations

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