共和派 (gòng hé pài) — Republican faction

Definition

noun

Republican faction

，共和派。
Zài fǎ guó dà gé mìng shí qī, gòng hé pài yǔ bǎo huáng pài jìn xíng le jī liè de dòu zhēng.
During the French Revolution, the Republican faction fought fiercely against the royalists.
共和派。
Nà ge guó jiā de gòng hé pài tí chū le xīn de zhèng zhì gǎi gé fāng àn.
The Republican faction in that country proposed a new political reform plan.
共和派。
Lì shǐ shàng gòng hé pài de yǐng xiǎng yì zhí hěn dà.
The Republican faction's influence has always been great in history.

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.

共和

联合Side by side

“共” and “和” together name a republic, and “派” marks a faction.

Characters in this word

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

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

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

禾口和

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

禾

Same sound today

和 pairs 禾, which gives the sound, with 口 (mouth), the meaning part; the reference connects this shape to harmony.

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

水水shuǐwater; river

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠂢

𠂢𠂢派pài

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

派 is built from 水 (water/river) and 𠂢. 𠂢 gives the sound, and 水 was added later to tell the character apart from the older form.