军功 (jūn gōng) — military exploit; military merit

Definition

noun
military exploitmilitary merit
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，军功。
    Tā yīn zhàn gōng xiǎn hè, huò dé le duō cì jūn gōng.
    He was awarded many military exploits for his outstanding achievements in battle.
  • 军功。
    Zhè wèi jiāng jūn de jūn gōng jì lù fēi cháng huī huáng.
    This general's record of military exploits is extremely glorious.
  • 军功。
    Guó jiā duì yú yǒu jūn gōng de shì bīng jǐ yǔ tè shū jiǎng lì.
    The state gives special rewards to soldiers with military merits.

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.

军jūnmilitary
功gōngmerit

军 points to military affairs, while 功 means merit or exploit.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 軍; 军 is its simplified writing.

  • 車車jūcart; chariot
  • 勹勹bāoto surround

In the traditional form 軍, 車 shows the chariot sense, while the part now written 勹 is a sound part, not the 'surround' 勹. Simplified 军 is a later shorthand.

Open 军 →

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
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng功gōng
Same sound today

功 puts 力 (strength) beside 工, which gives the sound gōng and means labour or work.

Open 功 →

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