军粮 (jūn liáng) — army provisions; grain for the military

Definition

noun
army provisionsgrain for the military

Examples

  • 军粮。
    Jūn duì xū yào zú gòu de jūn liáng lái wéi chí zhàn dòu lì.
    The army needs sufficient provisions to maintain its combat effectiveness.
  • 军粮。
    Zhè pī jūn liáng shì qián tiān cóng hòu fāng yùn lái de.
    This batch of army grain was transported from the rear two days ago.
  • ，军粮。
    Zài zhàn zhēng zhōng, jūn liáng de gōng yìng zhì guān zhòng yào.
    In war, the supply of military provisions is critically important.

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jūnarmy
粮liángprovisions

军, army, and 粮, provisions, together mean grain kept for the army.

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
米米mǐfood
Sound part声符shēngfú
良
良liáng粮liáng
Same sound today

粮 puts 米 (food) beside 良, which gives the sound liáng.

Open 粮 →

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