军舰 (jūn jiàn) — warship | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

军舰 specifically means a military warship — an armed combat vessel — rather than the collective ships or shipping of 船舶/船只.

noun

warship

Measure word · 艘

Examples

军舰。
Zhè sōu jūn jiàn shì yòng lái fáng kōng zuò zhàn de.
This warship is used for air defense operations.
军舰。
Nà liǎng sōu jūn jiàn zhèng zài jìn xíng lián hé yǎn xí.
Those two warships are conducting joint exercises.
军舰。
Tā men jiàn zào le yì sōu xīn xíng jūn jiàn.
They built a new type of warship.

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

舰jiànship

军 specifies the kind of 舰, a military ship.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 艦; 舰 is its simplified writing.

舟監艦

Meaning part形符xíngfú

舟舟zhōu

Sound part声符shēngfú

監

監jiān艦⁰jiàn

Same sound today

The traditional form 艦 pairs 舟 (boat) with 監 to give the sound; the simplified 舰 is a shorthand and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 舰 →