军阶 (jūn jiē) — (military) rank, grade

Definition

noun
(military) rankgrade
Measure word · 级

Examples

  • 军阶。
    Tā de jūn jiē shì shàng xiào.
    His military rank is colonel.
  • 军阶。
    Jìn shēng jūn jiē xū yào hěn duō nián.
    Promotion in military rank takes many years.
  • 军阶。
    Bù tóng jūn jiē de shì bīng chuān bù tóng zhì fú.
    Soldiers of different ranks wear different uniforms.

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
阶jiērank

军 marks the military field, and 阶 refers to rank or grade.

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 階; 阶 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
皆
皆jiē階jiē
Same sound today

The traditional form 階 uses 阝 (written in full as 阜) to relate to its meaning and 皆 to show its sound; the simplified 阶 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the old sound part.

Open 阶 →

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