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减刑 (jiǎn xíng) — to reduce or commute a prison sentence

Definition

A legal term meaning a court officially shortens a prisoner's sentence, usually for good behavior. Only the court can grant 减刑 — it is not the same as a prisoner being released early on parole.

verb
to reduce or commute a prison sentence

Examples

  • 减刑。
    Fǎ yuàn jué dìng gěi tā jiǎn xíng.
    The court decided to reduce his sentence.
  • 。
    Fǎ yuàn gěi tā jiǎn le liǎng nián xíng.
    The court reduced his sentence by two years.
  • ，减刑。
    Yīn wèi biǎo xiàn hǎo, tā dé dào le jiǎn xíng.
    Because of good behavior, he received a sentence reduction.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

减jiǎnreduce
刑xíngsentence

减 means reduce and 刑 means sentence, so the action reduces a sentence.

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 減; 减 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 減 has 氵, water, and 咸, a seal: sealing off a stream of water lessens its flow. The simplified 减 is a later abbreviation.

Open 减 →

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
刀刀dāo
Sound part声符shēngfú
井
井jǐng刑xíng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

刑 puts 刀 (knife) beside 井. The knife part shows the punishment idea, and 井 gives the sound.

Open 刑 →
Appears in
Law & Justice

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