出殡 (chū bìn) — to hold a funeral procession; to carry a coffin to the burial site

Definition

出殡 refers to the act of carrying the coffin from the home or funeral hall to the burial site — the procession itself, not the full funeral ceremony (葬礼) or the burial (下葬).

verb
to hold a funeral processionto carry a coffin to the burial site

Examples

  • 出殡，？
    Míng tiān tā men jiā chū bìn, nǐ yào qù ma?
    Their family is holding a funeral procession tomorrow — are you going?
  • 殡，。
    Zuó tiān tā men jiā chū le bìn, dà jiā dōu hěn nán guò.
    Their family held the funeral procession yesterday; everyone was very sad.
  • 出殡，。
    chū bìn De shí hou, qīn yǒu men dōu gēn zài líng chē hòu miàn.
    During the funeral procession, relatives and friends all follow behind the hearse.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

出chūsend out
殡bìncoffin or funeral

“出” means to send out and “殡” refers to the coffin or funeral, together meaning to carry the coffin for burial.

Characters in this word

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

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

Open 出 →

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 殯; 殡 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
歹歹dǎi
Sound part声符shēngfú
賓
賓bīn殯bìn
Same sound today

The traditional form 殯 combines 歹 as the sense part and 賓 as the sound part.

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