劝降 (quàn jiàng) — to persuade (an enemy) to surrender

Definition

劝降 (quàn xiáng) means 'to persuade an enemy to surrender' — used in military or conflict contexts, not for everyday convincing (that's 说服). Note: in口语 the second syllable is often pronounced xiáng.

verb
to persuade (an enemy) to surrender

Examples

  • 劝降。
    quàn jiàng Shì jié shù zhàn zhēng de yǒu xiào fāng shì zhī yī.
    Persuading the enemy to surrender is one effective way to end a war.
  • ，。
    Wǒ men quàn le sān cì jiàng, tā men dōu bù tīng.
    We tried three times to persuade them to surrender, but they wouldn't listen.
  • 劝降。
    Zhǐ huī guān pài tā qù quàn jiàng.
    The commander sent him to persuade (the enemy) to surrender.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

劝quànpersuade
降jiàngsurrender

The persuading in 劝 and the surrender in 降 combine to mean induce someone to surrender.

Characters in this word

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 勸; 劝 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn勸quàn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 勸 pairs 力 (strength) with 雚 as a sound part; the simplified 劝 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 劝 →

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
阝Written in full as阜fùhill, wall
Sound part声符shēngfú
夅
夅jiàng降xiáng
Same sound today

降 pairs 阝 (a hill or wall, written in full as 阜) with 夅, a sound part meaning 'to descend'; together they picture descending a hill.

Open 降 →

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