功劳 (gōng láo) — meritorious service; contribution; credit | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

功劳 names the credit or merit someone has earned for a result — often used with 属于, 立下, 抢. 贡献 is the act of contributing itself; 荣誉 is the honor awarded for it.

noun

meritorious servicecontributioncredit

Examples

功劳。
Tā wèi wǒ men gōng sī lì xià le hěn dà de gōng láo.
He made a great contribution to our company.
功劳。
Zhè cì shèng lì de gōng láo shǔ yú quán tǐ zhàn shì.
The credit for this victory belongs to all the soldiers.
功劳，。
Bú yào qiǎng bié rén de gōng láo, měi gè rén dōu fù chū le nǔ lì.
Don't take credit for others' work; everyone made an effort.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

功 (merit) and 劳 (labor) combine to mean credit earned through service.

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.

工力功

Meaning part形符xíngfú

力力lìstrength

Sound part声符shēngfú

工

工gōng功gōng

Same sound today

功 puts 力 (strength) beside 工, which gives the sound gōng and means labour or work.

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 勞; 劳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

𬡤

𬡤𬡤勞láo

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 勞 uses 力 for the meaning and 𬡤 for the sound; the simplified 劳 is a later shortened shape.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Success & Failure

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