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参选 (cān xuǎn) — to be a candidate (in an election); to run for office

Definition

verb
to be a candidate (in an election)to run for office

Examples

  • 参选。
    Tā jué dìng cān xuǎn xià yí jiè shì zhǎng.
    He decided to run for the next mayor.
  • 参选，。
    Zhè cì cān xuǎn de rén hěn duō, jìng zhēng hěn jī liè.
    There are many candidates this time; the competition is fierce.
  • 参选，。
    Tā zhǔn bèi cān xuǎn, zhèng zài shōu jí xuǎn mín qiān míng.
    She is preparing to run and is collecting voter signatures.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

参cānjoin; participate
选xuǎnelection

The 参 sense of joining is linked with the 选 sense of election, meaning to run in it.

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 參; 参 is its simplified writing.

For simplified 参, the story belongs to traditional 參, which combines 晶 (stars), 光 (light), and 彡 (rays) to show the Three Stars; one reading takes 光 as a kneeling person looking up.

Open 参 →

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 選; 选 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
巽
巽xùn選xuǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 選 combines 止 with 巽, which gives the sound xùn; its sense of choosing is explained as rejecting or sending someone back. Simplified 选 is a shorthand.

Open 选 →
Appears in
Government & Politics

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