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叛变 (pàn biàn) — to defect; to turn traitor; to betray one's side

Definition

A strong, formal verb for betraying one's own side and joining the enemy — implies political/military defection, not casual disloyalty.

verb
to defectto turn traitorto betray one's side

Examples

  • 叛变。
    Tā wèi le quán lì pàn biàn le yuán lái de zǔ zhī.
    He betrayed his original organization for power.
  • ，叛变。
    Zhàn zhēng zhōng, shǎo shù shì bīng pàn biàn dào le dí jūn nà biān.
    During the war, a few soldiers defected to the enemy side.
  • 叛变。
    Tā de pàn biàn xíng wéi ràng zhěng gè tuán duì xiàn rù wēi jī.
    His defection plunged the entire team into crisis.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

叛pànbetray
变biànchange sides

叛 means 'betray' and 变 means 'change sides', so the two actions combine to mean defection.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
反反fǎn
Sound part声符shēngfú
半
半bàn叛pàn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

叛 pairs 反 as its meaning part with 半 as its sound part.

Open 叛 →

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 變; 变 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攴攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
䜌
䜌䜌變biàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 變 uses 䜌 as a sound part and 攴 as a meaning part.

Open 变 →
Appears in
Military & Defense

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