咨文 (zī wén) — (government) message, state-of-the-union report; official communication between offices of equal rank

Definition

A formal, official document — most often the head-of-state's address to the legislature (e.g. State of the Union 国情咨文), or a written exchange between government offices of equal rank.

noun
(government) messagestate-of-the-union reportofficial communication between offices of equal rank

Examples

  • 咨文。
    Zǒng tǒng jiāng zài guó huì fā biǎo nián dù zī wén.
    The president will deliver the annual state-of-the-union message to Congress.
  • 咨文。
    Liǎng bù mén zhī jiān tōng guò zī wén xié tiáo gōng zuò.
    The two departments coordinate their work through official communications.
  • 咨文。
    Zhè fèn zī wén xiáng xì shuō míng le wài jiāo zhèng cè tiáo zhěng.
    This message details the adjustments to foreign policy.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

咨zīconsult
文wéndocument

咨 points to consultation or a message, while 文 is a written document; together they form an official communication.

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
次
次cì咨
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

咨 is built from 口, a mouth, and 次, which gives its sound.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The current form 文 shows a man with head, arms, legs, and chest; the tattoo marks on the chest are no longer drawn.

Open 文 →

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