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国会 (guó huì) — parliament; congress

Definition

noun
parliamentcongress

Examples

  • 国会。
    Měi guó guó huì tōng guò le yí xiàng xīn de mào yì fǎ àn.
    The U.S. Congress passed a new trade bill.
  • 国会。
    guó huì Yì yuán zhèng zài tǎo lùn jiào yù gǎi gé fāng àn.
    Members of parliament are discussing the education reform plan.
  • 国会。
    Zhè ge guó jiā de guó huì yóu cān yì yuàn hé zhòng yì yuàn zǔ chéng.
    This country's parliament consists of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

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.

国guócountry
会huìassembly

国会 combines 国 (country) and 会 (assembly) to mean a national assembly.

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 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →
Appears in
Government & Politics5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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