国债 (guó zhài) — national debt (government bonds issued by a country)

Definition

noun
national debt (government bonds issued by a country)

Examples

  • 国债。
    Zhèng fǔ tōng guò fā xíng guó zhài lái chóu jí zī jīn.
    The government raises funds by issuing national debt.
  • 国债。
    Tóu zī zhě pǔ biàn rèn wéi guó zhài de fēng xiǎn jiào dī.
    Investors generally believe that national debt carries relatively low risk.
  • 国债。
    Qù nián guó zhài de shōu yì lǜ xià jiàng le.
    The yield on national debt fell last year.

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
债zhàidebt

国 refers to the country and 债 to debt; together they mean debt owed by the state.

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 債; 债 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
責
責zé債zhài
Same sound today

The traditional form 債 combines 亻 (person) with 責 as a sound part; the simplified 债 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 债 →

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