国境 (guó jìng) — national border, frontier | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Means the sovereign border of a country — the territorial boundary line and zone, not the nation itself. Pairs naturally with 越过, 封锁, 问题, and 天然 (as in 'natural border').

noun

national borderfrontier

Measure word · 个

Examples

国境，。
Tā fēi fǎ yuè guò le guó jìng, bèi biān fáng jūn zhuā zhù le.
He illegally crossed the national border and was caught by the border guards.
国境。
Liǎng guó zài guó jìng wèn tí shàng dá chéng le xié yì.
The two countries reached an agreement on the border issue.
国境。
Zhè tiáo hé shì liǎng guó de tiān rán guó jìng.
This river is the natural border between the two countries.

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

境jìngboundary

国 is the country and 境 is its boundary.

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.

囗或國

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

土竟境

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

竟

竟jìng境jìng

Same sound today

境 pairs 土 (earth) with 竟, which gives the sound; the 土 part carries the meaning.

Appears in

Geography & Landforms

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