国旗 (guó qí) — national flag | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

国旗 is the national flag of a country (counted with 面). 旗帜 is the general word for any flag or banner, including non-national ones and figurative 'banners' for a cause.

noun

national flag

Measure word · 面

Examples

国旗。
Měi tiān zǎo chén xué xiào dōu yào shēng guó qí.
Every morning the school raises the national flag.
国旗。
Zhè miàn guó qí shàng yǒu wǔ kē xīng.
This national flag has five stars on it.
国旗。
Shēng guó qí de shí hou yào jìng lǐ.
When raising the national flag, you should salute.

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

The characters for country and flag combine to mean a country's flag.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

㫃㫃㫃flag

Sound part声符shēngfú

其

其qí旗qí

Same sound today

旗 pairs 㫃, a flag, with 其, which gives the pronunciation qí.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Government & Politics

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