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大选 (dà xuǎn) — general election

Definition

noun
general election

Examples

  • 大选。
    Jīn nián de dà xuǎn jiāng zài shí yī yuè jǔ xíng.
    This year's general election will be held in November.
  • 大选。
    dà xuǎn Jié guǒ duì guó jiā de wèi lái yǐng xiǎng hěn dà.
    The outcome of the general election has a great impact on the country's future.
  • 大选，。
    Tā cān jiā le jīn nián de dà xuǎn, xī wàng néng dāng xuǎn.
    He participated in this year's general election, hoping to be elected.

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.

大dàbig
选xuǎnelection

大 (big) narrows 选 (election) to a general election.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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 選; 选 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
巽
巽xùn選xuǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 選 combines 止 with 巽, which gives the sound xùn; its sense of choosing is explained as rejecting or sending someone back. Simplified 选 is a shorthand.

Open 选 →
Appears in
Government & Politics

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