奴隶制度 (nú lì zhì dù) — slavery

Definition

noun
slavery

Examples

  • 奴隶制度。
    Gǔ dài shè huì céng jīng cún zài guò nú lì zhì dù.
    Ancient societies once had slavery.
  • 奴隶制度。
    nú lì zhì dù Shì yì zhǒng bù gōng zhèng de shè huì zhì dù.
    Slavery is an unjust social system.
  • 奴隶制度。
    Tā men wèi fèi chú nú lì zhì dù ér dòu zhēng le hěn duō nián.
    They struggled for many years to abolish slavery.

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.

奴隶slave
奴núslave隶lìservant
联合Side by side
制度system
制zhìsystem度dùstandard
联合Side by side

奴隶 means slaves and 制度 means a system, so 奴隶制度 is the system of slavery.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

奴 shows 又 (a hand) and 女 (a woman): a hand capturing and ordering a woman around.

Open 奴 →

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 隸; 隶 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隶隶lìarrest
Sound part声符shēngfú
柰
柰nài隸lì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隸 pairs 柰 for sound with 隶 for arrest; the simplified 隶 is a shorthand.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The form 制 pairs 朱 (tree) with 刀 (knife), showing the act of cutting a tree.

Open 制 →

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
又又yòuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
石
石shí度dù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

度 has 又 (hand) and a changed form of 石; 石 gives a related sound, and the hand is tied to using the hand as a reference for measurement.

Open 度 →

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