婚姻法 (hūn yīn fǎ) — marriage law

Definition

noun
marriage law
Measure word · 部

Examples

  • 婚姻法。
    hūn yīn fǎ Shì bǎo hù hūn yīn jiā tíng de zhòng yào fǎ lǜ.
    Marriage law is an important law that protects marriage and family.
  • 婚姻法。
    Xīn xiū gǎi de hūn yīn fǎ duì lí hūn cái chǎn fēn gē zuò le gèng xiáng xì de guī dìng.
    The newly revised marriage law has more detailed provisions on the division of property in divorce.
  • 婚姻法。
    Xué xí hūn yīn fǎ kě yǐ bāng zhù wǒ men liǎo jiě fū qī shuāng fāng de quán lì hé yì wù.
    Studying marriage law can help us understand the rights and obligations of both spouses.

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.

婚姻marriage
婚hūnmarriage姻yīnmarriage
联合Side by side
法fǎlaw

婚姻 joins 婚 and 姻 for marriage, and 法 names law, giving the law governing marriage.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
昏
昏hūn婚hūn
Same sound today

婚 uses 女 (woman) for the meaning and 昏 for the sound hūn.

Open 婚 →

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
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
因
因yīn姻yīn
Same sound today

姻 combines 女, meaning woman, with 因, which gives the sound; the reference links the whole shape to a marriage involving a woman.

Open 姻 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
廌廌zhìa type of antelope or caprid
Sound part声符shēngfú
盍
盍hé法fǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

法's older form combined 氵 (water) and 廌 (a type of antelope or caprid), with 盍 as a sound part; later 廌 was dropped.

Open 法 →

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