宣言 (xuān yán) — declaration; manifesto; to declare; to proclaim | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A formal, written declaration or manifesto (e.g. a political statement or policy statement). As a verb, it means to proclaim officially — more formal than 宣布 and stronger than 声明, which states a position rather than proclaiming one.

declarationmanifestoto declareto proclaim

Examples

宣言。
Zhè fèn xuān yán biǎo dá le rén mín de yì yuàn.
This declaration expressed the people's will.
宣言。
Tā men xuān yán zhī chí hé píng.
They declared support for peace.
宣言。
Gōng sī fā biǎo le huán bǎo xuān yán.
The company issued an environmental protection declaration.

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.

宣xuānproclaim

宣 (proclaim) and 言 (words) combine into a public declaration.

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.

宀亘宣

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀miánroof

Sound part声符shēngfú

亘

亘gèn宣xuān

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

宣 pairs the roof 宀, pointing to the emperor's main hall, with 亘 as the sound part. From that hall meaning, it came to mean clear or evident.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The early form of 言 shows an opening and a mark indicating a location; the location is not described as the source of speech.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Government & Politics

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