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宣誓 (xuān shì) — to swear an oath; to make a solemn vow

Definition

宣誓 is a formal, official oath (office, allegiance, testimony). Stronger and more public than 发誓, which is a personal solemn pledge; 许愿 is just making a wish.

verb
to swear an oathto make a solemn vow

Examples

  • 宣誓。
    Xīn zǒng tǒng zài jiù zhí diǎn lǐ shàng xuān shì.
    The new president swore the oath at the inauguration ceremony.
  • 宣誓。
    Zhèng rén zài fǎ tíng shàng xuān shì zì jǐ huì shuō zhēn huà.
    The witness swore in court that he would tell the truth.
  • 宣誓。
    Shì bīng men xiàng guó qí xuān shì xiào zhōng.
    The soldiers swore allegiance to the national flag.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

宣xuāndeclare
誓shìoath

宣 (declare) and 誓 (oath) combine to mean swearing a solemn vow.

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
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.

Open 宣 →

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
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
折
折zhé誓shì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

誓 is built from 言, meaning speech, and 折, which provides the sound. The speech part shows it is about spoken words, such as a vow.

Open 誓 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Law & Justice

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