居委会 (jū wěi huì) — neighborhood committee (grassroots administrative unit in Chinese cities)

Definition

Grassroots self-governing body in Chinese cities, a step smaller than 街道办 (sub-district office). Handles neighborhood-level matters like mediation, sanitation, and resident services.

noun
neighborhood committee (grassroots administrative unit in Chinese cities)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 居委会。
    Wǒ men xiǎo qū de jū wěi huì zǔ zhī le yí cì shè qū qīng jié huó dòng.
    The neighborhood committee of our community organized a clean-up event.
  • 居委会。
    Yǒu shén me wèn tí nǐ kě yǐ qù zhǎo jū wěi huì bāng máng.
    If you have any problems, you can go to the neighborhood committee for help.
  • 居委会。
    jū wěi huì De chéng yuán tōng cháng shì shè qū jū mín xuǎn jǔ chǎn shēng de.
    The members of the neighborhood committee are usually elected by the community residents.

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.

居jūresidents
委会committee
委wěicommittee会huìassociation
联合Side by side

居 refers to residents, and 委会 refers to a committee; together they name a neighborhood committee.

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
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ居jū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

居 is built from 尸 as the meaning part and 古 (gǔ) as the sound part.

Open 居 →

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

委 has 女 under 禾. 女, a woman, is the meaning part, and 禾 gives the sound.

Open 委 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →

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