征调 (zhēng diào) — to requisition; to call up (resources, personnel, etc.)

Definition

verb
to requisitionto call up (resources, personnel, etc.)

Examples

  • 征调。
    Zhèng fǔ jǐn jí zhēng diào le dà liàng wù zī zhī yuán zāi qū.
    The government urgently requisitioned a large quantity of supplies to support the disaster area.
  • 征调。
    Gōng sī cóng gè dì zhēng diào le yì pī jì shù rén yuán.
    The company called up a group of technical personnel from various places.
  • ，征调。
    Gēn jù jì huà, jūn duì jiāng zài xià yuè zhēng diào yù bèi yì rén yuán.
    According to the plan, the military will call up reserve personnel next month.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

征zhēngconscript/levy
调tiáotransfer/call up

征 and 调 both involve calling up or transferring people and resources, so together they mean requisition or call up.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 徵; 征 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 征 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (特征, 象征) it is 徵; in others it is 征.

The story is about the traditional form 徵. It originally meant punishment, from a picture of a knife with tooth-shaped protrusions on its back; later forms kept that sense.

Open 征 →

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 調; 调 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
周
周zhōu調tiáo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 調 pairs 言 (speech) with 周, which shows how it was pronounced. The simplified 调 is a later shorthand.

Open 调 →

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