急行军 (jí xíng jūn) — to force-march, to make a rapid march

Definition

A military term for a fast, forced march — troops push a hard pace to reach a target quickly. Marked for HSK 7: this is specialized, not everyday vocabulary.

verb
to force-marchto make a rapid march

Examples

  • 急行军，。
    Bù duì lián yè jí xíng jūn, zài tiān liàng qián dào dá le mù dì dì.
    The troops force-marched through the night and arrived at the destination before dawn.
  • ，。
    Tā men jí le yì tiān de jūn, shì bīng men dōu hěn pí bèi.
    They force-marched for a whole day, and the soldiers were all exhausted.
  • 急行军。
    Zhè cì jí xíng jūn shì wèi le qiǎng zhàn zhàn lüè yào dì.
    This forced march was to seize a strategic location.

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.

急jírapid
行军march
行xíngmarch军jūnarmy
动宾Verb + object

急 (rapid) + 行军 (march) means to march at high speed.

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
及
及jí急jí
Same sound today

急 pairs 心 (heart) with 及, which gives the sound.

Open 急 →

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

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 軍; 军 is its simplified writing.

  • 車車jūcart; chariot
  • 勹勹bāoto surround

In the traditional form 軍, 車 shows the chariot sense, while the part now written 勹 is a sound part, not the 'surround' 勹. Simplified 军 is a later shorthand.

Open 军 →

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