投诉信 (tóu sù xìn) — letter of complaint

Definition

noun
letter of complaint
Measure word · 封

Examples

  • 投诉信。
    Tā gěi gōng sī xiě le yì fēng tóu sù xìn.
    He wrote a letter of complaint to the company.
  • 投诉信。
    Zhè fēng tóu sù xìn fǎn yìng le gù kè de bù mǎn.
    This letter of complaint reflects the customer's dissatisfaction.
  • 投诉信。
    Jīng lǐ rèn zhēn chǔ lǐ le nà fēng tóu sù xìn.
    The manager handled that letter of complaint seriously.

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.

投诉complaint
投tóupresent诉sùcomplaint
动宾Verb + object
信xìnletter

投诉 means present a complaint, and 信 means letter; together they form a letter of complaint.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
殳
殳shū投tóu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 shows a hand, and the right part 殳 gives the sound of the character.

Open 投 →

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 訴; 诉 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword, speak
Sound part声符shēngfú
斥
斥chì訴sù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 訴 pairs 言 (word, speak) with 斥, which gives the sound and points to accusing by speech. The simplified 诉 is a later shorthand.

Open 诉 →

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yánwords
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén信xìn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.

Open 信 →

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