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指导员 (zhǐ dǎo yuán) — (military) political instructor in the People's Liberation Army; (general) instructor, advisor

Definition

In the PLA, 指导员 is the political instructor — an officer in charge of soldiers' political education and ideology, separate from the 连长 who runs operations. In civilian use, it simply means 'instructor' or 'advisor'.

noun
(military) political instructor in the People's Liberation Army(general) instructoradvisor
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 指导员，。
    Tā zài bù duì lǐ dāng zhǐ dǎo yuán, fù zé shì bīng de sī xiǎng jiào yù.
    He serves as a political instructor in the army, responsible for the soldiers' ideological education.
  • 指导员，。
    Zhè wèi zhǐ dǎo yuán jīng yàn fēng fù, jīng cháng gěi wǒ men tí chū bǎo guì de jiàn yì.
    This instructor is very experienced and often gives us valuable advice.
  • 指导员。
    Xīn lái de zhǐ dǎo yuán zhèng zài huì yì shì lǐ kāi huì.
    The newly arrived instructor is having a meeting in the conference room.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

指导guide
指zhǐpoint/guide导dǎolead/guide
联合Coordinate
员yuánperson

指 and 导 both mean guide; 员 refers to the person doing it.

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shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
旨
旨zhǐ指zhǐ
Same sound today

The left part 扌 is the hand form 手. The right part 旨 gives the sound.

Open 指 →

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 導; 导 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
寸寸cùnhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
道
道dào導
Same sound today

The traditional form 導 pairs 道 (path) as the sound part with 寸 (hand), giving the sense of leading someone. The simplified 导 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical components.

Open 导 →

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 員; 员 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
鼎鼎dǐngding
Sound part声符shēngfú
〇
〇líng員yuán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 員, 〇 supplies the sound and 鼎 supplies the meaning; the simplified 员 is a shortened form.

Open 员 →
Appears in
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