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挣扎 (zhēng zhá) — to struggle, to strive desperately

Definition

挣扎 (zhēng zhá) is a vivid verb for desperate, often prolonged struggle — physical or internal. Weaker than 搏斗 (a real fight) and broader than 奋斗 (striving for a goal).

verb
to struggleto strive desperately

Examples

  • 挣扎。
    Kùn zài wǎng zhōng de yú pīn mìng zhēng zhá zhe.
    The fish trapped in the net struggled desperately.
  • 挣扎。
    Tā zhēng zhá le hěn jiǔ cái zuò chū zhè ge jué dìng.
    He struggled for a long time before making this decision.
  • ，挣扎。
    Wèi le lǐ xiǎng, jí shǐ kùn nan chóng chóng yě yào zhēng zhá dào dǐ.
    For the sake of one's ideals, one must struggle to the end even if difficulties abound.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

挣zhèng
扎zhā

挣扎 is one whole idea of struggling; 挣 and 扎 do not carry meanings of their own here.

Sound-only characters

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 掙; 挣 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
爭
爭zhēng掙zhèng
Same sound today

The traditional form 掙 combines 手 (hand) with 爭, which gives the sound; the simplified 挣 is a shorthand.

Open 挣 →

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
手手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
乙
乙yǐ扎zhā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

扎 is built from 手 (hand) and 乙, which gives the sound.

Open 扎 →
Appears in
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