政治化 (zhèng zhì huà) — to politicize | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A verb formed by adding -化 to 政治, meaning to make something political. Often appears in the 把 construction (把…政治化) or passive (被政治化).

verb

to politicize

Examples

政治化。
Zhè ge wèn tí yǐ jīng bèi zhèng zhì huà le.
This issue has already been politicized.
政治化。
Bú yào bǎ xué shù tǎo lùn zhèng zhì huà.
Don't politicize academic discussions.
政治化。
Tā men shì tú zhèng zhì huà yì chǎng zì rán zāi hài.
They tried to politicize a natural disaster.

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.

政治politics

政zhènggovernment治zhìgovern

联合Side by side

政治 names governing public affairs, and 化 gives the sense of turning into that.

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

攴攴pūaction

Sound part声符shēngfú

正

正zhèng政zhèng

Same sound today

政 combines 正, which gives the sound, with 攴, an action-related part.

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

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

台

台tái治zhì

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

治 has 水 (water) and 台; 台 gives the sound, and the character named a river.

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

化 shows two person figures, one upright and one upside down, to give the idea of reversal or change.

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