新教 (xīn jiào) — Protestantism

Definition

noun
Protestantism

Examples

  • 新教。
    Tā cóng xiǎo xìn yǎng xīn jiào.
    He has believed in Protestantism since childhood.
  • 新教？
    xīn jiào Hé tiān zhǔ jiào yǒu shén me bù tóng?
    What are the differences between Protestantism and Catholicism?
  • 新教。
    xīn jiào Zài ōu zhōu lì shǐ shàng yǐng xiǎng hěn dà.
    Protestantism had a great influence in European history.

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.

新xīnnew
教jiàoreligion

新 means new and 教 means religion or teaching, together naming Protestantism as the new religion.

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.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
斤斤jīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
辛
辛xīn新xīn
Same sound today

The shape originally paired 斤, for chopping wood, with 辛 for sound. It was borrowed for its sound to write 新, so the chopping-wood parts are unrelated to 'new'.

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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
子子zǐchild
攵Written in full as攴pūteaching cane; stick that represents authority
Sound part声符shēngfú
爻
爻yáo教jiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

教 uses 爻 for its sound and puts 子 (child) with 攵 (攴), a teaching cane, to show teaching a child.

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